New Hanover County · Since 1987
Smile Makeover in Porters Neck, NC
A smile makeover is a planned combination of treatments, designed together, that changes how your whole smile looks rather than fixing one tooth at a time.
- Three doctors, one location
- Sedation available
- Most major plans accepted
- Written estimates before treatment
A closer look at smile makeover
Most people who want a different smile have more than one thing bothering them: a dark tooth, a crowded lower front, an old crown that no longer matches, edges worn flat. Fixing those one by one produces a mouth of mismatched repairs. Planning them together produces a smile.
Full detail on smile makeover ›
This treatment in Porters Neck
More than a third of Porters Neck is 65 or older, and almost nobody moves, vacancy here runs around seven percent.
Cosmetic work after sixty is usually about wear rather than color. Teeth that have been shortening for decades change the whole lower face, and putting the length back does more for how someone looks than whitening ever could.
Porters Neck Plantation and Porters Neck Village together hold much of the community's older population, and both are a straight run down Market Street.
Vacancy here is around seven percent, so patients tend to stay with a practice for decades rather than years.
A lot of the restorative work we do for Porters Neck involves replacing crowns and bridges placed elsewhere in the 1990s.
We see patients from across Porters Neck and the surrounding area, including Porters Neck Plantation, Porters Neck Village, Poplar Grove and the 28411 ZIP code.
New Hanover County is the built-out core of the region, growing around one percent a year, with roughly 21 percent of residents over 65 and the highest concentration of employer dental coverage in southeastern North Carolina.
For treatment at this level we do the planning properly before anything starts: records, a scan, and a written phased plan you take home and think about. Nobody signs anything at the first appointment.
This is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
You may be a candidate if
- Several cosmetic complaints rather than one
- Old crowns or fillings that no longer match the teeth around them
- Teeth worn short, chipped or uneven along the edges
- Crowding or spacing alongside discoloration
- A specific event or deadline you want the result finished for
Your treatment, start to finish
- Smile design consultationPhotographs, a digital scan and a conversation about what you want changed and what you want left alone.
- Digital mock-upWe design the proposed result and show it to you before committing to a sequence.
- Trial smileFor veneer and crown work, you wear the new shape in temporary material and live with it.
- Treatment in sequenceStraightening first, then whitening, then porcelain matched to the whitened shade.
- Final reviewPhotographs against the originals, bite check, and a guard if you grind.
Afterwards
Porcelain does not stain, but the natural teeth around it can, so the whitening you did before treatment will need occasional top-ups. If you clench or grind, wear the night guard. It is what protects the investment.
If getting to follow-up visits is difficult, tell us. We can often combine checks into fewer, longer appointments.
What it costs
A smile makeover is priced as the sum of its parts, and the parts vary more than any other treatment we plan. You get a written, itemized estimate for the whole sequence, and it can be phased so the orthodontic or whitening stage is paid for before the porcelain stage begins. Cosmetic work is rarely covered by insurance, though any part that restores a damaged tooth may be.
If you are on Medicare, note that it does not cover routine dental treatment. Many supplement plans include a limited dental benefit with an annual cap, and we will check yours before quoting anything.
In their own words
Hear from Dr. Carter Lee
Dr. Lee on fixing only what needs fixing, and what it is like to hand a patient the mirror after a smile transformation.
Questions we get asked
How long does a smile makeover take?
Anywhere from a few weeks for whitening and veneers to around a year if orthodontics comes first. We give you the timeline at the consultation.
Will it look fake?
Not if it is designed properly. The brief we hear most is better without looking done, and the trial smile is how we make sure of that before anything is permanent.
How far is your office from Porters Neck?
About 13 miles, or roughly 22 minutes via Market Street (US-17) or I-140 to MLK Jr. Parkway. We are at 1301 Physicians Dr in Wilmington, with parking at the door.
Do you see patients from Porters Neck?
Regularly. Porters Neck is part of our core service area in New Hanover County, and this is the kind of restorative work we do most: patients who kept their teeth a long time and now want a plan that holds for the next twenty years.
What are your hours?
Monday through Thursday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, and Friday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. Outside those hours, leave a message or use the appointment request form and we will come back to you with the first available time.
Smile Makeover · Porters Neck, NC
See the result before it is permanent.
Every cosmetic case is mocked up and worn in temporary form before anything final is made. You approve the shape and the shade.
- Cosmetic dentistry is the practice's stated specialty
- Digital design and trial smile before preparation
- Shade-matched lab work with in-person verification
- 50,000+ patients treated since 1987
Afraid of the overdone look? So are we. The brief on nearly every case here is to look like yourself, rested.
Request an appointment
We reply the next business day.
Please do not include Protected Health Information. For anything urgent, call (910) 762-0958.
