SAY CHEESE
When James chipped his front tooth in 2021, it was the final push he needed to seek out a professional to transform his smile.
He had six of his upper teeth porcelain-veneered years earlier, but James* was not happy with the results: the color was too warm, he thought, and the shape too bulky and round to appear natural.
He sought out Dr. Arthur Glosman, who often sees clients like James.
“A good 50 percent of my cases are redoing other people’s work,“ the Beverly Hills-based dentist told The Looker.
After carefully assessing James’s smile and speaking with him about his concerns, Dr. Glosman recommended that he have 10 porcelain veneers placed on his upper teeth.
“When James smiled, you could see his back teeth, and since we were going to make the new veneers whiter, if we only stopped at the front six, people would see the color difference between the whiter new porcelain veneers and the old, more yellow teeth,” Dr. Glosman explained.
He also noticed severe wear on James’s lower teeth, which led him to recommend another 10 veneers. This allowed the end results to be consistent in color and shape.
At Dr. Glosman’s clinic, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
“I base everything on the client’s facial anatomy: their expressions, how they speak, and how they smile,” Dr. Glosman explained the design process, adding, “For color, we consider their skin tones, their lip color, their gums, hair color, eyes, and the whites of their eyes.”
But the top priority is always health.
“It’s neuromuscular dentistry,” Dr. Glosman said. “I ask questions like, ‘Do you have headaches? Do you have jaw pain? Do you have tension in your neck and your shoulders?’ Once the bite is correct and the gums are healthy, then we move on to the aesthetics.”
To make sure the veneers are exactly what the client wants, Dr. Glosman lets them test-drive the teeth first.
For James, it meant removing his old veneers and replacing them with new, temporary ones.
“During the next two and a half weeks, he was walking around with temporaries, and when he came back, he could tell me if he wanted things changed or modified,” Dr. Glosman said.
After the test period, during James’s next visit, Dr. Glosman placed permanent veneers on James—but glued them with temporary cement.
“This gives him an opportunity to be like, ‘Oh, I love it,’ or, ‘I love it, but maybe we can add a little bit of length here. Maybe this can be rotated a little bit.’ Because once I glue them on, they’re on permanently,” he said.
James was more than happy with his results.
When he left Dr. Glosman’s office, his smile was wider, whiter, and more confident.
“He left looking and feeling younger, stronger, and healthier,” Dr. Glosman said. “I present the clients with the best version of what they already have. Not someone else’s smile—their smile, but just an elevated version.”
*Name has been changed.
