Regis Philbin recently had his teeth done
Sharon Best
Lituchy: On the other hand, Lauren Hutton has a gap between her two front teeth and it looks great. It's part of her personality.
Lowenberg: The same could be said for David Letterman.
...>>>
(Can you name the smile?)
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Dentists to the Stars
By Glenn Gordon
Think all models and movie stars are born with perfect pearly whites? Think again. Dentists to the stars Gregg Lituchy (at left) and
Marc Lowenberg (far left), whose offices can be found on swanky Central Park South in New York City, have seen many a famous
bicuspid in their day. Their extensive celebrity client list includes supermodels Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, Friends star
Courtney Cox Arquette, comic Chris Rock and domesticity diva (and reported perfectionist), Martha Stewart. We sat down with these
accomplished dentists to find out how they make smiles -- celebrity and otherwise -- sparkle.
rd.com: Okay, guys, I promise this interview won't hurt a bit. What's the best way to getting a movie-star smile for those of us who
were not born with one?
Lituchy: Porcelain veneers. They totally transform your smile. Not only can they give you the perfect color and brightness, but you
can change the shape of your teeth, close spaces, fix chips, straighten teeth that are crooked -- it's like instant orthodontics.
Plus, porcelain doesn't stain, so you can drink coffee, tea and red wine without worries. In just two appointments -- Tuesday,
Thursday -- we can give you a smile makeover. People will notice you look great, but not know why.
rd.com: So getting porcelain veneers is the hottest procedure right now?
Lituchy: Yes. We like to say it's the "Mercedes of dentistry," because it's expensive, but high quality. If you're doing 8 teeth,
that will run you $12,000 [prices vary from dentist to dentist], but people go out and buy expensive cars for much more, and this is
something that you have with you 24 hours a day for many years to come. They're as unlikely to break or chip as your real teeth.
Of course, far less expensive is bleaching [$800 to bleach all teeth]. We provide our patients with bleaching kits to take home.
There's also laser bleaching. While laser will not look better than home bleaching, it will get you the desired result faster. The
problem with any kind of bleaching, however, is that it's unpredictable and you don't always get an even or long-lasting result.
rd.com: Your practice is known for attracting a lot of celebrities. But aren't they nervous when they come to you? This is a
dentist's office after all!
Lowenberg: Not really. We're cosmetic dentists, so even if we're working on 8 to 20 teeth, it's not as if we're filling cavities.
Plus, we have a massage therapist in the waiting room. After the masseur works on patients for 15 minutes, they're totally relaxed.
We also have a TV in every room, so patients have a good distraction. But frankly, with all the advancements, most of dentistry
really doesn't hurt anymore. As a matter of fact, not going to the dentist probably hurts more, because you may end up with a
toothache!
rd.com: Is there a difference between what celebrities want done to their teeth compared to the rest of us?
Lituchy: Not really. Some celebrities have naturally beautiful teeth, and others have to have work done on them -- just like
everyone else. The only difference is that celebrities are in the spotlight. Still, your average person who has been walking around
with crooked teeth, or yellow and brown teeth, and has been embarrassed about that, wants to have a beautiful smile as much as a
celebrity. They may not be in the Hollywood spotlight, but they are in the spotlight in their own life.
rd.com: You know the way people come to their hairdressers with a picture of Jennifer Aniston? Do people come to you with a picture
of, say, Julia Roberts and say, "Give me teeth like this"?
Lowenberg: Yes, sometimes. Patients will say, "I want my front teeth to look like [model] Niki Taylor" or "I want a big smile like
Julia Roberts." But while most people know that they like a certain celebrity's smile, they don't know why. For example, everyone
knows that Julia Roberts has an amazing smile. But, as dentists, we know the reason is that when she smiles, she shows nearly every
tooth in the upper part of her mouth. The average person shows off 8 top teeth when they smile. Some people with really big smiles,
like Julia or Whitney Houston, show even more, maybe 10 to 12 teeth. This is what is known in dental terms as a "wide arch." If
someone says they want a smile like Julia Roberts and the patient has a narrow arch, we make the veneers on top of the teeth wider
so their smile shows more teeth.
Lituchy: Another popular one people ask for is Claudia Schiffer. If someone asks for her teeth, it means that they want their two
front teeth to be substantially longer than the others. This makes the two front teeth dominant, which, when done right, is a look
most people find very sexy.
Lowenberg: As you get older, into your late 40s, 50s and 60s, from years of wearing them down, the length of your teeth gets shorter
and because of a loss of muscle tone, your lip sinks down. So you end up showing less tooth and even real teeth can start to look
like dentures. So we rejuvenate the smile by lengthening the teeth and building out the tops to give more support to the upper lip.
For some patients, we might raise the gum line, which we can achieve with a laser.
rd.com: Is there a celebrity people don't want their teeth looking like?
Lituchy: Regis Philbin recently had his teeth done --not by us-- and they're so white, so bright, they're the color of paper. So
many patients specifically bring him up as an example of what they don't want. His teeth just don't look real.
Lowenberg: But there are people who naturally don't have great teeth, and it works for them -- Tom Cruise, for example.
rd.com: Whose teeth would you like to get your hands on?
Lowenberg: Madonna's. Her teeth are great, but she's at an age and a point in her career that I think she could benefit from teeth
that have a better shape, are more symmetrical, and are wider -- what I would call a "cover girl" smile. I would definitely close
the gap between her front teeth.
Lituchy: On the other hand, Lauren Hutton has a gap between her two front teeth and it looks great. It's part of her personality.
Lowenberg: The same could be said for David Letterman.
rd.com: Is there a difference between what looks good for men and women?
Lowenberg: Men's teeth tend to be squarer in shape, while women's teeth are curvier. So you can actually give a man a
stronger-looking smile or a woman a softer one by how you shape their veneers.
Lituchy: Plus, a woman can pull off really bright white teeth, but that look doesn't look good on a man, which brings us back to
poor Regis!
rd.com: It must be fun making people look better.
Lituchy: The best part of what we do is helping people to feel better about themselves. When people are proud of their teeth, they
smile more. Here's my favorite story: I had a patient, she was 40 years old, unmarried, and never liked her teeth, so I veneered
them. That very night, she went out to a bar to celebrate her new look and she met the man who would one day become her husband. I
always tease her that it's because I made her teeth look so good, but what she says -- and it's true -- is that she was so proud of
her smile, that she couldn't help smiling a lot, which made her look so friendly and approachable. Her future husband couldn't
resist. Of course, we can't make any promises to future patients, but you never know.
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