Almost everyone wants a great smile — and Dr. Paige R. Lester of Healthy Smiles of Birmingham understands why.
“Smiles are important because we communicate and express emotions with them,” she says.“A beautiful smile conveys health and beauty and makes a person feel more confident.”
Dr. Lester and her team at Healthy Smiles, located in Inverness, help patients enhance their smiles through expert makeovers. They offer a wide range of high-quality cosmetic dental procedures, including composite fillings, dental bonding, crowns, and veneers. Healthy Smiles also provides KöR Whitening, a treatment effective even on dark, stained teeth.
A good candidate for a smile makeover is anyone dissatisfied with their smile or experiencing functional issues, such as misshapen or crooked teeth.
Some makeovers are simple — such as whitening teeth or placing a bonded filling on a chipped front tooth — but others are more complex and, as Dr. Lester puts it, “involve a combination of engineering and artistry.”
“With a complex smile makeover, I do a lot of pre-planning,” she explains. This includes digital scans to create a custom mock-up of the patient’s desired smile and a meeting to review the treatment plan. The process may require two or three visits.
“In some cases,” she adds, “I collaborate with specialist colleagues to complete preliminary treatments such as orthodontics or cosmetic gum surgery.”
Examples of cosmetic procedures at Healthy Smiles include crowns, which are porcelain restorations that cover and protect a tooth.
“We can sometimes do mini smile makeovers in a single visit using our CEREC porcelain crown technology,” Dr. Lester says.
CEREC — or Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic — is a faster, dramatically improved method for fabricating perfectly fitting crowns, veneers, and bridges using high-definition digital scans and a computer-aided milling machine. CEREC crowns can be completed in a single visit, eliminating the need for temporary crowns.
Cosmetic bonding uses composite tooth-colored filling material to reshape and restore teeth, while veneers are porcelain restorations that improve color, shape, and alignment.
“Sometimes both procedures can be done without removing natural tooth structure,” Dr. Lester notes.
Dr. Lester is passionate about her work.
“I fell in love with the art of esthetic smile makeovers during dental school over 25 years ago, and I’ve worked to perfect my craft ever since,” she says. “I want my patients to love their smiles, and I do everything possible to make that happen.”
The emotional impact is powerful.
“Sometimes patients and I share happy tears and hugs after a makeover,” she says. “I’ve helped teenagers who were embarrassed to go to school because of their teeth, and older patients who always dreamed of a pretty smile but never made time for themselves. Seeing someone go from embarrassed to confident in an instant touches my heart. I can’t begin to describe how rewarding it is.”
In addition to cosmetic dentistry, Healthy Smiles also provides comprehensive dental care and takes the time to give each patient the personalized attention they deserve.
To make an appointment, call 205-991-9535 or visit online at healthysmilesofbirmingham.com.
