Open Wide -- at Your Own Risk

June 16, 2006 — -- There's no denying the importance of a dazzling smile, and nowadays just about anyone can have picture-perfect teeth. Temporary snap-ons can give you a celebrity look.

You can even order teeth to look like those worn by specific celebrities, like the Gwyneths -- as in Paltrow, or the Julias, as in Roberts.

But for a permanent fix, you need veneers.

You generally hear about the cosmetic dentistry successes, but you don't hear about the disasters.

Susanne Brown experienced a dental disaster with her veneers.

Brown, a former model, rarely smiled -- even in her modeling days -- because she didn't think her teeth were very attractive. She opted for veneers, which provide a thin shell of porcelain, almost like a fake fingernail, on the front surfaces of the teeth. Veneers can hide myriad imperfections, which in Brown's case were minor gaps.

"I know when you go to the dentist, you're going to have some pain. Take a couple of Tylenol and that's it. But I was in pain for over a month," she said.

The reason? Susanne had badly infected gums. The problem with her veneers, according to our expert, was that the restorations just didn't fit.

Dr. Ronald Goldstein, a leading expert in the field of cosmetic dentistry, said the fit is critical.

"It had to be a perfect fit. If it sticks out from the tooth then the gum can't heal properly and bacteria can get in and there is disease. … Functionally, it's a disaster," he said.

It's taken a year of treatment to get Susanne's gums back in shape. But they won't fully heal until each of the 18 laminates on her teeth have been replaced. Problems like Susanne's are all too familiar to Goldstein, who sees them when patients come in seeking help.

How big a problem? Goldstein said it's huge. He estimates it to be between $10 billion and $12 billion a year. "It's staggering," Goldstein said.

"20/20" saw examples of jobs gone wrong — pictures you won't see on any makeover show.