Many people considering a smile makeover often come in the office unsure of how many teeth they would like to have veneered. Most of the time they rely on the expertise of my team and I to guide them on how many veneers that it would take to give them a beautiful, natural looking smile. My first response is always, “Not six!”. We call this the Matthew Perry effect. A quick look at this picture and you can see why we are not fans of six veneer cases. Most people show more teeth than six when they smile. For this reason, it is important when designing a new smile to include all teeth that show when the patient smiles or laughs. For most people this is between eight and ten teeth. For those of you with a Julia Roberts-type smile, you may show as many as twelve teeth. When I consult with patients, I have the patient hold a mirror in front of them and smile. I then ask them how many teeth that they see. The answer to that question determines the number of veneers needed for a stunning result. Sometimes I get the question, “I can’t afford to do eight or ten teeth. Can we just do six?”. This is the time when I bring out my friend Chandler Bing’s picture and say “Not Six!”. If finances are an issue, I can actually give the patient a much better result by doing only four veneers and Zoom whitening the rest of the teeth. If you are considering a smile makeover and have any questions, feel free to contact our office and we can discuss your options. Remember “NOT SIX!”
