Dental News - Dentistry and cinema: When science helps art

Dr Massimo Alteri

Fri. 9. November 2018

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In the world of cinema, costumes, make-up and special effects of all kinds are commonly used to engage the audience. Quite often, to make the characters seem more real and credible, even details like actors’ teeth need to be modified and made to look better or worse. All of this is possible thanks to smile special effects, a non-invasive technique that changes the appearance of actors’ teeth as the script requires. This method is still experimental, however, and has not been completely developed yet. Often, directors give up on using the devices produced through this procedure because of the difficulty actors may encounter while wearing them.

Alice Rohrwacher, director of the film Lazzaro Felice (Happy as Lazzaro), a winner of Best Screenplay at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, contacted us and asked if I could modify the teeth of the main female actors, Alba Rohrwacher and Agnese Graziani. They both possessed good dentition with optimal aesthetic conditions, but in the film, where they portrayed the same character at different ages, it was required that their teeth appear to be in a worse condition.

The cast of Lazzaro Felice, a winner of Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. (All photographs: Massimo Alteri)

Agnese Graziani.

Alba Rohrwacher.

Agnese Graziani at the Studio Associato Alteri with Dr Massimo Alteri.

Alba Rohrwacher at the Studio Associato Alteri with Dr Massimo Alteri.

Alba Rohrwacher backstage.

Agnese Graziani's teeth before use of the Dentamask.

Agnese Graziani's teeth after.

Alba Rohrwacher's teeth before use of the Dentamask.

Alba Rohrwacher's teeth after.

Thanks to my professional experience using digital technologies for dentistry, I was able to create an innovative new product: the Dentamask. This dental device didn’t negatively affect Rohrwacher and Graziani during filming, as they could speak clearly, and the director’s expectations were fully satisfied.

With the Dentamask, Rohrwacher’s and Graziani’s teeth appear identical in the film and they maintained the same shape, position and colour for both of the actresses throughout the filming process. Through the Dentamask effects, both dentistry and the film industry took a step forward, confirming that the digital world can have an influence in different areas to the traditional ones.

Note: The Dentamask was designed at and created with the equipment of the Studio Associato Alteri.

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