Tom Cruise's gleaming Hollywood smile transformation after 'rare' treatment

In 1983, Tom landed his breakout role in Risky Business, around the time this photo was taken. As we can see from this photo, the actor was lucky enough to have had pretty straight and decent teeth to begin with.

HELLO! spoke to cosmetic dentist Dr. Sam Jethwa, President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the founder of the award-winning Bespoke Smile, who said that although the actor's teeth are straight to the untrained eye, it's likely the actor has had them treated since.

"Although Tom's smile generally appears straight, there is some misalignment and it is not symmetrical (if you follow the nose line down, the left front tooth sits right at the middle, meaning the smile is asymmetrical)."

He added: "We see this most commonly when a tooth has been lost, and the remaining teeth have moved into this empty space. It can also occur if there are too many teeth in the mouth." 

This photo taken in the late 1980s shows Tom's teeth again in all its glory. 

Although the alignment Dr. Sam references are visible, there's no real difference between Tom's smile in the early 1980s and this point, except that it's bigger – perhaps due to all the success post-Top Gun, Rain Man and more! 

HELLO! also spoke to Dr. Safa Al-Naher from Serene Dental, Knightsbridge, who gave her thoughts about Tom's teeth before he had treatment.

"We can see Tom's teeth before he had treatment and yes, they're very straight. However, I believe that his front teeth are quite long, which gives that slightly protruding appearance. This look can be very sweet when you're young, like he was in that picture, but as you age a little bit, the issue is likely to get worse." 

She added: "One of Tom's front teeth is positioned in the middle of his face, and as a result, everything has shifted over to the left side of his mouth. His teeth might have developed in this way naturally. 

"Alternatively, Tom might have had orthodontic treatment when he was much younger and it might have been because of that."

This photo from 2002 shows Tom wearing braces, proving that the actor took dental intervention to perfect his smile. As Dr. Sam explains, Tom opted for "ceramic" braces.

"Aside from the metal wire being visible, the actual brackets that work to move the teeth are either clear or tooth coloured. 

"These were a popular, more discrete option back in 2002, but of course, ceramic braces are not as popular now with the likes of Invisalign." 

He also explained why Tom, who already had a reasonably straight smile, might have opted for braces: "Other reasons for people opting for braces who already have a straight smile could be an overbite, underbite or crossbite - the jaw could also be misaligned, which braces can help with." 

Dr. Safa, meanwhile, explained: "When your front teeth cover a significant section of your bottom teeth, it can cause issues if you decide to embark on any cosmetic dentistry. 

"We call it a 'deep bite' and people find that the lower jaw is fixed in that position by the top teeth. What happens is, that your bottom teeth often come into contact with the top teeth from behind and that can cause damage. I believe Tom had braces to push those front teeth up and back a little bit as well."

More recent photos of the Hollywood star show how Tom's teeth look today, and they certainly appear more polished. 

"From looking at these pictures it seems that Tom has had veneers, my reason for saying so is the smooth texture of each tooth, and also the smooth edges," muses Dr. Sam. 

"I also think Tom may have had teeth whitening, as natural incisors tend to be a slightly darker shade than the rest of teeth, but his teeth are all the same shade. 

"However, this could have been achieved through his veneer treatment."

Meanwhile, Dr. Safa explained why Tom's smile these days is "rare" after having "invasive" treatment. "I believe Tom has had veneers or crowns because if you look really, really closely, you can see they don't look quite the same as his other teeth. 

"He's also probably had his teeth whitened. His smile is quite rare by Hollywood standards today. When you look at what Tom's other options would have been, it would be quite an invasive process. 

"He would have needed crowns, which would be a lot thicker on one side than the other. We're finding that in Hollywood people are becoming more conservative these days and they're opting for the more natural look."