Simon Cowell Teeth Before and After What Really Happened to His Smile

 

Simon Cowell's smile has changed so much over the years that it has become almost as famous as his sharp comments on television. Search "Simon Cowell teeth before and after" and you'll find pages of old photos, side-by-side comparisons, and dentists weighing in on exactly what happened. This guide walks through the full story — the criticized 2019 veneers, the 2020 correction with Dr. Michael Apa, and the specific design details that separated the two — based on what has been publicly reported and confirmed by cosmetic dentists who commented on his case.

2019 The year his first full veneer set debuted on America's Got Talent — and was widely mocked

74% Share of people in one UK poll who felt his 2019 teeth were "too much"

2020 The year he had the veneers redone by Beverly Hills dentist Dr. Michael Apa

 

 

Simon Cowell's Teeth Before Fame

 

 

What Did His Natural Teeth Look Like?

Long before American Idol or The X Factor, Cowell's teeth looked like an average adult's. Old photos from the 1980s and 90s show a natural ivory shade, with the kind of minor unevenness most people have and no cosmetic work of any kind. One of his front teeth sat at a slightly different angle than the other, and there was some visible spacing near the gum line — completely normal features of an untreated smile.

When Did the Camera Scrutiny Start?

At that point in his career, nobody was talking about Simon Cowell's teeth. He was a music executive working behind the scenes, not yet a face broadcast in close-up, week after week, on some of the biggest talent shows in the world. That changed once American Idol made him a household name in the early 2000s, and with it came the kind of camera scrutiny that eventually pushed him toward cosmetic dentistry.

The starting point: A natural, slightly uneven smile with no cosmetic work at all. Everything people describe as his "Hollywood smile" today is built on top of that original, untreated set of teeth — not a replacement of anything unhealthy or damaged.

 

 

Does Simon Cowell Have Veneers?

 

 

The 2019 Veneers That Everyone Talked About

The turning point came in 2019, when Cowell appeared on America's Got Talent with a strikingly different smile — very white, very uniform, and, according to most viewers, a little too perfect. A well-known industry poll found that roughly three in four people felt the new teeth were "too much," and one UK newspaper went as far as comparing them to a novelty joke-shop set.

Why the First Set Looked Unnatural

Dentists who commented publicly at the time pointed to a few specific design choices behind that reaction. The shade was extremely bright and opaque rather than translucent, which made the teeth look flat under studio lighting instead of catching light the way real enamel does. The teeth were also nearly identical squares in shape, lacking the natural variation in length and edge that real teeth have from the front incisors back to the canines. And there was almost no visible gum tissue between the teeth — the small natural gaps, called embrasures, that normally break up a smile and make it look human were missing entirely.

Short answer: Yes — based on public reporting and dentist commentary, his current smile is the result of porcelain veneers. But it took two attempts to get the design right, and the first one is exactly why the phrase "Simon Cowell teeth" became a punchline for a while.

 

 

Did Simon Cowell Get New Teeth in 2020?

The Visit to Dr. Michael Apa

Yes. After the criticism, Cowell visited Beverly Hills dentist Dr. Michael Apa in 2020 to have the veneers redone. Reports at the time described two long appointments, and by some accounts he brought a photo of his own original teeth to the consultation as a reference point — a detail that says a lot about what he wanted from the redo.

What Changed the Second Time Around

This time, the goal was a smile that still looked bright and confident but felt more natural on camera. The new set used a softer, more translucent white rather than solid opaque white, brought back subtle variation in tooth length and edge shape, and reintroduced small gaps near the gumline — the very details that had been missing the first time around. The result was still a clearly enhanced, camera-ready smile, but one that read as believable rather than artificial.

 

 

When Did Simon Cowell Get His Teeth Done? A Timeline

Looking at his smile across different points in his career helps explain why so many people search variations of "Simon Cowell then and now" or "Simon Cowell 2005."

 

Old vs New Teeth: Key Differences

The shift between the 2019 and 2020 veneers is really a story of two different design philosophies applied to the same person, five years apart.

2019 Veneers	2020 Veneers
Opaque, uniform bright white — flat under studio lighting.	Translucent, softer white that reflects light more like natural enamel.
Nearly identical squares, with no size or edge variation between teeth.	Natural variation in length and edge shape from tooth to tooth.
Minimal embrasures — teeth sat very tightly together with almost no visible gum.	Small, natural-looking gaps reintroduced near the gum line.
Technically flawless, but read as artificial on screen.	Still bright and enhanced, but far more believable as a real smile.

This comparison is also why dentists often use Cowell's case as a teaching example: it shows, side by side, exactly which small design choices separate a veneer smile that looks "fake" from one that looks natural — even when both are objectively very white and very straight.

 

 

Did Simon Cowell Have Dental Surgery?

 

Cosmetic Work, Not Surgery

Not in the surgical sense. Everything reported about his case points to cosmetic dentistry rather than surgery — veneers, which are thin porcelain shells bonded to the front of the tooth after a small amount of enamel is shaved down, typically less than half a millimetre. No tooth extractions, dental implants, or jaw surgery have been reported in connection with his smile makeover.

Why the Distinction Matters

That distinction matters for anyone researching their own options. A veneer-based smile makeover and oral surgery are two very different procedures, with different preparation, different recovery times, and very different costs. Veneers are placed on healthy, structurally sound teeth purely to change their appearance, while procedures like implants or bone grafting are needed when a tooth is missing or damaged. Simon Cowell's case, as far as public information shows, falls entirely into the first category.

No surgery involved: His entire transformation — both the 2019 set and the 2020 redo — falls under standard cosmetic dentistry. No extractions, no implants, no jaw work.

 

 

What This Case Teaches Anyone Considering Veneers

Beyond the celebrity interest, Cowell's smile journey is a useful real-world example of why the planning stage of a veneer treatment matters as much as the material itself.

These are exactly the kinds of decisions a good cosmetic dentist should walk a patient through before any preparation work begins — not adjustments made after the fact, the way Cowell's team ultimately had to do in 2020. At Soho Dental Clinic, this is planned upfront using E-max veneers, digital smile design, and a shade consultation — not decided after you've already seen the result on camera.

 

 

How Much Would a Smile Like Simon Cowell's Cost?

A natural-looking, camera-ready veneer smile doesn't have to mean a Hollywood dental bill. In the UK or US, a full set of porcelain veneers can run into the tens of thousands. At Soho Dental Clinic in Istanbul, the same E-max porcelain material — the type most associated with a natural, translucent finish — is priced transparently, per item.

Treatment	From (USD)
E-max Ceramic Veneer (per tooth)	$390
20 Porcelain Laminate Veneers — Smile Rehabilitation Package	$8,120
20 E-max Ceramic Crowns — Smile Rehabilitation Package	$8,120
Zirconium Crowns — Smile Rehabilitation Package (20 units)	$5,800

These packages include the smile design consultation, digital impression, laboratory work, bite adjustment, and hotel stay — the same level of planning behind the kind of natural-looking transformation Cowell's second set achieved, without the price tag that comes with cosmetic dentistry in the US or UK. You can see the full breakdown on our veneers package prices page.

Curious which veneer type and shade would actually suit your own smile? A consultation costs nothing at Soho Dental. Send us your photos for a free, no-obligation smile assessment →

 

FAQ: Simon Cowell's Teeth & Veneers

 

 

The Bottom Line

Simon Cowell's smile tells a two-part story: a first attempt that prioritized maximum whiteness and uniformity over realism, and a second attempt that corrected course with a translucent shade, natural variation, and small gum-line gaps. Neither version involved surgery — both were standard cosmetic dentistry. And the reason the 2020 version still gets called his "Hollywood smile" without the mockery the 2019 set got is that it was designed to look like an upgrade, not a replacement.