How often have you seen people who gave you a smile that seemed overbearing and denture like? Smiles like these have been labeled "Hollywood" smiles, because they look similar to those seen in Hollywood stars of the sixties. In fact, the first Hollywood smiles were created during the time of early black-and-white films. The teeth of many actors were unsightly and rather dark. They were therefore often required by their studio contracts to have full pearly-white new dentures made for them. This was the birth of the "Hollywood" smile.
Hollywood smiles are unacceptable by contemporary standards. They are obviously fake, and nobody can pretend to have inherited such opaque and monochromatic white teeth. If someone spends his money on pretending to have good genes, he or she certainly doesn't want to give away that a smile makeover was needed. It is therefore paramount to create porcelain veneers that appear healthy, youthful, and even playful, without the stigma of a poor attempt to conceal bad oral health. It would defeat the purpose of cosmetic dentistry.
The design of beautiful, yet natural-looking porcelain veneers is based on scientific principles. It also is an artform where the cosmetic dentist and the dental lab technician need to understand how nature develops beautiful teeth. We cannot make porcelain teeth look more beautiful than natural teeth, but we can make them look younger.
Young teeth are more attractive than old teeth. Old teeth are worn, stained, cracked, and opaque. Young teeth have intricate outlines with rounded line angles, translucent areas, 3D effects, polychomaticity, and are usually much whiter than their older counterparts. This is enhanced these days by the common use of over-the-counter tooth whitening agents that are even used by teenagers.
The varying degrees of translucency, color, and playfulness shown here reflect the individual desires of the patients.
