Smile Makeover

A smile makeover is a coordinated treatment plan that combines two or more cosmetic and restorative procedures, such as whitening, veneers, bonding, clear aligners, crowns, or gum contouring, to address several concerns with your smile at once. What makes it different from getting one procedure is the planning: the treatments are chosen together and done in a deliberate order, so each step sets up the next one and the final result looks consistent from tooth to tooth.

Most patients who visit Drs. Chin and Pharar Dentistry come in with a single concern, and a single procedure is often all they need. When the cosmetic problems with your smile are more widespread, though, a smile makeover lets our Las Vegas dentists bring the full range of cosmetic dentistry to bear on your behalf. This post walks through how we decide whether a makeover makes sense, how the plan is built, and why the order of treatment matters so much.

When a Smile Makeover Makes More Sense Than a Single Treatment

We only recommend a smile makeover for patients who have more than one concern that a single treatment cannot solve on its own. Common combinations include chipped or cracked teeth alongside staining, misaligned teeth with gaps between them, broken teeth next to old discolored fillings, or a gummy smile paired with short or uneven teeth.

If only one of those issues applies to you, a simpler option is usually the better choice. Our post on the practical benefits of cosmetic dentistry compares individual treatments, and our overview of four common smile makeover treatments explains what each procedure does. A makeover becomes the right fit when treating issues one at a time would mean redoing work later or ending up with teeth that do not match.

How a Smile Makeover Plan Is Built

Every smile makeover is unique, and the precise course of treatment is determined by the conditions affecting your teeth and gums. Our planning process generally follows the same sequence of steps.

Step 1: A Full Exam and Health Check

We start by checking for decay, gum disease, bite problems, and worn or failing restorations. Cosmetic work placed on top of an untreated problem rarely lasts, so any health issues are treated first. Our post on combining health and beauty in a smile makeover explains why this foundation matters.

Step 2: Defining Your Goals

Next, we talk about what you want to change and what you want to keep. Some patients want a dramatic difference, while others want a subtle refresh that still looks like them. We look at tooth color, shape, length, spacing, and how much gum shows when you smile, then match each concern to the treatment that addresses it most conservatively.

Step 3: Sequencing the Treatments

Finally, we put the treatments in order and give you a timeline and cost estimate for the full plan. Seeing the whole plan up front helps you budget and schedule, and it lets you decide whether to complete everything at once or in phases.

Why the Order of Treatment Matters

The sequence of a smile makeover is often what separates a natural-looking result from one that looks pieced together. A few principles guide how we order treatment.

• Health comes first. Cavities, gum inflammation, and infections are treated before any cosmetic work begins.
• Tooth position before tooth shape. If teeth need to move, straightening them with clear aligners first means veneers or bonding can be smaller and more conservative afterward.
• Gum contouring before final restorations. Reshaping the gumline first lets us design crowns or veneers to the new, more even frame.
• Whitening before shade matching. Whitening only changes natural teeth, so we brighten them first and then match new veneers, bonding, or crowns to the new shade.

That last point is one of the most common reasons to plan treatment together. According to the American Dental Association, only natural teeth can be whitened, not tooth-colored restorations. If veneers or crowns were placed first, whitening the surrounding teeth later could leave them mismatched.

Procedures Used as Part of a Smile Makeover

Procedures our Las Vegas dentists use in smile makeovers include porcelain veneers, dental implants, Invisalign®, porcelain crowns, teeth whitening, and dental laser gum treatment. Dental bonding is also a common choice for small chips and gaps that do not need a full veneer.

By using these procedures together, we can often treat several problems in a relatively short period of time. Patients who have significant tooth wear, many failing restorations, or bite problems that affect chewing may need a more restoration-focused plan. In that case, our full mouth restoration service may be a better fit than a primarily cosmetic makeover.

How Long a Smile Makeover Takes

The timeline depends almost entirely on which treatments are in your plan. A makeover built around whitening and bonding may be completed in a few visits. Plans that include straightening your teeth first take longer, because the aligner phase needs to finish before final restorations are placed. Plans that include dental implants also take longer, since the implant needs time to heal into the bone before the final tooth is attached.

We give you a realistic timeline during planning so there are no surprises, and we can often stage treatment around events, work schedules, or budget so you are not doing everything at once.

Planning Your Smile Makeover in Las Vegas

Dr. Robert Chin and Dr. Jessica Pharar are both graduates of the UNLV School of Dental Medicine and completed post-doctoral training after dental school. They plan each smile makeover around your oral health and your goals, explain what each step will and will not change, and help you decide whether a full makeover or a simpler approach is right for you.

If you live in the Las Vegas, Nevada area and are considering a smile makeover, please contact The Chin and Pharar Cosmetic Dentistry Center to schedule a consultation. We will answer your questions and walk you through a plan built for your smile.

Frequently Asked Questions About Smile Makeovers