Creating the Imperfect Smile

The following is an extract from a dental article in the New York Times which gives an interesting perspective on dentistry across 'The Pond ' . It implies that there has been a rejection of "perfection" in favour of a more natural and subtle look .

In this age of advanced aesthetic enhancement, subtlety is prized. The discerning get just enough Botox to unfurrow their brows, lest they become expressionless clones. And now dental patients are pursuing perfectly imperfect teeth.

It used to be the only veneers were big, gleaming, flawlessly lined-up white squares. Nicknamed Chiclets, they have become near-ubiquitous in Hollywood.

But these days, there’s a growing demand for painstakingly customized, natural-looking veneers created by professional dental ceramists, offering a balance of lifelike translucency and opaque whiteness. The lifelike “flaws” requested by patients include rotating the teeth next to the center pair so they overlap a little; subtly discoloring veneers toward the gumline so it looks between-cleaning realistic; and adding grooves so the porcelain isn’t oddly smooth.

Mr. Devaud, a guest instructor for the UCLA Center for Esthetic Dentistry, said he has many celebrity clients, all of whom get a personalized look. “It’s not in my fiber to do a white and perfect-looking smile,” he said.

“What makes a person desirable and attractive?” Mr. Devaud added. “It’s not the symmetry; it’s perfect imperfections.”

“The white standard got too white,” he added. “The perfection standard got too perfect.”

To be sure, plenty of people still want polished piano-key teeth that scream, “I paid for these!” Others settle for such a look because they can’t afford to pay more for customization, or don’t know that it’s an option.

But for those with the means and awareness, the discreet look is in. Lawyers, doctors and other professionals “are not interested in people noticing their smile,” said Dr. Thomas Connelly, another cosmetic dentist in Manhattan. “They just want to have a nice smile. They don’t want to be known for their smile.”

Especially men. “Guys all say, ‘They have to look real, bud, or I’m not doing it,’ ” said Dr. Connelly, who works with ceramists like Mr. Devaud to “rough up” the porcelain on certain veneers. “Human enamel is not perfectly smooth,” he said. “We put texture – actual little grooves – in the porcelain"

The trend may have started with European dentists and ceramists, who long eschewed too-perfect teeth. “If you were 50 years old, they put a veneer on the tooth” with a “brown stain on it,” said Dr. Brian LeSage, a cosmetic dentist in Beverly Hills, Calif., and part of the faculty at the UCLA Center for Esthetic Dentistry. “Really ugly,” he called the look.

But Dr. LeSage, who recently spoke at the international meeting for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry in London, reported that his European colleagues are now showing more interest in noticeably gorgeous, white teeth, just as some Americans are disdaining them. There’s been, he said, “a meeting in the middle".

Ruth

Extracted ( with thanks ) from an article in the New York Times ....When that Smile is too Perfect . By Neil Gershman