"Today, using smile design principles, we can make teeth look very real and natural, and make people look 10..20..years younger.. " Larry Rosenthal, Manhattan dentist.

The smile is one of the most positive emotions," explains Manhattan dentist Larry Rosenthal. "Cosmetic dentistry is the ability to change the appearance of a tooth or a row of teeth, and more importantly, it's the ability to change the way someone smiles.

Rosenthal achieves these transformations through the combination of a state-of-the-art technology called porcelain veneering - a process whereby little ceramic covers are custom-made for and attached to individual teeth - and a cosmetic surgeon's eye. In fact, many cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists refer patients to Rosenthal to achieve alterations for which collagen injections or surgery used to be the only alternatives.

Designing A New You

"We call it a 'smile lift,'" he explains, "because the corners of the mouth, as you get older, turn down. That has a connotation of a frown, of aging, of skin starting to sag a little bit. Some young people have it too, by the way. What we do is, by building the tips of the sides of the teeth out, we're able to support the lips. And the pink part of the lip, it's called the 'vermillion border,' will roll up, and all of a sudden your lip will be fuller permanently. It's all because the teeth were set in the right place and were designed properly. That is the essence of true smile design."

How and How Much?
To get a star-quality ceramic smile, the cost can reach astronomical levels, depending on how much work your mouth needs. Individual veneers range between $700 and $1500 per tooth, so a whole mouth restoration can run into the five-figure range. However, Rosenthal says there are cosmetic dentistry options for every price range and sometimes all a patient really needs is one or two veneers, combined with bleaching and other techniques. Simple in-office chemical bleaching, for example, only costs a few hundred dollars, and laser bleaching runs about $1,000.