The 2024 Grammy Awards night was marked by female talent. The big stars and winners of the night were Taylor Swift, who broke the record as the person to win the award for ‘Best Album of the Year’ for Midnights. She is fourth in the category, beating Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. Karol G won ‘Best Urban Music Album’ and Miley Cyrus won her first two Grammys. But one thing that stood out about the night was that all the award winners wore porcelain veneers. We spoke with Dr. Fernando Soria, master of restorative and cosmetic dentistry, who has become an expert in this trend after more than 25 years of experience.
HIGHXTAR (H) – Analyzing the smiles of the 2024 Grammy winners, we realize that everyone has a perfect smile. Because this? Do they all have porcelain veneers?
Dr. Fernando Soria (DR.) – Yes, indeed, they all have their mouths cosmetically restored with dental veneers.
(THE) – What do porcelain veneers add to our smile?
(DR.) – For many years we have known the beauty rule of 10 smiles. We know that it is a state of balance and harmony between lips, gums and teeth. We also know that the gums are a fundamental part of the smile and when they are in a state of health and balance in their forms, we deal with the white aesthetics itself, that is the teeth.
The perfect smile is characterized by teeth that show correct three-dimensional alignment, correct height and width ratio, adequate anatomical shapes, size according to the face and lips and finally a color that gives brightness to the face. In terms of color, there are two well-defined lines. Those smiles that are too white in color or those smiles that are more natural looking.
A perfect smile has no separation between the teeth (spacing) or crowding of the teeth. Patients who do not have this rule, we can restore it with dental veneers, (extremely thin ceramic plates that are attached to the front surface of the tooth) as in the case of these celebrities. Ceramic veneers allow us to modify the shape, size, proportion and color of teeth permanently, as well as to close gaps or minor dental crowding.
(THE) – Explain what porcelain veneers treatment is like (how long it takes from the time you enter the clinic until you leave with a new smile):
(DR.) – I always tell my patients that designing a smile is like designing a house. I mean that we need to listen to the patient’s expectations and wishes, so that we can then transfer this personal and individual interpretation of each person to our design and final restoration, always within an ethical and clinical medical framework.
There are two common protocols, traditional and advanced, as well as a third option called ONE DAY TEETH which is done in just one day. The traditional protocol requires 3 sessions: The duration of this entire process is one week.
- A first session of collecting clinical data, photos, videos and a digital 3D scan of the mouth. We work with a whole digital process. With all this information we will make the ideal digital design of our patient’s smile.
- In the second session, we will make a mock-up of our study patient’s mouth and design his smile and show it to them so they can observe and make decisions about whether our proposal meets their aesthetic expectations. If the patient likes the proposal for their future smile, we immediately start with the dental micropreparation and digital molds of their teeth. We finish this session by placing temporary veneers. In this protocol, the patient has the opportunity to see these temporary veneers at home, evaluate and validate the shape, size, proportion and color we have chosen or if any modification is required.
- In the third session, the patient returns to the clinic where we disassemble the temporary veneers and proceed to discuss the final veneers, which will be an exact copy of the provisionals.
Two sessions are required for advanced and accelerated veneer treatment:
- The first session is the same as in the traditional protocol: we take video photos and scan the mouth to design the perfect smile.
- In the second session we start in the morning, in an hour and a half, we do the dental micro-preparation, we take the digital molds. In the meantime, the patient can leave and we start in the laboratory for the manufacture of the ceramic veneers. The patient will return in the afternoon of the same day, when we have already made the ceramic veneers, to give them a final comment. The last option is called ONE DAY TEATH: Here we can transform the smile in just one day! And it is ideal for patients with little time available, focusing on patients coming from abroad or those who are very afraid of the dentist.
(THE) – How important is technique in this treatment for a natural smile?
(DR.) – As mentioned above, there are two types of aesthetics. White aesthetics, with a much easier technique for the ceramist, and natural or biomimetic aesthetics, which require greater artistic skill and more complex technique on the part of the prosthetic. We have to determine each specific case to know which type of ceramic is suitable for the patient, based on its hardness, strength and visual and aesthetic properties. There are lithium bisilicate ceramics and feldspar ceramics. Each of them has its exact indication, depending on each clinical case.
(THE) – How long do porcelain veneers last?
(DR.) – It is a treatment that in a mouth that maintains proper hygiene and is supervised annually by the dental clinic, with its corresponding maintenance, which is crucial, can last from 15-20 years.
(THE) – Can everyone have this treatment?
(DR.) – Aesthetics is an individual and subjective perception, with very personal and particular nuances. Based on this condition, the indication of a cosmetic facial dentistry treatment will be suitable for those who do not have a smile, after having assessed their lips, gums, shape, size, proportion, three-dimensional alignment and color of their teeth .
(THE) – There is a lot of talk about composites, but can we have such a perfect smile? What is the difference with ceramic veneers?
(DR.) – We can achieve a very satisfactory aesthetic result with complex faces. It is a treatment that has remarkable benefits for patients. The key is to know how to select the type of patient profile that is or is not a candidate for this type of treatment. We must be aware that the composite changes color over time, so it must undergo an annual polishing treatment. This color change is increased in patients who smoke, have poor oral hygiene, consume a lot of coffee, tea, cola drinks or red wine. Ceramic veneers are recommended for these patients. Ceramics are inert materials, meaning they do not interact with their environment and therefore do not change color.
Grammy 2024: the best looks from the red carpet.
