Having a good smile can change a person's entire life. Sure, it’s fine to have a beautiful face and a seemingly perfect figure, but it really does nothing unless there's a smile to back it all up.
And for Hollywood celebrities with all eyes on them, it’s always key to have either a naturally perfect smirk or at least a really good dentist and orthodontist.
Dentists and orthodontists should be paid as much as plastic surgeons in Hollywood, and more often than not, they are, especially if they’re especially competent and are experts in their craft. It would be surprising if some celebrities didn’t have their dentists on speed dial (honestly, the Kardashian family probably has a LIVE-IN dentist on hand). Heaven forbid a celebrity falls and cracks one of those pearly whites right before a huge red carpet event. Yikes.
Pictures often float around of some celebrity before they were famous, often rocking a high school band uniform and some braces. But there are some celebs who had a perfect smile that they were naturally born with, while others paid their dentists REALLY well in order to achieve that gorgeous look.
Here are 10 celebs whose smiles are all-natural and 10 who needed some professional help to get that glowing look.
20 That Harvard Flash—Matt Damon
Matt Damon popped onto the scene when he was a mere kid (anyone remember the movie called Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts? Well, a young Damon could be seen during the dinner scene in that old, forgettable movie) but didn’t hit super fame until he wrote and starred in the Academy Award-winning movie Good Will Hunting.
From there on out, both Matt AND his perfect, toothy smile were put on the fast track to A-List fandom.
Damon always complained that he was far from an overnight Hollywood success, so when he was finally recognized for all the hard work he put into his work, he could lean back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
19 Before Transformation—Zac Efron
Everyone knows his seemingly perfect face. When he basically rushed the Hollywood scene during his High School Musical days, girls went nuts. But one thing most overlooked? Mr. Zac Efron had some pretty wide gaps between his teeth.
But, thanks to those dreamy looks of his and those ice blue eyes, most didn’t really care.
Heck, the gap-tooth smile even made him slightly more endearing. But, as the years went on, Zac decided to fix his smile, making him even more irresistible. More often than not, Zac would flash his new smile on the red carpet and people around him were rendered defenseless.
18 Oscar-Worthy Grin—Anne Hathaway
Sure, Anne Hathaway tends to like to play “ugly ducklings turned into stunning swans” when it comes to her work (case in point: The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada), but in reality, Anne was always the swan who didn’t seem to go through an awkward phase thanks to her amazing smile. Even when Anne would play those particular “ugly ducklings,” she still could knock 'em out with one flash of that natural smile of hers. And also, that very smile seems to render her ageless and we can bet that when she’s in her 80s, she’ll still be the same stunner with the beautiful smile.
17 Working Wonders—Lindsay Lohan
When she was a kid and starred in the critically acclaimed hit movie The Parent Trap, no one made a fuss about Lindsay Lohan’s cute, crooked little smile, because it just made us love her even more. As she got older and her looks matured, her smile was always rather intoxicating and not even bad in the least (it was oh-so-charming on her in Mean Girls). But when she started to hit troubled times later in life, her smile started to change. Maybe it was reflecting her hardships away from the camera? Whatever it was, she managed to get her smile fixed and was once again smiling on the red carpet as she attempted to fix her career as well.
16 Utter Perfection—Taylor Swift
We’re all familiar with the music videos featuring a “young” Taylor Swift where she’s donning the braces and such, but do we actually believe her teeth are anything BUT natural?
Sure, braces can help you get there, but we’re pretty sure her teeth are just as natural as her magical voice.
Swift has created an entire franchise off her stunning smile and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re also pretty sure that’s why she attracts all her famous suitors (and her soon-to-be muses so we can get another album out of her) and all the media attention and we love her for it.
15 An Athletic Upgrade—David Beckham
The world has always been in love with soccer superstar David Beckham, even when his smile wasn’t exactly considered the best there was. Even with his model good looks and charming ways, there was always something just slightly off about the hunk (which, in all honesty, made him more alluring–just ask his wife Victoria Beckham).
It just doesn’t seem fair when he ended up fixing his teeth, he managed to get EVEN MORE attractive, which we didn’t think was possible at all.
Now, whenever he flashes that winning smile on the red carpet (or when he’s attending high-profile weddings), we always want to just melt away.
14 Gone But Not Forgotten—Whitney Houston
There’s only one thing that’s more iconic than the late singer Whitney Houston’s powerful and beautiful voice–and that’s her infectious smile. Whenever Whitney would sing on stage, her smile would always just stop your breath (visually, while her voice would manage to stop your heart for a few seconds). You all KNOW that’s what attracted Kevin Costner in their movie The Bodyguard. Once she would flash that smile at you, you would be rendered helpless and be thankful for it. The world dimmed a little when we lost Whitney–no one can ever duplicate that smile and that voice.
13 A Country Star, Glam Over—LeAnn Rimes
Singer LeAnn Rimes was only a mere child when she wowed the world with her angelic voice and innocent looks. She seemed to lull us in a comfortable void whenever we heard her sing one of her signature songs “How Do I Live?” (a song that was also sung by fellow country star Trisha Yearwood). Even though Yearwood’s version was released on the Con-Air soundtrack, it was Rimes’ version that rushed to the top of the charts. From then on, we loved her and even her cute smile. As she got older though, she wanted to change her smile for the better–as if you can perfect perfection already.
12 Pearly Playfulness—Vanessa Hudgens
Everyone has different smiles–some aren’t as strikingly perfect as Whitney Houston, but manage to be perfect in their very own ways. Take actress Vanessa Hudgens’ smile: it’s utterly perfect because it seems to match her face so well.
We can’t seem to picture a huge smile packed with perfectly straight teeth on her because it just wouldn’t suit her as well.
Plus, it would change the whole structure of her face and she’s already beautiful as is, thank you very much. So if any haters attempt to say something other than how amazing her smile is, she can just shut them down with a simple smirk.
11 A High-Profile Difference—Tom Cruise
When most of us first saw Tom Cruise, he already had his perfect smile to go along with her perfect charm.
Barely any one of us saw him BEFORE his smile transformation, but yet, here we are.
When we see an old photo of Cruise before he got his pearls fixed, we’re flabbergasted at the transformation itself–it doesn’t even look like the same A-list actor! It was clear he got his smile fixed before he shot to fame back in the ’80s and became the handsome face we all know and love today. But man, is it strange to peer at that seemingly unknown man before it all changed.
10 The Original OG (Smile Wise, That Is)—Julia Roberts
When the movie Pretty Woman first premiered and shot actress Julia Roberts to fame, some people said that “oh, her smile is too big” or “it looks weird on her” and we want to let you know how absolutely wrong they were and they need to fester in their wrongness for the rest of time. As we now know (haters aside) Julia has one of the most iconic smiles of all time and that only proved truer the more mature she grew. The one thing that remains true on her has always been her beloved smile and her memorable laugh, and that will most likely never change.
9 Longbottoming Ways—Matthew Lewis
Everyone knows who actor Matthew Lewis is, and if you don’t, you know him by one simple (if not made up) word: Longbottoming. The term comes from the famous character that Lewis played in the Harry Potter movies, Neville Longbottom.
Lewis, when he played the bumbling character, was an awkward-looking kid with very jagged teeth.
And then, like magic, Lewis grew up and become… EXTREMELY AND UTTERLY GORGEOUS. Just look at the smile differential here–it’s hard to believe that this is even the same guy. He’s just so… well, beautiful. “Longbottoming” ended up being another term for “ugly duckling to swan” in a sense.
8 Timeless And Natural—Rachel McAdams
The one thing you always first notice about actresses who are dubbed “America’s sweetheart” any given year is almost always their smiles. Look at Julia Roberts. Look at Reese Witherspoon. Look at Anne Hathaway. And look at Rachel McAdams.
When we first saw her on Mean Girls, we were so distracted by her perfect smile that we didn’t even pay attention to the weird looking wig on her head.
She even charmed Owen Wilson with it in Wedding Crashers. And FINALLY, it was probably the first thing that lured Ryan Gosling in The Notebook. We hope that we continue to see Rachel’s flawless smile from here until the end of time.
7 Her Smile Will Go On And On—Celine Dion
Whenever we even see a picture of super-star singer Celine Dion, we automatically start hearing the theme song from the Academy Award-winning film Titanic playing on a loop in our heads (don’t deny it). Of course, Dion always had an air of sophistication to go along with her classy looks, but she ended up glamming it up later on as she matured by slightly fixing her smile. The difference isn’t too big, but enough to change some aspects about her already pretty face. Usually, when a celebrity changes their smile, they tend to change the shape of their faces, and it’s always for the better no matter how slight.
6 Toothy Elegance—Halle Berry
Actress Halle Berry has so much attached to her famous name that’s so much more than just her insanely good looks. Take her mind-boggling talent that she’s decided to grace the world with. We screamed with joy when we watched her take the stage to accept her first Academy Award years ago. And she’s even more beautiful than the day we first laid eyes on her face and smile. Halle’s smile can only be described as “utterly timeless” which goes hand-in-hand with her brilliant skill set as an actress. Lately, she’s been taking time off to spend it with her children, but we have to admit we miss seeing her smile up on the big screen.
5 ... You Gotta Get With My Orthodontist—Melanie C.
Everyone girl had her absolute favorite Spice Girl back in the 1990s–just ask any millennial. It was usually the athletic girls who most identified with Melanie C., otherwise lovingly dubbed “Sporty Spice.” She almost appeared to be the rebel of the girl-power welding group (well, her along with “Scary Spice” who wasn’t really scary at all) with her ADIDAS covered ways and oddly colored smirk.
But man, look what growing up has done to Melanie, who doesn’t even look close to what she did back in her Spice days.
Not saying she looked bad back then, she just looked different and more like a child.
4 Radiating Glow—Eva Mendes
It would appear that Ryan Gosling has some seriously good taste when dating (and marrying) some talented actresses with brilliantly radiant smiles. First it was Rachel McAdams, and now it’s his beautiful wife Eva Mendes. Their relationship started out pretty private and they would rarely make any public appearances together (this was most likely because his relationship with McAdams was so very front and center), which made them all the more alluring.
Everyone basically envies Gosling because Eva happens to be one of the most beautiful women in the world with a smile that would make angels cry.
He certainly is one lucky man.
3 For The Better Of Hip-Hop—50 Cent
He is one of the most notable (not to mention talented) rappers in the free world, and his smile is no different. Born Curtis James Jackson III, 50 Cent hit the big time in the early 2000s after living a rather difficult life before being discovered by Eminem. The one thing we never really noticed about him was his winning smile–even BEFORE it was fixed. 50 Cent had a small gap between his two front teeth that was actually pretty charming around that time, but he ended up getting it fixed and still kept the charming handsomeness of his face.
2 Non-Brace-Face—Mila Kunis
If you were a fan of That 70’s Show, the first thing you noticed about Mila Kunis’ character Jackie wasn’t her beautiful smile, it was how dang annoying she was. Her character didn’t actually start growing on us until in the later seasons when she finally settled down into an intellectual relationship with Steven (played by Danny Masterson). Even then, we were a little put off by her. It wasn’t until Mila actually got older and started branching out when we realized how much we actually adore her. And, yes, when she ended up marrying her first love on the show (Ashton Kutcher), we loved her even more.
1 An International Transformation—Kate Beckinsale
If you know who English actress Kate Beckinsale is, you’ll always associate her amazing smile with her beautiful face. Kate ALWAYS had a perfect smile, though it was a little bit different when she was young and mostly staring in Shakespearean movie adaptations. However, the more she matured and the more international she became, her smile somehow even got MORE beautiful if you didn’t think it was utterly possible. Kate is permanently known for her beautiful smile and seems to light up every movie or TV show she tends to star in. And, yes, her smile even managed to make her look YOUNGER with each passing year.
