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HOW TO BUY THE PERFECT SMILEexcerpt
BY CAROL SALINE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY GARTH GLAZIER
No longer the exclusive preserve of Hollywood's
A-list, cosmetic dentistry has become a mainstream miracle,
offering transformations ranging from whiter teeth to dramatically
reshaped jaws.
For years the rich and famous have headed
to cosmetic
surgeons to improve their appearance. Now, celebrities
like Chris Rock, Heidi Klum, Kevin Spacey and Donald
Trump
are flocking to cosmetic dentists, requesting
smiles to
dazzle the public and the paparazzi.
Donald Trump did it. So did Cindy Crawford, Chris Rock,
Heidi Klum and even Martin Amis. If you're thinking cosmetic
surgery, think again: Their secret is cosmetic dentistry.
Those immaculately white, perfectly proportioned teeth beaming
from the pages of In Style magazine were probably created
in the chair of a cosmetic dentist. In the past 10 years,
the rich and famous as well as the girl next door are more
likely to have turned to a cosmetic dentist than a cosmetic
surgeon to polish their image. In fact, some cosmetic surgeons
and cosmetic dentists have begun working in tandem, because
a patient with a new, younger face isn't satisfied to show
it off with a mouthful of worn, yellow, aging teeth. Even
surgery-phobes who'd sooner bungee-jump than submit to liposuction
think nothing of plunking down $600 to have their teeth
whitened. And starlets are discovering that a boob job may
do less for a career than a dazzling set of pearly whites.
*See section below featuring Dr. Sexton*
Restoring and Sculpting your Teeth
A 10-year-old falls off his bike and breaks
a tooth. A teacher hates the Lauren Hutton gap between her
two front teeth. An aspiring model has a lovely smile, except
for a crooked incisor. A 70-year-old grandmother's gums
have receded, exposing a notched line where her teeth meet
the roots; it's unsightly an sensitive. A salesman has tried
unsuccessfully to bleach the embarrassing tetracycline stains
from his teeth. These people are all ideal candidates for
bonding.
Veneers
transform broken, damaged or discolored teeth into pearly-white
perfection. But these ultra-thin porcelain covers, bonded
to lightly sanded teeth, don't come cheap: Prices range
from $1000.00 to $2500.00.
Bonding ushered in the era of stick-on
dentistry when, 30 years ago, a dentist found a way to make
an artificial plastic material adhere to tooth enamel. Before
that, the only way to change the shape of a tooth or repair
a chip was with an expensive crown. Now, using this moldable
plastic, dentists suddenly became sculptors. The basic technique
generally stills uses a "blue light" - a concentrated
wavelength of normal light initiates and accelerates the
hardening of the resin. But the materials have evolved from
relatively weak, opaque plastics that often looked like
Chiclets to strong, stable, light-refracting lifelike composites
that bond not only to the outer tooth surface, but to the
dentin underneath, making it possible to repair a broken
tooth where the enamel has been destroyed.
Despite its enormous versatility, bonding
has been overshadowed by veneers-gleaming, ultra-thin porcelain
covers that look like fake fingernails and are permanently
adhered to teeth. Porcelain veneers (also called laminates)
are made from ceramic glass, while bonding materials are
plastic, making them less lustrous. It's a little like comparing
the translucency of Lenox china to the opacity of Tupperware.
Porcelain veneers take up stains, but they can be polished.
The resin in bonded teeth in more porous and also discolors,
but it can't be whitened. Porcelain veneers, which are designed
by dentists but made by technicians in a laboratory, should
last about 15 years. Bonding is good for about 10 and requires
far more artistry from the dentist, who works directly on
the tooth."I love doing bonding because of the hands-on
experience. It's a real challenge and thrill," says
Dr. Tara Sexton, a Bala Cynwyd general dentist specializing
in cosmetics, who recommends it for small repairs, camouflaging
localized discoloration, reshaping rotated teeth- and limited
budgets. Bonding will set you back $300 to $600 per tooth.
Veneers, depending on the lab charges, the material and
the dentist's reputation, start just below $1,000 a tooth
and escalate to $2,500. A set of uppers and lowers can cost
$25,000 to $30,000.
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