How to Get a Great Smile Makeover

Deciding to have a smile makeover should be exciting and something to look forward to. But it’s important to put a little thought into what you’d like to accomplish, and you must consider which dentist will be best for the work required.

Deciding How You’d like to Change Your Smile
You probably already have pretty good idea about how you’d like to improve the appearance of your teeth, but it can be useful to sit down for a few moments and to write a list of things you’d like to achieve. Writing this down can help to clarify your thoughts, and at the same time, they might be parts of your smile that are uniquely yours and which you wish to preserve.

For example, lots of people have a gap in between their front teeth called a diastema. Some people hate having a gap and will want to close it or at least minimize it. While others love their gap because it celebrates their individuality. Make a list of everything you can think of, and you might want to prioritize your list. Prioritizing your list could be useful if you are on a tight budget, allowing you to choose the treatments that will provide you with the most satisfaction.

Try to Allow Plenty of Time
Prioritizing can also be useful if you are tight on time as quite often people will plan a special smile makeover for an event such as a wedding, a milestone birthday or the vacation of a lifetime. Ideally, if you want a more comprehensive smile makeover then plan to allow as much time as you can because some treatments do take several months or even more to complete.

Although these treatments may take a bit longer, they can provide you with an excellent and long-lasting smile makeover. For example, cosmetically oriented adult braces may take several months to complete, and dental implant treatment can take a similar length of time.

Choosing Your Cosmetic Dentist
Choosing the right dentist can be tricky, but it’s well worth spending some time doing your research. After all, you could be spending quite a bit of money investing in the appearance of your teeth, and you want to make sure you get the best possible results.

Ask for Recommendations and Read Reviews
One approach is to ask your family, friends, and colleagues for their recommendations and experiences with cosmetic dentistry, but their dental health needs may be different from yours. Another great way is to read online reviews, and especially the profile pages of cosmetic dentists. Also, take a look at their smile gallery if they have one, just to see the type of transformations they have achieved.

Choose a Larger Dental Practice If You Need Comprehensive Treatment Choices
If you think you may need a more comprehensive smile makeover, for example, using dental implants or orthodontics to help improve the appearance of your teeth, then consider choosing a dental practice that has specialist dentists on the team. Otherwise, there’s a possibility your cosmetic dentist may need to refer you outside of the practice for specific treatments. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, it can be more comfortable to receive all the treatment you need under one roof.

Is Your Dentist Easy to See?
Convenience is another factor you should consider as ideally, your dentist should be close to home or work making it easy for you to schedule appointments. Make sure they have plenty of parking or are close to public transport because you want to enjoy the process of having a smile makeover rather than becoming stressed about parking at or getting to the dental office on time. Check their opening hours to make sure they fit in with your work or life schedule.

Meeting Your Dentist and Their Dental Team
Once you have made your choice, then book an appointment with the dental practice, to meet the dental team and your dentist. Take a look around you when you enter the dental practice. Does it have a warm and welcoming atmosphere? Were you warmly greeted when you walked through the door?

These little things can help to make the entire process of having a smile makeover much more enjoyable, and of course, it’s important to like your chosen dentist and to feel you can ask them anything about your treatments.

What Happens Next?
Once you’ve chosen your dentist, then things begin to get exciting and very real. Your dentist will examine your teeth and jaws and may want to take dental x-rays or even a CT scan to plan your treatment. They will also spend some time just talking with you to discover your aims for your smile makeover. They will want to ensure you have good dental health and any existing dental problems must be treated first. This will help to improve the longevity of your smile makeover and of course, will protect your teeth!

Next, your dentist will custom-design your treatment plan, based on your oral health, your aims and your budget and timeframe. Every possible treatment option will be carefully and clearly explained, but if you don’t understand something then be sure to ask. All this information is essential in ensuring you can make an informed choice about your smile makeover.

It is not unusual for several treatments to be suggested so don’t be concerned. Your dentist is merely trying to provide the best and most conservative dental care to achieve the desired outcome. This approach is far better and often more cost-effective than using just a single treatment.

For example, they might suggest orthodontics to straighten your teeth, before using teeth whitening or maybe only a few veneers. Straightening teeth that are nicely shaped is far preferable to placing multiple veneers, and the results of teeth straightening could last for life. Where this the case, orthodontics could produce the results you desire, especially when combined with teeth whitening and perhaps one or two veneers to just cover up chipped or cracked teeth.

Ultimately, you must choose the treatments that most appeal to you but bear in mind the potential longevity of each procedure recommended as once your smile makeover is complete, you will want to enjoy it for as long as you can.