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When your dentist proposes a ‘smile makeover’, what they have in mind is making changes to the appearance of your smile so that it is more attractive for you and other people to look at. A smile makeover is not something which improves the health of the teeth, nor does it address any dental disease. In fact, some of the treatments used by some dentists to ‘improve’ patients’ smiles actually weaken the teeth involved and make their future less secure.
Your dentist may suggest a mix of the various different cosmetic dental treatments available in order to make changes to your smile, and so to get an idea of what may be involved before you agree to treatment, we suggest that you should read up about the individual procedures. Suggestions could include crowns, porcelain veneers, invisible braces, cosmetic bonding and tooth whitening.
Like with any dental treatment, certain risks are involved with the various elements of a smile makeover and should be explained before any procedure commences.
One thing that you should bear in mind is that unfortunately, your dentist’s view of what amounts to an improved smile may not match your view. Can you be certain that you will end up looking better from your perspective, or will it just be your dentist at the end of the day who thinks things have been improved?
Additionally, you are not guaranteed to like the end result of your dentist’s work once your smile has been altered, so it’s important to understand the consequences regarding any refunds or whether treatment can be offered in order to return your teeth their original state. It’s also possible that your dentist will show you images of people’s mouth and indicate that this is what you will achieve; however, it’s not guaranteed that that the same look can be achieved given the technical constraints of the dental treatments available and the specific characteristics of your mouth and appearance.
A limited and reversible smile makeover is something which many family dentists will be happy to discuss with you. However, the choice of which dentist you use to provide an extensive smile makeover should be considered very carefully. We recommend that this treatment is not carried out unless it has been considered and recommended by a specialist restorative dentist, one who is recognised as such by the General Dental Council (GDC).
In some cases, smile makeovers do not go to plan. There can be a number of reasons for that. You may have been caused injury during the procedure, or even find that you have been caused additional problems after the treatment was completed. Other issues include:
As this type of dental treatment is cosmetic in nature, these procedures are not usually available on the NHS. Therefore, you will need to pay for private treatment if you want these procedures to be carried out. The cost of a smile makeover can depend on a number of factors, including:
If you choose the Dental Law Partnership to help you bring a claim for negligence against your dentist, most cases are eligible for a no win, no fee arrangement. This means that if your case is unsuccessful, you won’t need to pay any legal fees. If you win your case, a percentage of the compensation awarded is used to pay legal costs. This can be discussed in more detail when you get in touch about your potential smile makeover compensation claim.
If you think that your dentist has badly let you down in relation to a smile makeover, or another type of dental treatment, and you have been left with pain, further treatment being necessary or financial loss as a result, you might be eligible to make a claim. The first thing to do is to contact experts in dental negligence law, such as the Dental Law Partnership, to discuss the circumstances of your case and see if you have a valid claim. The next steps can be discussed at this point, and the process fully explained. You can see more about the process of making a dental negligence claim here.