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Teeth veneers and gold crowns are passé. It is time to flash the ‘crystal smile’. Sensing a business opportunity in this fad of placing crystals on teeth, Apollo Hospitals’ dental venture Alliance Dental Care is looking to tie up with Swarovski dealers.
“Crystal smile is a growing trend especially in the fashion conscious markets of Delhi and Mumbai. Several dental clinics have started offering this as part of their cosmetic services. It is now also catching up in places such as Chennai, especially among college girls and young working women,” says Dr Arun Kulandaivelu, clinical director at Alliance, which runs the ‘White’ chain of dental spas and clinics.
Crystals come in myriad colours — the popular ones are red and carbon blue, says Dr Arun Kulandaivelu.
He, along with his dentist colleagues, has embedded crystals on to many a smiles, including that of a politician.
This is how it is done: The tooth is first roughened. Then a crystal with a flat surface (without any sharp margins) is glued on to the non-functional area of the tooth. The entire procedure is done in just 15 minutes.
The crystal has to be very small (1-1.5 mm).
It can last up to two years after which the crystal is drilled out without breaking the tooth.
Crystals include both imported and Indian-made ones, according to a dentist from Dentistree, a Chennai-headquartered dental chain.
They are usually supplied by distributors of dental materials and equipment such as Trident and Dentsply. Alliance is working out a distribution arrangement with dealers of Swarovski crystals in Chennai to ensure a steady supply, says its CEO, Mr V. S. Venkatesh. It is also exploring options with branded diamonds.
A crystal smile at Alliance costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000.
Tooth art is also in, says Dr Arun Kulandaivelu. Specialists at Alliance use food resins (natural vegetable colouring agents used in ice-cream) to paint on teeth.
The popular motifs are hearts, scorpions and sun-signs, apart from names of loved ones.
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