This month, the Aesthetic Dentistry Expert, Manrina Rhode, discusses everything you need to know about the Hollywood Smile.
The term ‘Hollywood Smile’ is an interesting one.
It comes from the perfect sets of white teeth you would see in Hollywood movies.
Back in the day, these were just temporary solutions that were stuck on the teeth of Hollywood actors.
These days, creating a Hollywood Smile is a more permanent solution to achieving a set of pearly whites.
What does a Hollywood Smile mean?
Usually, it’s a set of teeth that are white beyond nature’s capability.
This can be done with crowns or veneers on all visible teeth. These may just be ten upper teeth – second premolar to second premolar – depending on the patients smile line and how many teeth are visible.
As well as this, it can relate to a set of ceramics without too much natural characterisation.
The Hollywood Smile tends to be a more blanket white shade.
This would not include the usual incisal translucency and gradation of shade from light incisal tip to warm neck that we would expect from a skilled ceramist.
Who wants it?
Some patients want this particular type of smile.
The reason for their smile makeover is that they are uncomfortable with their yellow misshaped teeth and want super white, super uniform ceramics in their new smile.
In addition, they may be trying to overcompensate for the teeth they had before.
People often think that the whiter and more perfect, the better.
Patients can feel that if they are going to pay for their dream smile, they want it as straight, as symmetrical and as white as possible.
How do we talk about it?
As a dentist, the difficulty comes when explaining the benefits of keeping some natural characterisation to patients – not going too white and allowing some slight asymmetry in the final result.
It’s very rare to meet anyone that was born with a Hollywood smile naturally. Therefore, it’s often best to create a new smile that looks natural and perfect, as if they were born that way.
Of course, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. I often give the analogy of botox and fillers that have been taken too far.
We have all seen people with over-filled lips. Usually, juicier lips do look better but there is a limit.
A small amount of filler will enhance your lips. Too much filler and you might look freaky.
I believe it’s the same for teeth.
Teeth will only ever whiten to the white of your eyes. Ceramics made whiter than your eyes can look unnatural.
When is it OK?
That doesn’t mean that super white, straight, symmetrical ceramics aren’t the right choice for some patients. However, as dentists we need to make sure that we are being clear about what they are choosing.
We need to make them aware of the pros and cons to make sure there are no regrets after the patient gets their final restorations.
After all, well placed ceramics will last for fifteen years. You want your patient to love their ceramics and not want to change them any sooner than that.
The healthiest option for the tooth is to keep a healthy restoration in place for as long as possible.
I hope this column has demystified the Hollywood smile. Any questions, hit me up on my Instagram page: @drmanrinarhode.
Catch up with previous Aesthetic Dentistry Expert columns:
- ‘Turkey teeth’, Jack Fincham and the realities of discounted treatments
- Can veneers fix crooked teeth?
- Choosing aesthetic dentistry
- Restoring a single central incisor
- Broken veneers.
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