Show #297, Airing Sunday, 5/15/05
Were you at the front of the line when they were handing out smiles? If you weren’t born with a top-of-the-line smile, don’t despair. Here to explain the importance of the smile line is a man who never just feeds us a line, Dr. Steven Marsh.
Question: What is a smile line, and why do we find it attractive?
Answer: From the time we’re young, we think of smiles in the shape that we see when we draw a smiley face. In fact, what we are actually drawing/thinking of is the smile line.
There are two components to the smile line: the lower edge of the upper teeth and the way the lower lip is shaped…and then the relationship between the two.
If the relationship “matches,” the smile line is attractive, because the lips are framing the teeth in a proper way.
Question: How can we achieve a nice smile line?
Answer: Sometimes you have to fix the lip line. That may be as simple as using lipstick to improve the line or bring out the teeth (dark colors).
Sometimes, the lip line is just naturally crooked. That could be fixed by plastic surgery (plumping the lips, reshaping them).
Question: So let’s talk about what can be done to the upper teeth.
Answer: One way to correct a smile line is through orthodontics, which is what we did with my daughter, Abby. She was born with her two front teeth shorter, and with a number of spaces. I worked with her orthodontist to bring her front teeth down to achieve a nice smile line. The teeth were then bonded to even out the size.
Question: What if you don’t want to go to an orthodontist?
Answer: Cosmetic dentistry can help. In this example, the person had shortened teeth and veneers were used to give them an attractive smile line.
This person had irregularly shaped teeth. The teeth were reshaped, whitened, and four veneers were used.
Here, the person wouldn’t smile widely because she was uncomfortable with her smile. A combination of crowns and veneers accent the lower lip for a nice smile line.
You, too, can skip to the head of the line with a bright and beautiful smile line. For more information, give Dr. Marsh a call on his phone line.
