Do you want a smile like one of those Victoria’s Secret angels we all seen on the TV screen walking that runway? Everyone wants a perfect smile like we see on those beautiful models who grace the cover of Vogue, Cosmo, Harpers and Elle Magazine. We decided that ask the dentist responsible for those beautiful Victoria’s secret smiles, NYC Celebrity Dentist and Surgeon Dr. Nicholas Toscano on how to achieve that ultimate smile goal.
We posed some questions to Dr. Nicholas Toscano on how to achieve the perfect Victoria Secret and Cover Model Smile.
Q: What are some things we can do in the short term to help us get a great smile?
Dr. Nicholas Toscano: #1 is your dental hygiene. If you want to keep your great smile, you need to visit your dentist on a regular basis. Proper hygiene is a must when trying to achieve a perfect smile. Many of the problems that prevent us from having the beautiful smile we desire originate in a careless routine of teeth cleaning. Brushing twice a day and flossing once a day is critical to a healthy and beautiful smile. Regular flossing will help you get rid of 40% of bacteria. Since most cavities appear between the teeth, it’s essential to include flossing in our teeth cleaning routine. Cleaning your teeth is not only important in keeping your teeth white and free of cavities, it’s also important to remove the bacteria from below the gum line that research studies have shown may cause heart disease, strokes, pre-term low birth weight babies, and many other diseases that can effect your overall general health.
Q: How can we deal with tooth stains?
NT: With age, the enamel on teeth becomes thinner and more transparent and the inner layer, called dentin (dentin is naturally yellow in color), looks darker. Teeth also absorb colored liquids throughout your life causing intrinsic staining of the teeth, which is hard to remove. Coffee, tea, soda, and red wine are frequent culprits, along with more tenacious tobacco stains. Extrinsic stains can be easily solved by maintaining a good hygiene regimen or getting regular teeth cleanings (every 3 months) by your dentist. On the other hand, intrinsic stains may be more difficult to manage. Intrinsic stains are cased by certain foods and drinks who manage to get into the enamel causing discoloration and become more difficult to remove.
Wine, coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, or tobacco, are notorious teeth stainers that should be avoided as much as possible, especially before important events when you will be in the spotlight and you must look your best. Avoiding these foods and drinks a few days before an important event as well as using a whitening toothpaste will have a dramatic effect on the way your teeth will look.
Q: What’s the deal with teeth bleaching?
NT: It’s not a secret that many models often turn to expensive teeth whitening treatments in order to get a perfect smile. Professional teeth bleaching procedures are expensive and can reach up to $1200 per visit. Treatments such as BriteSmile and Zoom are highly popular and their advantage is instant whitening in one visit. If you’re not in a hurry, there are plenty over-the-counter bleaching kits that are only the fraction of the cost of a professional treatment and they can provide very satisfactory whitening that takes a week or two to complete.
Q: Can you talk about cosmetic veneers?
NT: Even if the bleaching is completed by a dentist, there are some teeth that just don’t respond to chemical whitening. Teeth that don’t respond to whitening can be fixed by a crown or veneer. Cosmetic veneers are among the most popular methods that Supermodels and Hollywood stars use in order to hide imperfections and to improve their smile. Veneers are thin layers of porcelain that cover the teeth surface, being able to solve a variety of problems from misshaped, chipped, or cracked teeth to teeth discoloration.
For this procedure, the teeth are shaped by removing a thin layer of enamel to be able to place the cosmetic veneers. The veneers adhere to the teeth, becoming a part of it. Porcelain veneers are very durable, being able to last up to 20 years before needing to be replaced. As an added benefit, cosmetic veneers will be more resistant to stains.
However this isn’t a cheap option, they can run you $2,000 per tooth, so it’s important to like what you’re buying. You also need someone very experienced to do these because you can end up with very opaque, chunky looking or weirdly contoured teeth. You should ask to see work the dentist has done before when selecting a cosmetic specialist.
Q: Can you tell us what a Gum Lift is?
NT: A Gum lift is a cosmetic dental surgical procedure that raises and sculpts the gum line. It involves reshaping the tissue and/or underlying bone to create the appearance of longer and more symmetrical teeth, there by making the smile more aesthetically pleasing. A gum lift often exposed the natural tooth structure that was hidden as a result of the teeth not erupting all the way. The procedure is typically done to reduce excessively gummy smiles or the balance of a asymmetrical gum line.
Q: What other solutions are there for a Gummy smile? Botox and Juvederm?
NT: We can either use a unit or two of Botox on each side of the upper lip. I usually inject Botox into the muscle that’s involved in the elevation of the upper lip, the goal is not to paralyze it, which would affect the ability to chew and talk, but to reduce how much the upper lip is able to elevate. Thus hiding the gummy smile. Juvederm which is a filler is very effective at increasing the size of the lips and making them more symmetrical thus hiding the gummy show of the smile. The key is to make the lips looks natural with the Juvederm filler and not overdo it and make the patient look like a duck as some doctors do.
Q: For over the counter bleaching or whitening, what are your favorite kits?
NT: Crest 3d White Strips which are worn for 30 minutes a day, for 14 days. On average, they lighten your teeth about three to four shades. If you’re willing to pay a little more the COLGATE Advanced LED Whitening treatment is another option. It consists of a LED light tray delivery system that the whitening gel is added to and bright white teeth can be achieved with this product in as little as ten days.
Dr. Nicholas Toscano @drtoscanodds spent 13-years with the United States Navy, where he completed a 4 year surgical residency at the prestigious Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, “The President’s Hospital” in Bethesda, MD. During his time in the Navy, he received two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Medal. He acquired one of his Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for definitive life-saving treatment of a patient. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and the International Congress of Implantologists. He has written over 30 papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals on the subject of surgical therapy, cosmetic, and reconstruction of the mouth.
Dr. Toscano is currently the official dentist for roughly 20 modeling agencies in NYC including Lions, Wilhelmina, One Model Management, Marilyn, Storm, Major models, Fusion, and others. His clients include Victoria’s Secret models, Candice Swanepoel, Helena Christensen, Jasmine Tookes, Romee Strijd, Josephine Skriver, Georgia Fowler, Frida Aasen, Vittoria Ceretti, Megan Williams, Lais Ribeiro, Daniela Braga, and Blanca Padilla.
For more information check his doctor instagram page @drtoscanodds. www.manhattanperiodontist.com and his street art @1PNEMEY