"You have a narrow arch," Lowenberg continues. "The best-looking mouths have a nice, rounded curve—like a half-moon. Yours goes in. It could be broadened a little; you would have a fuller smile, and more teeth would be visible."

Lowenberg uses bonding material sculpted on top of my teeth to demonstrate what I'll look like with veneers. After about 20 minutes of fiddling, he hands me a mirror—with a warning. "Most people get a little freaked at the first view," he explains. "Their smiles look better, but it doesn't look like them."

He's right. It's odd. Unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. In fact, much improved.

"This really fills out your face," observes Lituchy. "It softens your look."

By the time the hour-long appointment is over, I don't want to part with the temporaries. Suddenly my own teeth are abhorrent to me.