Veneers - The best decision I ever did make.

I'm no Samantha Brick. I have never been given free champagne from a Pilot or roses from random men in the street. I was never the 'pretty' girl at school. I was mates with the boys - not the girl they fancied. This probably explains why I have such a winning personality and am, by all accounts (well, mine) hilarious (tumbleweed...).

What I have done for the past 23 years is try my damnedest to make the absolute best of myself. It is no secret that I am completely for cosmetic enhancements if done in moderation and I thoroughly believe that if something makes you deeply unhappy and/or insecure then you have every right to take whatever steps you wish to change it.

The photos on the left are the only photos I could find where I accidently allowed someone to capture me smiling before I had my veneers. The pouty fish-lips and no-teeth-smile were my trusty go-to faces whenever a camera lens was shoved in my face but a few photos survive. The shocking thing is that the 'before' photos were actually after two years of Invisalign. I wont even go into the details of my Invisalign nightmare in case my head explodes with rage but lets just say it took years longer than I was first told and cost me hundreds more. Worst of all it left me with teeth that were deemed 'finished' - but I was still incredibly upset by their appearance.

'Jennifer was unhappy with the appearance of her teeth as she felt her smile was a little gummy and she wanted whiter teeth. A total of 8 upper porcelain veneers were used along with whitening and gum sculpting to raise the gum levels, even out her smile and improve the colour resulting in a smile she was much happier with.'

My original teeth looked like my parents were cousins. We're talking proper hilbilly yeehaw buckteeth here. After Invisalign I was very conscious of my 'fangs' - the worst being on my right hand side (the left in these photos) which protruded and were misshapen. I also had a very uneven gumline and a 'gummy smile'. All I had wanted when I embarked upon Invisalign at the age of 19 was to be able to smile like a complete knobhead in photos and laugh in front of strangers and not want to cry. [P.S the 'buttons' or rectangular things on my teeth are brackets from Invisalign]

So, in September 2012 I went to Harley Street Smile and had eight veneers.

I would advise reading my 'temporary veneer fitting' post because it details the initial consultation and the temporary veneer fitting including taking the moulds, injections, pain and photos of the temporaries. This post is more to show you what they looked like before and what the final veneers look like as well as what it's like to actually have veneers.

The fitting of the final veneers hurt more than the temporaries purely because I opted to have the adrenaline-free gum injections. Don't make that mistake. My mouth was really quite sore that evening and night but it felt like the pain radiated from my gums as opposed to any tooth pain. I have to say that as of the very next day everything was absolutely fine!

I have definitely encountered some sensitivity since having the veneers. Walking outside when it's freezing cold sometimes made it painful for me to speak/keep my mouth open and the pain is identical to biting into an ice cream. So, there has been an increase in sensitivity where I will be like 'OWWWW MY TEETH!' but it is not a regular occurrence. I am definitely not in any kind of daily pain and I experience no discomfort or difficulty eating or drinking. I can bite into anything and they feel secure. You can feel the temporary veneers are slightly 'thicker' in your mouth than your old teeth but this is not the case once the final veneers are fitted. The final veneers are bonded individually to your teeth and therefore look and feel identical to normal teeth. I'm not sure exactly what is done to your teeth but I do know that they are not wittled and filed away to 'tiny stubs' like everyone seems to think - I think it is more a case of thinning the tooth out and shaping them slightly so the veneer can be placed over the top.

In terms of whiteness and natural-ness I opted to go for the second-whitest shade and to have my veneers shaped to resemble natural teeth. A lot of people believe that veneers are ridiculously fake-looking due to certain celebrities but this is a completely false representation of veneers. You can't use Katie Price as the prototype for a boob job! I have never once (in real life) been asked if my teeth were 'fake' or if they were veneers but I am constantly complimented on their whiteness and appearence. I do question when someone says 'Oooooo I got LOADS of compliments' but people really, honest to god, comment on my teeth all the time which is a) amazing and b) shows that veneers can look exactly like regular teeth!

Chloe Sims from TOWIE had her veneers done at the same place as me and the website makes it very very clear that she went for a certain 'look'. Each to their own and I completely adore her - but please don't use her or other such 'slebs as your point of reference for dental work! 

'Chloe was very specific about how she wanted her teeth to look.  She wanted the veneers to be very big, very white, and for them to have very little shaping on the tips'

My veneers cost me just under £5,000 for eight (which is an ah-may-zing price). 

If you send an email to Jill@harleystreetsmileclinic.co.uk including the following:

-Photos of your teeth

-What you want to change about your smile

I cannot recommend The Harley Street Smile Clinic enough. I didn't get them free or anything (I WISH) I searched around for years and sent Jill an email and booked in to have them done -et voila!

You can find their website here and their twitter is @HarleyStSmile. The direct link to the free E-Consultation page can be found here.

xx