A luxury watch can be taken off, a Ferrari left in the garage. Your own teeth, by contrast, are always with you. For Nazanin Böhle, orthodontist and founder of the Zurich practice House of Smiles, well-maintained teeth have long been part of one’s personal appearance. “Healthy, well-groomed teeth are a quiet status symbol,” she says in an interview with finews in her practice on Löwenstrasse. As Böhle speaks, a small butterfly sparkles on one of her upper incisors – a “Tooth Gem,” as dental jewellery is now called.

What She Wants to Spare Her Patients

That she would one day sit on the other side of the treatment chair herself, she knew surprisingly early. Not because she liked going to the dentist as a child. Quite the opposite. Her own orthodontic treatment took six years. Several teeth were extracted, and at times she had to wear a so-called “headgear” – which, she admits with a laugh, she naturally wore as little as possible. Unsurprisingly, the treatment dragged on.

By the age of 15, Nazanin Böhle already knew she wanted to become an orthodontist. (Image: provided)

“That made me want to find a better, easier way.” At just 15, Böhle had decided: she wanted to become an orthodontist. The Iran-born specialist grew up in Dubai, studied dentistry and later continued her training in Germany, Madrid and Paris, among other places. She has lived and worked in Zurich for the past four years.

Hollywood is Yesterday’s News

In her profession, Böhle sometimes deals with patients who have very different options from those she had at the time. But it is not just the technology that has changed. The idea of what makes a beautiful smile has also shifted. For years, the goal was to have teeth that were as straight, as white and as flawless as possible – the classic Hollywood smile. Böhle observes that this ideal is now losing some of its shine.

“Modern aesthetics means doing less while still achieving the best possible result.” Correcting a slight misalignment, harmonising the rows of teeth, perhaps brightening the colour – without every tooth looking identical in the end. This restraint is especially important for clients from the financial sector and, more generally, from professions with a lot of client contact. “My financial clients want everything to be very discreet. It should not look fake, but still natural.”

The chair is still empty: a look into one of Nazanin Böhle’s treatment rooms. (Image: provided)

Main Thing, No One Sees It

Anyone who receives clients every day, gives presentations or leads a team would not necessarily want to sit in the office with visible metal brackets. Transparent aligners have therefore also made orthodontics more attractive for adults. While braces were once associated mainly with the teenage years, Böhle says her clientele today is much broader. It ranges from five-year-olds to patients over 70.

The Result Is Available in Advance, More or Less

Before Böhle inserts the first aligner, she can already show patients where the journey is heading – a development the orthodontist considers decisive. The screen displays the possible outcome of a treatment that has not even begun yet. To do this, the mouth is captured digitally. Artificial intelligence then helps plan tooth movements in advance and simulate individual treatment steps, Böhle explains. This allows patients to see how the position of their teeth is expected to change over the course of treatment.

The new smile is created on screen first. (Image: provided)

Faster Beauty – But At What Price?

Treatment times have also become shorter. Cases that once required several years can now, according to Böhle, sometimes be treated within a few months. For simple corrections, around ten weeks may be enough.

Anyone wanting to go even further aesthetically can, however, quickly spend a lot of money. At 440 francs, professional bleaching at House of Smiles is still among the more modest procedures. Depending on how much coffee or red wine someone drinks, or whether they smoke, the result lasts around one to two years.

Small shell, big price: a veneer can cost 2,400 francs at Böhle. (Image: provided)

A Ferrari For Your Teeth

A completely different price category is that of so-called “Non-Prep Veneers”. One of these thin ceramic shells costs 2,400 francs per tooth. Anyone having ten teeth treated in the upper jaw ends up at 24,000 francs. Nazanin Böhle herself calls this treatment the “Ferrari” of her offering.

Böhle Does Not Go To The Core

It is very important to her to preserve healthy tooth substance. “Tooth structure is irreplaceable,” she emphasises. Before using ceramics, she therefore first tries to bring the teeth into the desired position orthodontically.

Böhle is critical of methods in which healthy teeth are heavily ground down. Under the hashtag “Turkey Teeth,” numerous such images circulate on TikTok and Instagram: natural teeth are sometimes extensively prepared before being crowned or veneered.

And What Does the Expert Herself Find Beautiful?

That leaves one final question: what does a woman who spends her working life dealing with aesthetics actually find beautiful herself? “For me, beauty is above all harmony and individuality,” she says. Every person is different – and the result should be just as individual in the end. What matters is not getting as close as possible to a particular ideal, but recognising oneself in the result.