Cosmetic Dentistry Orange County | Huefner Sensational Smiles Blog

There have been many interesting studies with regard to the perception of facial beauty and what they determined was that facial symmetry was much more important than individual features. Since teeth and the person’s smile are the strongest focus area (where your attention is drawn when speaking to or looking at), the symmetry of a smile is incredibly important!

Unfortunately, most people have at least some inherent asymmetry: one eye might be slightly higher than the other, the nose might be off center, and sometimes one side of the face is longer than the other. With regards to the smile, lips that move higher or lower on one side than the other or show more teeth on one when the person speaks or smiles is an important thing for the cosmetic dentist to be aware of prior to beginning any smile enhancement procedures like porcelain veneers or porcelain crowns. Most of the time this isn’t a significant problem, but for others, like this patient of mine, her crooked smile really bothered her.

Note how the teeth all point down to her lower right (her right is on the left of the photo), as seen from the five black lines. Also, that the bottom edges of the teeth cant (lean to one side) as well, as seen on the red line. Together, these all threw off her smile and detracted considerably from much of the beauty of her face.

To make things more interesting, this patient had some old dentistry that she didn’t like. The teeth and gums appeared as having different lengths. She wanted a whiter, brighter smile that would be even and symmetrical and offset her facial asymmetries. So, taking all aspects and features of her face in consideration here is the beautiful result we achieved with porcelain veneers and a new all-ceramic bridge (replacing her old-fashioned porcelain-to-metal bridge).

I can’t emphasize enough that in order to create a superb smile and result like this necessitated I pay particular attention to all of her facial features. I fine tuned the gum symmetry and length, shape of the teeth using provisional (temporary) restorations, which allowed her to “test drive” her new smile first. After achieving her full approval at this stage I was able to give my ceramist very specific and precise instructions on how to complete the final porcelain veneers and bridge. End result: A VERY SATISFIED AND HAPPY PATIENT!

Dr. Norman Huefner, General and Cosmetic Dentistry, Laguna Niguel, CA