More and more people are seeking professional help to im­prove their physical appearance. The boom in cosmetic surgery and popularity of the “Extreme Makeover” television show indi­cate that people hunger to look healthy and young.

The science and art of den­tistry has matured to such a level that it is possible to restore your teeth to a young appearance while improving their function. As a result, your younger appear­ance lasts. Comprehensive restoration of your smile results in not only beauty but also improved health.

As part of your comprehen­sive evaluation, you and your dentist may have had a discus­sion regarding the appearance of your teeth and changes you would like to make. This may have been as simple as wanting to whiten your teeth or as com­plex as wanting to change their size and position. If you haven’t had that discussion in a while and want to talk about possible changes to your smile, make an appointment to discuss your desires and concerns.

After spending time with all the diagnostic aids gathered dur­ing the evaluation process, your dentist will make suggestions on how best to achieve your esthet­ic desires for your smile.

The best dentists understand that comprehensive dentistry in­cludes creating the most esthetic results possible and that by re­storing the proper form to the dentition, naturally beautiful and long-lasting results will follow.

The explosion in new tech­nologies gives dentists wonderful techniques and materials to cre­ate natural beauty in a manner that was not achievable a few short years ago. Your dentist may suggest a number of ways to help you maximize the results you desire.

If you are wondering what the possibilities might be for yourself, the best dentists can help create a vision for you as you discover together what might work for you. Your dentist might prepare a wax model of what is possible in your mouth. Your den­tist might show you “before” and “after” pictures of other individu­als who had similar issues. You might spend time looking at images of your face and smile and altering those images until they reflect what you would like to achieve.

Whatever form the envision­ing process takes, it is important to understand what you most want and then determine with your dentist how it can happen.

Jenny was a suc­cessful sales representative for a large pharma­ceutical company. For a long time she had wanted her smile to reflect the vitality she felt inside. After con­versations with her dentist about what she hoped to achieve, careful treatment planning, periodontal cleaning, tooth whitening, a period of wearing provisional crowns, and final placement of artistically creat­ed ceramic crowns, Jenny was over­joyed with the results.

Because her “makeover” was done carefully, the results will be long lasting and are indeed naturally beautiful. The results can be spectacular!