Show #435 Airing Sunday, 5/25/08
Is your smile as bright as your personality, or are crooked teeth putting a damper on the real you? Here to explain how to let your smile shine are Dr. Steven Marsh and his patient, Lisa Juhnke.
Question:Lisa, how did you decide it was time to face up to changing your smile?
Answer: I’m almost 44, and I consider myself a pretty happy person. However, I’ve been very self-conscious of my smile for years. I wouldn’t smile with teeth in public or in photos, and I also often put my hands in front of my mouth.
My friends, who I’m comfortable with, know me as an upbeat, friendly person, but with new people, I always had low self-esteem because of my teeth. My husband is a professional, and meeting new people with my old smile was driving me crazy!
Question:You weren't too comfortable with the first options you explored, were you?
Answer: I had looked for options the past five years, and straightness was a priority in my makeover. Most dentists gave me orthodontic options, but I just couldn’t see having braces at this point. I wanted something faster.
Question:Dr. Marsh, what made your approach a winning one for Lisa?
Answer: The first thing we did was sit down and talk about how we would approach her makeover. Lisa had a certain amount of money that she thought she’d like to invest in her teeth. After talking about her concerns, we decided to focus on 10 teeth—6 uppers and 4 lowers.
Lisa had spaces between her teeth that she disliked, and one of her lower teeth was sideways.
We took impressions and created a wax-up to show Lisa what her result would look like. She was pleased.
Question:Lisa, how was the makeover procedure?
Answer: The whole experience was extremely comfortable. From the moment I sat down in the consultation and started looking at before and after photos of previous patients, I knew that Dr. Marsh would be able to do my makeover. His office staff is incredible—I can’t speak more highly of them all.
We started with a regular cleaning and mapped out what we wanted to do. I discussed it with my husband, and within two appointments, I had a brand new smile.
In fact, after the first appointment, Dr. Marsh gave me temporaries to wear until my final veneers were finished. I had tears in my eyes then, and my husband was blown away—and they were just temporaries.
Question:Dr. Marsh, what did you do for Lisa's teeth?
Answer: 6 upper, 4 lower teeth/veneers.
Question:Lisa, how do you like your smile now?
Answer: It makes me wish that I had done this 10 years ago! I look in this mirror and can’t believe how nice my teeth look. I have to retrain myself not to put my hands in front of my mouth when I’m in public.
People who don’t see me on a regular basis know that something is different, but can’t place it.
I’m a “smiley” person, and now that’s coming through!
Let your personality shine through! Call Dr. Marsh today to find out how a dental makeover can polish your image.
