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Pricey Veneers Have Made Hollywood Smiles Too Perfect; With $60,000 smiles now de rigueur among actors, not everyone is smiling. Make-up artists are forced to fit actors with dirty-looking dentures and more realistic prosthetics to play everyday people.

With $60,000 smiles now de rigueur among actors, not everyone is smiling. Make-up artists are forced to fit actors with dirty-looking dentures and more realistic prosthetics to play everyday people.

Sakamoto — who has conjured distinctive pearlies for Sarah Paulson’s Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story and Colin Farrell’s upcoming titular The Penguin — compares wearing prosthetic teeth to donning tailored clothing, which prompts performers to express their bodies in new ways. “You can add a nicotine-and-coffee look.” More involved is producing prepainted micro-thin dentures, as Tinsley recently did for Annette Bening on an unnamed 1930s-set project: “All she has to do is pop them on between takes.” This is the best approach for stars whose characters have crooked, chipped or missing teeth. Dental technician Gary Archer — who’s spent three decades tailoring teeth for hundreds of productions, including Austin Powers’ gnarly smile and Mrs. Doubtfire’s dentures — utilizes a method of vacuum-forming plastic akin to Invisalign.

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