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Keep smiling!
By Joann Snow Duncanson
“I just got veneers!”
That was my friend Norma calling to tell me that she was having her dining room furniture refinished. Or so I thought.
It turns out that what she just got had nothing to do with refinishing furniture, nor did it refer to those new panels they’re putting over our 1960's harvest-gold kitchen cabinet doors these days. Norma, it seems, just had veneers – sometimes called lumineers – put on her teeth!!
A couple of weeks later, she and I met for lunch, and partway through the meal she said, “Well, how do you like them?” I, by then, had forgotten about the veneers, but on examination, I could see that they looked very good – nice and even, and not a coffee or tea stain on any of them.
Since my friend got her veneers, I’ve been hearing about them all over the place. TV spots, magazine articles, and gleeful orthodontists are all touting the virtues of having veneers. According to them, veneers will make us look younger, help our careers, and improve our love life, among other things. It appears that we are on the verge of a whole new era of Haves and Have Nots: those with veneers and those with gaps, chips, and teeth like Aunt Olive.
Actually, smiles have been getting better over the years, even before veneers. I grew up in an era when we fully expected that by the time we got gray hair and wrinkles, most if not all of our natural teeth would have bailed out. In their place would come a complete set of new uppers and lowers – too perfect looking to be taken for real, yet a far cry from the wooden version they say George Washington’s wore. Then along came fluoride in our water, implants, caps, crowns, and all sorts of updated dental wizardry to help us all look a bit more like movie stars.
Oh! And don’t forget the whiteners! Manufacturers started out by telling us that by using their whitening strips for a month or so, we would end up with whiter teeth. Then came a brand that guaranteed it in two weeks, then a week. In fact, if you have a hot date coming up this evening, and your teeth are looking dingy, no problem. I’ll bet you can hustle down to the pharmacy and pick out a product that will give you pearly whites by the time he or she shows up at your door. .
Speaking of hot dates, when I first met my husband, I noted that he had such straight, perfect looking teeth that I was sure they were false. I figured that once we were married I would look for the telltale sign – a set of uppers smiling at me from the inside of a glass on the bedside table. Oh me of little faith – those teeth proved to be his very own - straight, and not a cavity to be found. No dentists ever made much of any money on him; he’d probably never have needed veneers.
As for my friend Norma, her social life has taken a sudden 180 degree turn for the better. You could say it’s because she’s attractive, fun, and a good cook , but I’ve got my own theory. Let’s face it – it’s the veneers!!
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