What a smile makeover changes, in practice

First, what the phrase means here

A smile makeover is any combination of treatments planned together to change the appearance of the front teeth as a set, rather than one tooth at a time. At the modest end it might be whitening followed by composite bonding on four upper incisors. At the other it can involve aligning the teeth first, then veneers or crowns, with the bite rebuilt behind them. The common thread is that the result is designed before any tooth is touched.

At Sardinia House that design happens on screen. An iTero™ scan and photographs feed a Digital Smile Design, which lets us draw the proposed teeth onto your own face and adjust the length, width and shape until it looks like you. A trial smile, made from that design and placed over your teeth for a short while, lets you see it in a mirror and in daylight. If it does not feel right at that stage, nothing has been lost.

It changes how you eat and speak

This is the benefit people underestimate. Front teeth that are short, worn or chipped do not cut properly, and the person compensates by tearing food with the side teeth or avoiding certain things altogether. Restoring the length and the edges gives the incisors their job back. Rebuilding worn back teeth at the same time gives a stable bite to close into, which is often why a makeover done properly feels more comfortable, not less.

Speech is subtler. The edges of the upper front teeth sit just behind the lower lip at rest and touch it for certain sounds. Change their length by a millimetre and the lip has to relearn its position, which takes a week or two with a trial smile or temporaries. We adjust the design at that stage until the sounds are clean and the lips close comfortably. Getting this right is a large part of why the trial stage exists.

It changes how your teeth age

Teeth that are already worn or cracked do not stop wearing on their own. A makeover that addresses the cause, whether that is grinding, acid or a bite that overloads one tooth, protects what is left. Properly bonded restorations in a well-planned bite distribute force evenly, and the night guard that follows most cases keeps them that way. The aim is a set of teeth that will still be in good order in twenty years, which is a different goal from looking good in a photograph next month.

Materials matter here too. Composite can be repaired and polished in the chair for years. Porcelain and zirconia resist stain and wear better but need a more careful bite to protect them. We choose between them tooth by tooth, and we will tell you plainly where a less expensive option will serve you just as well. Our clinicians review each other's complex plans, and this is the kind of decision that benefits from a second opinion before it is made.

It changes how you look, in proportion

The visual change is real, but the most satisfying results are the ones people cannot quite put their finger on. Teeth that are a little lighter, edges that follow the curve of the lower lip, a midline that sits under the nose, and gum margins that are level: each is a small correction, and together they read as health rather than as dentistry. Teeth that are too white, too long or too uniform read as the opposite, and we steer people away from that.

Proportion also means proportion to the person. A smile designed for a thirty-year-old should not be put on a sixty-year-old face, and a makeover should sit comfortably with the lips, the skin and the way someone talks. This is why we design on your own photographs rather than from a catalogue of shapes, and why the trial stage is for you to judge, not us.

It changes how you carry yourself, within limits

People who have spent years hiding their teeth do, in most cases, stop hiding them. They smile in photographs, speak without a hand near the mouth and generally seem to relax. We are glad of this, but we try not to overclaim. A makeover addresses a dental reason for self-consciousness. It does not resolve self-consciousness that has another cause, and a good consultation will say so if that seems to be the case.

The practical side is the least glamorous and the most reassuring. Once we have examined you, each stage is costed in a written plan, so nothing changes halfway through. Smile design consultations start from free, Digital Smile Design from £500 and a trial smile from £500, with the treatments themselves priced individually. Finance is available over 18, subject to status. Most makeovers span several visits over a few months, and the treatment coordinators keep the plan and the diary in order between them.