There’s more to aesthetic dentistry than bleached, gleaming white teeth. Louisa Wilkins speaks to internationally renowned expert Dr Michael Apa about how clever dentistry can change your features, reduce the need for Botox and take years off your face.

Most of us would pay good money, or even swap an organ, for Jessica Biel’s killer cheekbones or the perfect facial symmetry of Claudia Schiffer. If total facial reconstructive surgery sounds a bit drastic, fret not. According to dental specialist Dr Michael Apa, you would be amazed what aesthetic dentistry can do for your face shape and features.

Dr Apa has an impressive number of celebrity clients and has been featured on various reality TV makeover shows. He pioneered a technique known as Facial Aesthetic Design, whereby a person’s teeth are altered to suit their face shape, features, skin colour, hair colour and even personality. He says, “The general mentality when it comes to teeth is that the bigger and whiter they are, the better. But teeth shouldn’t stand out – it is much better for them to look natural.”
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By Wendy Schmid

Two new anti-aging techniques may mean sidestepping the scalpel – permanently. When doctors realized that facial volume was the key to looking younger, the focus moved from traditional face-lifts to Injectables. The ability to make early incremental changes (and stay looking good) revolutionized the industry. Well, get ready for another seismic shift. The answer to staying youthful could now lie with your own fat and teeth.

Most of us are familiar with the gradual, unpleasant results of volume loss: sunken cheeks, a droopy mouth, thin lips. But deteriorating collagen and fat aren’t the only causes. Much of facial aging is caused by your teeth. “With age, teeth wear down and the jaw recedes, shortening the distance from nose to chin,” explains New York dentist Michael Apa. “The face appears more hollow because it’s literally collapsing.” So if you’ve simply been reaching for injectables, stop. The current antiaging thinking among doctors is to first address these fundamental structural changes. In other words, see the dentist first, then the dermatologist. “I’ve had women come to me who’ve had face-lifts and injectables, but it didn’t fix the problem because what they really needed was their teeth done,” says New York dentist Thomas Connelly.
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Words by Louise Nichol
Photography by Jason Lloyd-Evans

Higher cheekbones without a knife, plumper lips without filler, brighter eyes without incisions, a straighter nose without the scalpel and a smoother forehead without Botox. Sound good? Welcome to the smiley, happy world of facial aesthetic dentistry

His gaze fixes on my mouth as soft candlelight flickers against dove grey walls, illuminating the keys to a new Ferrari 458 which lie discarded on the table.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I met you,” purrs the handsome 33-year-old in a finely-tailored Brioni suit, a smile dancing off perfect teeth as he advances slowly.

Before checking whether you have accidentally strayed into the pages of a Mills & Boon novel, I should explain that the Ferrari is actually parked outside a dentist’s office discreetly nestled in the upper east side of Manhattan and the man in the Italian suit has a string of letters after his name denoting him to be a medical professional and not the hero of a romance novel. Unless instruments of pain are your thing, it’s unlikely that a trip to the dentist will turn into an amorous adventure. At least that’s what I thought before walking into the elegant salon-style reception of the Rosenthal Apa Group in New York. From the champagne-scented amenities in each bathroom to the sound track of throbbing dance beats coming over the Bose sound system, the dental group’s Manhattan base has more in common with a sceney cocktail lounge than the destination for drilling and filling that I grew up dreading in England.
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Dr Michael Apa, DDS
Dentist

What do you love most about what you do? The ability to create. People put their trust in me to design something for everyone in their life to see and that is an amazing feeling. Changing someone’s teeth is the ability to see colour, shape and form and how it relates to each patient’s face. Many of the patients who come to see me have dreamed their entire life of a beautiful smile, it has become an insecurity in their lives. These types of insecurities inhibit how people live, whether it be in a small or large way, it’s still there. In one three hour visit, I am given the ability to take it away. That is special.

How do you deal with peoples’ fear of dentists? Most of the patients’ fears are lifted after the procedure is explained to them. Meeting me, talking with the patients about their expectations and letting them understand the limitations usually puts most peoples fears to rest. Unlike traditional dentistry, my patients are seeking out this type of care to make a change in their life which usually makes them a bit more excited about the procedure as well.
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Cosmetic dentist to the stars, Dr Michael Apa says leading practitioners are looking beyond the glare of the hollywood smile by adopting a new approach to their procedures: Facial Aesthetic Design.

The average smile may be worth a thousands words, but if you’re Chloe Sevigny, Matt Dillon or Vera Wang, your smile is well above average and of considerably more value. In fact, those perfectly formed, seemingly life-like set of pearly whites – the haute couture of cosmetic dentistry – gleaming back at you from film screens and magazine pages, have been exclusively custom-made for their famous wearers with a price tag to match of up to US$80,000. And it seems more and more people are willing to splash out for that “perfect” smile. It’s estimated that less than 20 per cent of the population is born with perfect teeth, and the rest of us can reach deep into our pockets to acquire the next best thing. In a culture that is increasingly hungry for ways to improve our image, time-efficient, high-quality, pain-free procedures are of the essence.
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