FOR A SMILE
wedding pictures from June this year, my teeth look bright white.
‘it’s changed my whole life. i still have a dream of being a teacher. Whereas before i would never have had the confidence, nothing is holding me back now.’
lora hubbard, 31, a call centre trainer from ipswich, feels the same way. She admits she gets ‘ emotional’ thinking about life before dental treatment.
‘My teeth were quite crumbly and soft thanks to steroid treatment for Crohn’s disease when i was younger and they were not a nice colour either,’ says lora, who has two children Brooke, six, and AubreyJai, three, with husband Chris, 29, a civil engineer.
‘They would break all the time and i’d cry for a week. My daughter Brooke once said to me that i never smile in photographs and that upset me.
‘But until recently i’ve never been able to justify spending so much money on myself. it felt selfish. it was my husband who said: “let’s just go for it and make that appointment.” he could see how much it was affecting my life.
‘i went to see Dr Richard Marques at Wimpole Street Dental and have never looked back.
‘A very generous family member gave me £6,000 to start the treatment. To date, i have spent £15,000 — however, the final bill could top the £50,000 mark.
‘We’ve cut back on meals out and clothes although we make sure the children don’t want for anything. As a trainer in a call centre, i’ve been able to put in extra hours. The work started in January of this year and took nine months for my top row of teeth to have porcelain veneers.
‘There is still some work to go and i’m having the bottom teeth done next month. But it’s the best thing i ever did.
‘We’re a happier family because i’m so much happier in myself. We’re doing more things together, taking more photographs and my children are noticing me smile.
‘When i looked in the mirror for the first time, i just cried. i didn’t expect them to look that amazing. i smile from the minute i get up to the minute i go to bed.’
The costs are daunting, but dentists say they are offering a service that requires a high degree of skill and expertise. ‘The costs incurred in providing dental treatment are significant,’ says a spokesperson for the British Dental Association. ‘ They include premises, payment of staff, the purchase and running of complex equipment and the use of highly specialised materials.
‘Dentists operate in different ways and use different equipment, laboratories and materials. it’s also possible that part of charges may also include preparatory work to ensure people are in a good state of oral health before the cosmetic treatments themselves are carried out.’
Sales executive Jilly Booth, 53, from Manchester, believes her new teeth are better than any other luxury.
‘i came to the conclusion that i could spend money on a car, a watch or a ring but my smile is bang in the middle of my face and i’m going to wear it every day so i’m going to have value for money,’ she says.
‘it’s silly things like lipstick — before i wouldn’t wear pale lipsticks because they made my teeth look worse. Now, though, i’m known at work as “the girl with the smile”.’
Jilly, a former model, has had teeth trouble since her teens when she fell and lost a front tooth, which then developed abscesses. For decades, she spent thousands on maintaining her ‘bridge’ (dental work to plug gaps left by missing teeth) but was never happy.
‘last September, i decided enough was enough. in my sales job i was always thinking about my mouth. i wouldn’t smile much and not smiling can be a bit of hindrance when you’re in sales. Plus my bridge was affecting my confidence.
‘Once i was on a date with a guy and it fell out while i was talking to him and i was mortified. A friend had some amazing dental work at Kiss Dental.
‘Not only did her teeth look great but she lost weight, and became so animated and vibrant. her confidence levels soared.’
With money that she had saved from her sales commission, Jilly decided to have porcelain implants, first on the bottom jaw and then on the top jaw six weeks later.
‘it was a lot of money — around £20,000 for the main part of the treatment and i’ll have to pay to maintain it — but i’d already spent tens of thousands on my mouth and was still not happy.
‘At least now, i’m never going to have to worry about fillings or root canal again. i could spend lots of money on face creams but a great big smile would make me look so much younger.
‘i started treatment in September last year and we were finished by March.
‘every single tooth is an implant but they look completely natural. i chose the colour and the shape of the teeth i wanted and when the work was finished, i wanted to go and put some red lipstick on straight away. i’ve had so many compliments and now i can’t stop smiling.’