How size, colour and symmetry matter when it comes to nailing that ‘red carpet’ look
A cosmetic dentist, famous for his celebrity makeovers, has listed his top celebrity smiles – and shared the secrets of how you too can achieve the star-studded.
Leading smile makeover dentist and comparethetreatment.com expert, Rahul Doshi, believes Cheryl Cole, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta Jones, Kate Middleton and Julia Roberts all share the same elements of an aesthetically pleasing smile – and the secret lies in the colour and symmetry of our teeth.
Dr Doshi also lists Simon Cowell, Matthew Mcconaughey and Bradley Cooper as the blokes with the best smile, although warns against extreme smile makeovers, such as that of Big Brother presenter, Rylan, who famously spent £25,000 on veneers back in 2013 and recently confessed: ‘These teeth were the best and worst decision of my life’.
Dr Doshi says: ‘The secret lies in the colour and symmetry of our teeth. The length, width and proportion also come into play and so too the smile and gum line. Eradicating any unsightly gaps or crooked teeth is also key.
‘Exposure to an increasing number of smile makeovers online has increased the emotional desire to look better, so the net result is increase in cosmetic demand.
He adds: ‘Whether it is simple cosmetic dental treatments you are seeking or a more complex course of orthodontics, all options should be explained with the advantages, disadvantage and limitations of options, so that you have all the information to make your own choices and decision.’
Here, we list Dr Doshi’s ‘must haves’ for a perfect smile…
Tooth colour
Dark, stained or discoloured teeth can have a negative impact on your confidence and self esteem. External factors such as food, drink, smoking, old fillings and age can cause your teeth to lose their natural brightness.
Tooth symmetry
Ideally, if we were to draw a vertical line in the middle of your smile, the left side and the right side should be mirror images of each other. This is called the centreline. Symmetry around the centreline of our face is of great importance for an aesthetically pleasing smile. Even when this is not 100% possible, the illusion of symmetry can be created. The front two upper central incisors should be symmetrical in size, length and shape.
Crooked teeth
Teeth that are not aligned correctly give a crooked appearance. They may be rotated, tilted or stick out. Also, there is more risk of infection due to the difficulty in cleaning ability. Crooked teeth can also lead to bite problems.
Tooth length
Throughout life teeth can suffer from natural wear and tear. However, sometimes this can lead to excessive tooth wear and your teeth begin to look shorter. This gives a very aged look and can also affect the way your teeth support the lips and cheeks. This causes premature facial lines contributing to the aged appearance of your smile.
Gaps between teeth
Have you lost teeth or have spacing between your teeth? Missing teeth or spacing between teeth can lead to misalignment of other teeth or bite problems in the future. There may also be too much pressure on the remaining teeth causing excessive tooth wear.
Tooth proportion
For a great smile, every tooth in your smile should have a size that is proportionate to its neighbouring teeth. When teeth are either too long, too short, too narrow or too wide compared to other teeth in the smile, the resulting smile cannot look good. The rule of Golden Proportion describes an ideal ratio of the visible widths of the front six teeth. These are the guidelines for the ideal proportions of each tooth to achieve a beautiful smile.
Width of smile
If you have wide lips, causing you to smile widely but have a narrow arch, then the resulting smile can look too small. On the other hand if you have narrow lips but disproportionate width of smile the smile can look too big for your face.
With a narrow smile the side teeth are often in shadow. A wider smile allows one to see the ideal progression from the front to the back teeth — this is more attractive!
Horizontal alignment
Ideally, the smile line should be aligned so it is parallel to the horizontal line. We measure this by looking at the horizontal line that passes both our pupils in our eyes.
Smile line
The edges of your upper teeth should be parallel to the lower lip when you smile.
Gum line
The gum line connects the highest points of the gum levels of the upper teeth. Ideally this line should follow the line of the upper lip, to ensure minimum gum exposure and optimum display of the teeth on smiling.
Lips
Lips are to teeth as a frame is to a picture! The shape, fullness and symmetry of lips can optimise the ideal smile.
