Transforming Your Smile with Cosmetic Dentistry
Dr. Joe Bell:
I think that cosmetic dentistry has seen a boom over the last several years. The reason for that is that a smile is very noticeable. It’s one of the first things that people notice about someone else, and because of that, because it is so noticeable and people are aware of that, they’re naturally a little bit self-conscious about that, and it diminishes their confidence. Right or wrong, that’s what’s happened. It’s a shame that it’s happened, but it’s a problem that we’re in a position with to help.
Somebody comes to us, and no matter how small the alteration is to the person, if it’s a big problem, then it’s a big problem, and so cosmetic dentistry, whatever that may be, it could be something as simple as just bonding a section of a tooth that’s chipped. Other times, they want to have a full makeover issue, and for them, that’s going to lead toward an outcome that’s going to make them more confident.
What I will tell you, that people that have had really compromised smiles, overwhelmingly, they will come back and they will say, ‘I find myself smiling more now.’ And it is really hard to be a miserable person if you’re smiling. And so, the people that tell us, ‘I’m smiling more,’ or we’ll see a family member and they’ll say, ‘I haven’t smiled in family photographs in 20 years,’ and they’re smiling all the time now. ‘We’ve got all these photographs with so and so smiling.’ That’s a huge difference. Again, I’m not saying that it’s right or wrong, but to the person, that’s made a tremendous difference in their lives, just the aesthetics of their smile.