Ah, great, Great Britain. The land of hope and glory, mother of the free. Birthplace of the Beatles and home of heroic Horatio Nelson.
And, as far as the rest of the globe is concerned, the undisputed nation of nasty gnashers.
That’s right, despite Albion’s illustrious history, push aside the Carnaby Street clichés and Austin Powers revealed to us what the world really thinks about us; congenial and well-mannered, but cursed with old Blighty’s oral blight poking out from our gums.
But, changes are afoot. Or more pertinently, amouth, for thousands of Brits are finally following in the footsteps of our American cousins in seeking out cosmetic dental surgeons to rid themselves of their poor teeth, and give themselves a smile more akin to 007 than Mike Myers’ International Man of Mystery.
And the surge to tackle this teething trouble is currently (Moon)raking it in for the UK’s very best dental experts as a particular kind of patient is emerging as the fastest growing demographic seeking James Bond jaws; namely, successful City men, who simply can’t say (Dr) No to looking good, and are happy to put their money(penny) where their remodelled mouth is.
Britain’s leading cosmetic dental expert, Dr James Kleiber is unique amongst his peers as he operates a City based practice, but also has a stunning dental retreat in the Hampshire countryside; less than an hour from London.
Award-winning Dr James has seen his patient list change significantly over the past three years, despite the credit crunch hitting luxury spends.
“A decade ago”, he explained, “wealthy women made up in excess of 90% of our major cosmetic dental work. They were looking to emulate famous models and actresses and have perfect teeth, whilst the small number of men we were seeing were mostly correcting sporting injuries.
However, around five years ago, we started to get a few more successful men coming through the door wanting to rid themselves of imperfect teeth and replace them with Hollywood smiles. Most of these were City bankers in their thirties and forties, and were embarrassed to be coming in.
Since then, however, the floodgates have opened – perhaps because these first few ‘pioneers’ turned up at the office on Monday morning with perfect teeth, and everyone else wanted the same. Now, successful male patients from the City account for 40% of our client list, and this figure keeps increasing.”
Simon Kahn was one such trader who traded up from his old teeth to something more becoming of a successful man in these image-conscious days when he undertook a smile makeover with Dr James a few years a go.
He said: “Throughout my life I’d always done well and felt accomplished in my career and in my personal life. However, no-one seeing a photo of me would have ever guessed as whenever a camera turned up I shut my mouth completely for fear the world would see my awful teeth. I felt my terrible smile completely ruined my face, and lost confidence in my appearance because of it.
“Last year I finally decided to do something about it, and went to see Dr James for a complete smile-makeover on a lunch hour. He made what would have been a pretty stressful process not only simple but even enjoyable, and talked me through the entire procedure of having intense teeth whitening for my ‘good’ teeth, and veneers placed upon my five ‘bad’ ones.
“I signed up to it there and then, had some x-rays and a couple of preparatory bits and pieces, and then took a long weekend off work to head down to the Hampshire countryside to Dr James’ retreat. The retreat sorted all of my accommodation at the local Four Seasons, and took care of all my transfers, leaving me relaxed about the impending dental surgery.
“Sure enough, surgery day arrived with Dr James’ team making me feel completely at ease before we began the transformation.
“It’s a funny thing sitting back in the chair for three hours, listening to classical music whilst having your mouth worked on, which you can’t feel because of all the numbing anaesthetic, but it felt oddly ethereal.
“Soon enough, though, everything had been done, and it was time to see myself in the mirror for the first time that day. The result was incredible. Everything I hated before about my teeth, I now loved, and it was like looking at someone else. Dr James had also used a bit of botox and fillers on my skin and lips too, which made the transformation even more amazing.
“Afterwards, I was worried about the reaction of my colleagues, but on Monday I went in and everyone was complimentary, and many have since had it done themselves with Dr James. I now feel much more confident at work and in social situations, and I would rate it as one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. Everyone should do it!”
Simon’s story is just one of many as the City of London becomes a more dazzling place to be, in every sense. Indeed, Hollywood smiles are now the calling card of a successful man. Maybe you should try it too. Afterall, it’s better to be known as ‘The Man With The Golden Smile’ than ‘Oddgob’, right?
Dr James Kleiber runs a City of London consultancy and Hampshire retreat, and is considered the best cosmetic dentist in England. Check him out at dentalretreat.co.uk.
Main image above copyright: FreeImages.com/Marinela Prodan
