The $100,000 Smile

Philadelphians are shelling out buckets for paparazzi- worthy grins. Want your own?
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Photo: Svetlana Damjanac/iStock

Plump your pout
No matter how pearly those whites are, shrinking lips stack years onto your smile. A well-placed shot of lip filler, like Restylane or Juvederm, adds a touch of youthful volume. $450 to $800 per syringe at Deme, 2200 Arch Street, suite 102, 215-561-3363 and 744 Lancaster Avenue, suite 100, Wayne, 610-688-3363; demeonline.com.

Spring for a total makeover
The most dramatic way to dazzle up a deteriorating smile: Pi Dental’s Teeth in a Day procedure, which installs an entire set of new teeth in one visit. How it works: An hours-long, while-you’re-awake surgery secures a custom, temporary set to titanium implants and … Voilà! A gorgeous, cavity-proof kisser.  Three months later, a permanent, steak-chomping-approved porcelain or ceramic set is installed. Depending on materials, a full set can cost $100,000. From $18,000 per arch at Pi Dental Center, 467 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Washington, 215-646-6334, dentalimplants-usa.com.

Renovate and rework
Whether you want to perfect a single tooth or all of them, porcelain crowns and veneers laid over chipped, cracked, discolored or too-short teeth create a long-term illusion (most last 10 years or more) of the pearly whites you’ve always wanted. From $1,700 per tooth by Dr. Pamela G. Doray, 1528 Walnut Street, suite 1800, 215-395-6076, pamelagdoraydmd.com.

Score a better bright
Forget Zoom. The crème de la crème of teeth whitening is KöR Whitening Deep Bleaching, a five-to-seven-week regimen of both in-office and at-home treatments that lightens teeth about 16 shades. How it’s different: KöR trays fit snugly, keeping saliva out and bleaching gel in. The result: Nasty stains—even those from tetracycline—disappear. From $1,500 at Pennsylvania Center for Dental Excellence, 11905 Bustleton Avenue, 215-969-4400, pcde.com.

Firm your dermis
No lasers, no needles, no knives—the Ulthera System is the newest noninvasive way to tighten just-starting-to-sag skin around the mouth. Ultrasonic sound waves deliver low levels of heat below the skin to stimulate collagen growth, leading to a gradual lifting and tightening of trouble areas over two to three months. From $1,000 per session at Deme.

Grin without gums
If your white-to-pink ratio slants heavily toward the latter, schedule a relatively pain-free gingivectomy to have excess tissue scraped away. A no-scalpel option: Botox. Injecting key facial muscles prevents the upper lip from lifting too high when you smile, keeping unpleasant pink tissue under wraps. Gingivectomy, from $400 per tooth by Dr. David J. Weinstock, 15 North Presidential Boulevard, Bala Cynwyd, 610-667-2770, drweinstock.com. Botox, $150 to $250 at Deme.
Originally published in the July issue of Philadelphia magazine.

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