Up and coming performers are often pressured by their handlers to change their appearance, and many have over-the-top stories to prove it. But they’d be hard pressed to outdo Kirsten Dunst’s experience just before filming 2002’s Spider-Man: Producers actually drove her to a dentist for her to get what they considered a more attractive “Hollywood” smile.
Dunst didn’t get out of the car: Although a 19 year-old newbie in the business, Dunst had enough fortitude to hold fast about her appearance. And perhaps she had a bit of intuition about what she calls her “snaggle fangs”: Her quirky smile is one of her appearance trademarks.
The lesson here is not to avoid any cosmetic dental changes, but rather to choose the smile you want. If you count your slight front tooth gap or the faint crookedness of your teeth as unique to your personality, then rock on.
On the other hand, if you’re uncomfortable with your dental flaws, then there are numerous ways to upgrade your smile, from a simple whitening procedure to a comprehensive “smile makeover.” You simply have to decide what you want to keep and what you want to change about your smile.
To help guide you along this potentially life-changing journey, here are few key tips to follow.
Find your “right” dentist. If you’re going to change your smile, you need a partner—a dentist who is not only skilled in cosmetic techniques, but with whom you feel comfortable. One of the best ways to do this is to make note of smile changes your friends and family have undergone that you find attractive, and ask who did their dental work.
Dream a little. Finding the right dentist is important for the next step: Exploring the possibilities for a new and improved smile. After assessing your current smile, your skilled dentist can give you a range of options to improve it. And, to actually help you “see” how those options might turn out, “virtual smile” technology can show you the proposed changes applied to an actual photo of you on a computer monitor.
Match it to reality. Once you’re aware of all the possibilities, it’s time to narrow them down to what you really desire. At this point, you’ll want to decide what “quirks” you want to keep, and what you want to improve. You’ll also have to consider your overall dental health and financial wherewithal to see what’s truly practical and doable.
With that in mind, you and your dentist can then formulate a treatment plan. And just like Kristen Dunst, the end result should be the smile that makes you happy and confident to show.
If you would like more information about to get the best smile for you, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine article “Cosmetic Dentistry: Fix Your Smile With Veneers, Whitening and More.”