Side view of the same patient before & after 3 Month BracesTM. Is her smile more attractive? You be the judge...
What makes a Smile Beautiful?
There are many opinions about what makes someone beautiful. In some cultures gold front teeth are a sign of wealth and success. Others want their teeth to glow in the dark or even to be sharpened into points. The average person simply wants "straight, white teeth" but dental professionals disagree on most of the factors that make a smile attractive.
Orthodontists use their list of ideals to attempt to achieve a perfect smile. Due to their advanced skills they are able to move and twist teeth almost anywhere they want. The detailing needed can take a significant amount of time and full time retainer use to maintain it.
"Cosmetic dentists" often use porcelain veneers to mask crooked teeth. They grind and reshape teeth and bond porcelain facings over the teeth to make them look straight from the outside. Cosmetic dentists have varied opinions about proper tooth sizes, shapes and colors, but they often look a little artificial.
Patients also have their own ideas about how they want their smiles to look. It's often very surprising to see the things patients are concerned about. Sometimes they don't care about the most obvious things and worry about things that are perfectly normal. For example canine teeth are supposed to be a little pointy.
In a study by a couple famous orthodontists it was found that orthodontists are more picky about little discrepancies in a person's smile than general dentists and laypersons. While a study of cosmetic dentists would probably find they can be even more fussy we haven't heard of one that has included that subgroup. We don't agree with being overly concerned with minor details...we are just looking to help people who are happy to have an improvement and are not looking to be perfect. This often puts "High Speed Braces" as a compromise between traditional orthodontics, aligner therapy and cosmetic veneers.
In the photograph above a young lady had an obvious problem called a "cross-bite"... you don't have to be a dentist to agree that it didn't look very good. It was corrected in a few months with 3 Month BracesTM . A simple gum lift helped improve the final result. Is it as good as an orthodontist could do...probably not. Is it better than a typical cosmetic dentist could do...we don't even know what a cosmetic dentist would do in this situation. Sometimes it is almost impossible not to use braces.
We have to admit we do not know all the answers. There are situations that should be treated a special way to make an individual happy. On occasion correcting one thing will make something else look worse and we can chase concerns for years only to discover the patient should have opted for the surgical correction from the beginning. Sometimes people need to find out the long way that they need facial surgery and not just a few teeth moved around.
A facial analysis is an important component of the orthodontic/cosmetic assessment. While dentists and specialists will disagree on the exact definition of a beautiful smile there are a number of dimensions that can be reviewed with you to help you understand how dental professionals judge beauty.
Opinions on this site are for informational purposes only and not directed to individual patient situations. Consult your dentist for further information.
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