Diary of a Smile Makeover

Day 1
I arrive at the surgery, really nervous but excited too. I have always hated my teeth …but I also have a phobia of dentists! I needn’t have worried. Everyone was so nice. The place smelled lovely, candles burning, soothing music. It was amazing. I met Uchenna (Dr Okoye) and she was so calming. I loved that she was afraid of dentists too so understood my fears. She asked me what I wanted, took time to listen and took moulds of my teeth with a gooey material. Also loads of pictures, they kept telling me to smile… but I can’t I’ve spent so long trying not to!

Day 2
I arrive back at the practice. Less nervous today as we are only chatting. Dr Okoye showed me models with the design of my new smile. I could compare on real plaster models what my teeth looked like now and how they were going to look… Fantastic, I felt quite tearful. I wish we were starting today. We ran through how many teeth she would be working on, in my case ten and booked in to start next week.

Day 3
I didn’t sleep very well last night, worried about today. I needn’t have bothered. Everything was so relaxed and almost fun..it is a dentist after all! I was first asked to pick a movie to watch, I chose Mr&Mrs Smith which I have been meaning to watch for ages. I felt chuffed when I found out I was the only patient booked in that day. Reassured me that they would not be rushing to finish! I got numbed up, that wasn’t great but she used a gel to numb my gum first so it wasn’t as bad as I expected.

The movie glasses had headphones so it blocked out the noise of the drill and nothing hurt at all. In fact I got irritated when they kept asking me if I was ok as it was disturbing my watching the film! The time just flew by and when I sat up to see the prototype Veneers fitted, I was overwhelmed and really embarrassed as I started crying.

Day 4
Two weeks later and it is time to fit the real veneers. Everyone has been commenting on how well I looked and asking if I had changed my hair or been on holiday. The prototypes looked so natural, not fake at all people haven’t been pointing at my teeth which I was afraid would happen. The process was similar to last time but shorter. This time I chose Sex and the City.

Dr Okoye bonded the veneers on with a special light that looked like a laser and they looked fantastic. The whole team was on a high with me, everyone came in to have a look and I felt like I had won the lottery or something! This is the best money I have ever spent. My self-esteem has rocketed, I cannot stop grinning. I catch myself in shop windows and do a double take when I realize it is me. I look younger, my lips are fuller also. I was considering getting work done to my lips but it’s not needed. Dr Okoye calls it the ‘collagen lift’ effect and apparently it happens very often.