Announcer: L.A's the Mecca for plastic surgery. And the most silicone enhanced city on the planet. For eight self confessed ugly ducklings arriving from the U.K. it's the beginning of a dramatic and emotional journey.
Lindsey: Yeah! (Laughter)
Dr. Bill Dorfman: She just won the lottery. She won the tooth lottery.
Announcer: Their here to meet the gurus who transform Hollywood 's rich and famous.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: You know, saying to somebody, I am the best.
Dr. Gerald Minete: Southern California is the capital of large breasts and large breast implants.
Announcer: Now the surgeon's to the stars are posed to transform eight women unhappy with the way they look. This is the reality of our million-dollar makeover.
[Music Playing]
Announcer: This is Lindsey's story. Forty-nine year old Lindsey McCurdy is one of thousands of women who applied to Brand New You. Lindsey is desperate for total body surgery and wants plastic surgery to change her life.
Lindsey: I'm nearly 50; I want to do an awful lot with my life. I don't want to be this frumpy little shriveled up prawn.
Announcer: To give her the new face and body she desperately wants will require hours of extreme surgery. Decades of hard drinking and smoking have ravished her face and destroyed her teeth. Five kids and no exercise have reeked havoc with her waistline and left her belly sagging. To create the brand new Lindsey McCurdy will cost a whopping $350,000. A total makeover will not be the first time Lindsey's life has drastically changed. She was a stay at home mum until ten years ago when husband Trevor suffered a heart attack. When Lindsey became the soul breadwinner, she put herself through university and landed herself a high-powered job.
Lindsey: I put on events for businesses. I've met lots of interesting people. This year alone I've got invited to the Queen's garden party. So I met the Queen and Prince Charles.
Announcer: Lindsey's blossoming career has given her a new lease on life. But she still feels her looks are letting her down. Success to me is people look at me and saying, You look well. You look good for your age. Your body looks fantastic. That will be a success.
Announcer: The constant reminder of the looks she's lost are her brood or gorgeous looking daughters.
Female Speaker #1: She doesn't really make an effort with her appearance, but I think that's because she's kind of given up with what she looks like now. She puts herself down quite a lot. I think she feels quite insecure about herself.
Announcer: Lindsey's not the only one desperate for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Male Speaker #1: Why don't you tell me what you don't like about yourself?
Announcer: Thousands applied, hundreds were interviewed. But only a handful have been selected to undergo the battery of medical and psychological tests required for such extreme surgery. For the last few weeks Lindsey and her family have been waiting to hear if she's been chosen for the radical transformation.
Lindsey: Hello.
Sarah: Hello, Lindsey. It's Sarah from Brand New You.
Lindsey: Hello, Sarah.
Sarah: How are you darling?
Lindsey: I'm fine thanks.
Sarah: Well, would you like to come to L.A. on Wednesday with us?
Lindsey: Sata. Sata . I'm going.
Female Speaker #1: Oh, brilliant _________ mum.
Lindsey: I'm going.
Everybody: Yeah. (Clapping)
Lindsey: Kiss. Kiss.
Female Speaker #2: This is our mum and she's going to come back looking completely different. Go away looking one way, come back another. It's just - just a lot to comprehend really. It's just unbelievable. It's like you put in an application form and your whole life is going to change.
Announcer: Lindsey is in for the most dramatic change of her life. In the capital of plastic surgery, we've assembled a team of the worlds leading cosmetic surgeons. There earn millions by transforming the looks of Hollywood 's rich and famous. Charged with rejuvenating her looks is one of the worlds leading facial cosmetic surgeon, who pioneered the use of Botox. Dr. Paul Nasseff.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Face life surgery can't stop the ageing process but it really can bring back the clock.
Lindsey: I'd like the lines changed in my face. I'd really like my eyes done specially the bag underneath my eyes, which always make me look, tired. So I'd like them to be uplifted there so this excess flesh.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: She needs a complete facial rejuvenation. I think she'll be a great candidate for surgery. We'll make her look fantastic.
Lindsey: Then I'd quite like to have a tummy tuck if possible and the fat sucked out as well.
Announcer: The guru transforming her body, leading edge cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Lance Wyatt.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Clearly she's not a teenager, but we're trying to do really is address some of the problems that have happened during pregnancy and that's to address the stomach pouch. To address the excess skin, get rid of some of that fat. Really tighten things up. She can have a wonderful appearance.
Lindsey: I'd really like to have dentistry work on my teeth. I've had some really bad dentistry work done on it a few years ago, so I've like it, when I smiled I really had nice mouth full of teeth.
Announcer: Giving her, her Hollywood smile, the dentist of the stars, Dr. Bill Dorfman.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Talk about bad teeth. It's not that she has bad teeth. Lindsey has no teeth. What we're going to do will blow her mind.
Male Speaker #2: Welcome to America .
Announcer: Coming up next. Lindsey arrives in L.A. and takes the first steps in fulfilling her dreams. She'll go under the knife in a series of revolutionary procedures as the worlds leading surgeons turn back time.
[Silence]
Male Speaker #2: Welcome to America .
Announcer: Forty-nine year old grandmother, Lindsey McCurdy has come to Los Angeles for a life changing makeover.
Lindsey: I don't want to be this frumpy little shriveled up prawn. When I look in the mirror, what I see is the lot she feel inside.
Announcer: But with $350,000 worth of surgery the world's top surgeons will transform her. Lindsey's first morning in L.A. is going to be hectic. She's going to meet all the surgeons so they can thoroughly examine her and come up with the plan to transform her.
The first appointment is with leading facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Paul Nasseff. He's world renowned for his cutting edge surgical techniques. That leave few scars and create a natural look.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: If we look at Lindsey's face, she looks pretty tired. She looks aged. And so our goal is to completely rejuvenate her face. Elevate the sagging skin in the eyebrows and help soften these wrinkles. Our goal is to give her a new fresh appearance.
Lindsey: It's because you're my magic Simon, about actually being her and being in L.A. and just thankful for all of that to happen. It's like bring it on.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Lindsey, Dr. Nasseff. How are you?
Lindsey: Fine thank you.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Welcome.
Lindsey: Lovely, it's lovely to come here.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: You got in last night?
Lindsey: Last night, yes. So it's my first day.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Lindsey, let me show you a mirror. What we want to talk about doing with you, okay?
Lindsey: Lovely.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Take a look in the mirror. Now, your eyebrows are a little low and our goal, hold that up straight for me. Is to actually elevate the eyebrow so it's above the boney rim right here. Not too high that you'll look fake or look scared or too excited. You know you still have a little bit of this extra skin right here. We're going to go ahead and remove a little bit of that. So you'll have a little incision right inside the crease here. Okay? So what we'll now discuss is the lower face-lift. It's going to actually elevate the jowl, show more of the neckline and jaw line. We're going to be lifting in a vertical direction and keep everything nice and natural. You'll look great. You'll look great.
Lindsey: Sure I will. Thank you very much.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Okay.
Announcer: Lindsey's next appointment is at the world famous Cedar Sinai hospital. She's going to meet award winning body surgeon, Dr. Lance Wyatt. He's' renowned for the great results he gets from surgically sculpting bodies.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: I would say Lindsey has problem areas. She has excess skin. She has the fat deposits and these are located through out her tummy region. Through out her stomach region. And after five pregnancies, I'm sure she has muscle wall separation. And we can take care of these problems. She'll be very, very happy. She'll be a new person. She'll be a brand new Lindsey after this procedure.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Good morning.
Lindsey: Good morning.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Well, Lindsey what can we do for you today?
Lindsey: The tummy areas, the excess flesh hanging over, the backside, thighs.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Obviously we do have excess skin here. Obviously there's some fat deposits here in the region below the belly button area. Also, some excess fat deposits right up above the belly button region on the side, too. And also, over here in what we refer to as a flank region and too. So I think the best solution would be a full abdominal plasty incision with a very low placed happy faces incision here. And that will allow us to address the excess skin and the fat deposits both above and below the belly button region. And with some lipo sculpture or liposuctioning we can also address the fat deposits here in the flank region. You'll have a very, very attractive appearance. Will be very comfortable with whatever sort of things you wear, bikini and so forth.
Lindsey: That will be fantastic. I will love you forever if you can do all that for me. That will be brilliant.
Announcer: Lindsey's final stop is with America 's top dental surgeon, Dr. Bill Dorfman. He's the celebrity dentist with clients that read like a guest list at the Oscars.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: When I look at Lindsey's teeth as a dentist. I just want to cry. I mean, she must have had a really, really bad traumatic dental experience. And I really want to change that for her. You know, the face-lift all that stuff, forget about it. This is a tooth story and just doing her teeth alone is going to make her look 20 years younger.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Hi, Lindsey. I'm Dr. Dorfman.
Lindsey: Hi. Nice to meet you.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: You, too. Lindsey, your teeth -
Lindsey: Are terrible.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Worse then terrible. Actually I think you won. I think you actually have like the worse teeth on this whole show.
Lindsey: Fantastic that it's going to be done.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: So, yeah, I mean. Actually you have no teeth on the upper. You've got one and one-half. Take it out. Okay, you hold that. And let's take a look.
Announcer: Lindsey's lower teeth are also a total disaster area.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: This tooth has a big cap. I'm not sure if we can save it. There's a big hole on the side.
Announcer: After years of hard drinking, smoking, and poor dentistry. The bottom set are in a dreadful state.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: These teeth here I'd like to do porcelain veneers on. Close for me a little bit. On the upper, I think, we're going to do a full upper denture. Let me sit you up a little bit and let's talk. There maybe some other options that we can do on your upper. I don't want to, like tell you too much about it yet until I see what our options really are.
There's a revolutionary new dental treatment called immediate load implants and I'm going to send Lindsey in for tests to see if she's a candidate for that. And if she is, she'll walk out with permanent teeth.
Male Speaker #3: Hi, how are you?
Announcer: The surgery will banish Lindsey's dentures for good. Dr. Dorfman calls Lindsey to give her the plans. The thought of having her own teeth is beyond her wildest expectations.
Lindsey: It's just unbelievable, it's like 18 thousand pounds worth of dentistry done in one go. Just doesn't happen. I'm just like where's __________ joke. Oh my dear, I might really break down. To be out of here for show. It's like really setting in about, things that you don't think normally going to happen are going to happen, so. It's different. It's like, tomorrow going to have the operation and then all this work on my teeth. It just like it's very fast. It's like a week ago, I didn't even know if I was coming on the show or not, basically.
Announcer: The surgeons plan to transform Lindsey in just 15 days. First will be the face-lift. Followed by at least 5 days of rest. Lindsey will then have her tummy tuck. It's dramatic and invasive surgery that will take her a week to recover from. And finally she'll see Dr. Dorfman for her new teeth.
Lindsey spent her first days meeting the surgeons. And tomorrow they'll begin creating the woman she's always wanted to be.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Lindsey.
Lindsey: Hello.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: We've have the big morning coming up?
Lindsey: We have indeed.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: How are you doing?
Lindsey: I'm doing fine.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: You're not nervous are you?
Lindsey: Not at all.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: What I want to do now, Lindsey is I want to make some marks on your face, okay?
Announcer: The marks highlight the areas Dr. Nasseff will cut. The direction in which the skin is to be lifted and the wrinkles that will be filled in.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: I'm marking your smile lines. The reason why I take my time and do this now, is this is how I'm able to guarantee symmetry. And so, everyone of my little marks and where my incisions are going to be and also, where I do a lot of my work.
Well, I'm measuring where your incision line is going to be. All right Lindsey, here we go. Are you ready?
Lindsey: I'm ready.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Go ahead and take that and take a look.
Lindsey: Oh, my God.
Announcer: The next time Lindsey sees herself, she'll have a brand new face. The daylong surgery will be carried out under general anesthetic. Dr. Nasseff begins the facial surgery with the brow lift.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: So, I'm lifting up the tissue from the skull. I'm also now working on a little bit of the muscles, in-between her eyebrows. Let me see here. So this in an endoscope. This is a camera telescope.
Announcer: The endoscope's used because it reduces the number of incisions so there's minimal scaring.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: So basically, everything that's holding the eyebrow down is being snipped away. So if we release all these attachments in here. The eyebrow will elevate.
Okay. The next thing I'm going to do is grasp a little bit of that muscle. This is the muscle that causes the frown. We're removing some of this muscle to help weaken the frown. All right, I'm just finishing up the endoscopic part of the procedure. So we've lifted up everything.
Our next step now is to move on to the upper eyelids.
Announcer: He'll perform the eyelid lift by cutting away the excess skin he's marked up.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: So, I'm just removing the skin and leaving the muscle down and not removing any muscle. Okay. Now we're going to go ahead and close this.
Announcer: Dr. Nasseff fine stitches the eye back together again leaving no scars. He now moves on to the trickiest part of the operation. The face-lift.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: All right, so this is; I'm elevating what we call a face-lift flap. I'm lifting the skin up and then we're going to tighten up the muscle. Now we're going to move to step two on this, which is removing a piece of the muscle called the smass, which will be replaced later on in Lindsey's smile lines. This is the smass tissue right here. Here we are now, we're grabbing the deep tissue as we pull it up, you'll see how the corner of the lip elevates.
Announcer: Using stitches, he tightens up the deep tissue. This will life Lindsey's cheek, jowls, and neck.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: This will be the first of many stitches that's elevating our cheek and our jowl line back up where it use to be.
Announcer: Now the muscles have been tightened. There's an excess of at least a centimeter of skin that will have to be removed.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Now, this is the part where we start tailoring the skin. As you can see, here's the ear. And the ear lobe looks very natural and there's no pull. There's nothing tight. It's actually been pulled up. Everything looks very nice.
Okay. What we're doing now is we're trimming the tissue that was removed from the muscle while we were doing the face-lift.
Announcer: The smass tissue will be used as surgical filler.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: So it goes right in that smile line.
Announcer: Dr. Nasseff has pioneered a technique that hides the incision in the nose. Finally the incisions are sewn up.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Okay. We're done. We are finished with everything. The whole thing took the most of the day. And but everything went absolutely wonderful.
Announcer: Lindsey is taken back to the hotel where she will have round the clock nursing care. She's very perky for someone who's just had a ten-hour operation. And in spite of the swelling, she loves that new face.
Lindsey: Oh, this looks fantastic.
Female Speaker #2: Wedge the other way.
Lindsey: Oh, the other lids as well. That man is a genius. I think my new face looks absolutely fantastic. I'm really proud of it. It's a thousand times better then actually visualized it in my head beforehand. My lips look great; all the lines have gone from the side of my mouth. So I haven't got that unhappy look about my face. My eyes are unbelievable, how the surgery's opened them more up. So I couldn't be happier.
[Music playing]
Announcer: Over the next few days, Lindsey's recovery speeds along. She feels good enough to go out and explore L.A.
Lindsey: Because you've had plastic surgery, people come up to you and they actually ask you here, Who's your surgeon. And it's like the A list, so when you mention your surgeon's name, and then they go, Oh, yeah, I've got same. So it's quite acceptable to have plastic surgery in this city. Where if you were at home, you'd just hide yourself under paper bag and stay indoors until it all went way. But here it's quite status thing.
Announcer: Five days after the face surgery, pioneering body surgeon, Dr. Lance Wyatt goes the go ahead for the tummy tuck.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: I think Lindsey's procedure probably going to take anywhere from three to four hours. The procedure is going to involve putting her to sleep. We're then going to make an incision that's going to be a low placed incision from hipbone to hipbone. We're also going to make a small incision around her navel and when we do this we'll be able to elevate her abdominal wall's skin and fat. Exposing her six-pack muscles, which are separated. I'm going to bring those muscles back surgically and really tighten things up as much as I can. We're going to then remove excess skin and fat and we're going to close everything meticulously.
Announcer: Just like the facial surgery, it's crucial to mark out the areas that will be cut. It's provides the template for surgery.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: It's good to see you. I know you're excited. I'm excited, too.
Lindsey: Good.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: We're going to make a small incision around here, but we'll be moving a lot of this skin down and we'll reposition your belly button. This ellipses skin and fat will be gone at the completion of your procedure. You're going to be fine.
Lindsey: I know. I'll see you there.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Bye-bye.
Announcer: The surgery sounds simple but it's very dramatic and invasive.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Well, Joan, I'm going to start by making a small incision just above the navel about 12 o'clock. So we've got a free the navel from the surrounding tissue. We're going to do that now.
Announcer: This allows the repositioning of the navel when the excess skin is removed.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: I'm going to start with a 10 blade after this. This is our happy face hip-to-hip bone incision that we are going to make. We're making our way down to the six-pack muscles and the tissue that covers those muscles. This is adipose tissue or fat. Okay. So now, we are just raising the abdominal wall skin off of the six-pack muscle.
Announcer: The six-pack muscles give the stomach it's shape. Dr. Wyatt separated most of the fat and skin that will be removed.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: This is all excess skin and abdominal tissue that we don't need and we're going to remove. One of them, this is a right side. We've just removed two and quarter pounds of excess skin and fat from Lindsey.
Announcer: Five children have left Lindsey's six-pack muscles sagging. To give her the taught tummy of her dreams, these muscles are permanently sewn together.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: We're now bringing these abdominal wall muscles back together and she'll be tight initially. It will be something new for her, but she'll be very happy.
Announcer: With all the excess skin and fat gone, Dr. Wyatt can cut a hole and reposition the belly button.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: And we're just going to make sure that we're absolutely certain on where our navel's going to be. Once you make your incision you're committed. Right there. This has got in our way. The belly button's out and we'll go ahead and reconstruct that as we finish that drains kinked.
Announcer: The final and most time-consuming part of the operation is stitching the skin and tissue back together.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: And this is obviously very important. We have gone through these different layers, now we are repairing them, layer by layer. And we're all done. That was about three and half hours. We're all set, we're done. We did today what she could not achieve with dieting, with exercise alone, which is essentially reconstructing her six-pack muscles and eliminating the excess skin and fat deposits and flatten everything out. She's going to have a nice result, now.
Announcer: After three weeks in America , Lindsey has successfully come through two stages of grueling plastic surgery. She's progress well, but now the pain and strain are beginning to tell.
Lindsey: I woke up and I was in absolute agony. Because he's obviously tucked in my muscles and they've met each other for the first time in 22 years. And I couldn't move. And the pain is worse than childbirth. Anyone who's had children would know about that and this is ten times worse.
Announcer: Coming up, Lindsey's world is turned upside down, when she ignores doctor's orders. She risks losing the chance of having a $200,000 dream dental operation.
Lindsey: Get out of the room.
[Silence]
Announcer: Forty-nine year old mother of five, Lindsey McCurdy has come to L.A. for a total transformation. She's already had $150, 000 of facial and body surgery.
Lindsey: I came out her originally because I wanted a face-lift for my 50 th birthday. I've got the face-lift; I've got more than just the face-lift.
Announcer: And Lindsey's in line for so much more. A revolutionary $200,000 operation could give her what she's always dreamt of. A set of permanent teeth.
Male Speaker #3: I'm going to do two examinations. I'm going to take some pictures of your mandible, your lower jaw, and the maxil -
Announcer: Years of hard smoking, drinking, and poor dentistry have caused considerable damage to her jawbone.
Male Speaker #3: Hold very still now.
Announcer: So she's sent for a cat scan to see if she has enough bone to attach the new teeth.
Male Speaker #3: Bye-bye.
Announcer: She'll have an anxious wait for the decision. Lindsey's not just here for the surgery. We're giving her a total Hollywood makeover. Designer frocks and rocks, makeup and beauty therapy. The first stage in restyling her is to tackle that black mop. Chas Dean is the man who's going to do it. He's the new king of Hollywood coiffures and knows how to work wonders for desperate housewives. He styles the gorgeous Terry Hatcher.
Chas Dean: Lindsey has one of the worse heads of hair I've seen in my career. It's a helmet. She colors it every two weeks. It's color over color, over color. It's got to come out.
Announcer: Chas gets to work on her hair immediately.
Chas Dean: The job we're looking at happening is to remove her color.
Announcer: He carefully coats Lindsey's hair with a gentle color stripper and wraps it in foil. While the chemicals get to work, Lindsey goes for a relaxing massage in the salon.
C. J.: We're attempting to relax her whole body, because she's not totally ready for a full body massage. That will help aid in her healing.
Lindsey: Come here and just be comfort. I really love it. I think it's a fantastic way of relaxing and feeling. It's feels so good. It's lovely, just lovely. Lay back and enjoy.
Chas Dean: Thank you C. J.
C. J.: You're welcome.
Announcer: All that's left to do is wash out the chemicals. Chas can't give Lindsey her new hair color for another two weeks, when Lindsey's scalp will be fully healed.
Chas Dean: Okay. Are you ready?
Lindsey: Ready.
Chas Dean: Transition period.
Lindsey: Oh, my God.
Announcer: The next day Lindsey's recovery comes to a crashing halt. Out of the blue her condition has deteriorated. She has an infection and one of the doctors looking after her in the hotel, suspects she's been breaking the rules. He's heard rumors that she's been smoking and drinking.
Male Speaker #3: She's not following the advice. I don't know why. She should not be surprised if she has problems.
Male Speaker #4: Rumor's circulating that you've been smoking and drinking.
Lindsey: I haven't. I can understand that you said because of the infection. But infection aren't caused by smoking. I don't know.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Smoking and drinking after surgery are big deals. Very big deals. They may be the biggest deals. Certainly smoking, which impairs blood supply is a huge problem potentially.
Announcer: But Lindsey blames her day at the salon for her infection.
Lindsey: You are the people who take me to that - to the hairdressers and laid me out and hurt me.
Massage is fantastic. I'll just lay here and - it's fantastic.
Now, get out of the room.
Announcer: Lindsey's actions are consistent with the dose of the post-op blues. Forty percent of patients suffer a short-lived emotional reaction to anesthesia and the trauma their body's undergone.
Female Speaker #2: Okay. So we're here, I'll take your bags.
Announcer: The infection has put her $200,000 dream dental operation in serious jeopardy. Lindsey needs total rest away from any temptation. So she's whisked away to a private medical clinic run by Caroline Shrednick .
Caroline Shrednick: It's been interesting watching her the last 48 hours. Her unfolding and the resistance separating and just allowing us to just nurture her and take care of her. There's a part of Lindsey probably, you know, thought she could beat the system and do okay on her own without too much advice. And I don't think it's negative, I just think it's somebody who's always had to have that I've got to get up and go anyway. And I really can't feel too much because I don't want - I don't have the time.
Announcer: After a few days of total rest and recuperation Lindsey is fit enough for dental surgery. It's judgment day. She had a cat scan to see if her jaw can take revolutionary new implanted teeth. Cosmetic dental surgeon Dr. Bill Dorfman will give her the answer.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Don't be nervous. God, you already look ten years younger.
Lindsey: Only ten? I thought it to be younger than that.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: No, no, no. My part is going to make you 20 years younger.
Lindsey: That's what I want.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: You ready?
Lindsey: I'm ready.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: I hope we can do implants on you.
Lindsey: So do I.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Come on.
Lindsey: I'm really nervous.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Don't be nervous.
Announcer: The options are simple. Dentures or Lindsey will be the only woman in Britain to have permanent implants fitted in a day. Teeth she can eat with straight away.
Lindsey: That's cruel.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Okay, Lindsey if you think that's bad.
Lindsey: Oh, my God. At least my tongue looks healthy on there. Nothing happens to it.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: You've got a healthy tongue. Okay. So listen here's the plan. The lower teeth we're going to do porcelain veneers on. Okay. Now, here's the deal on your upper teeth. What I really want to do are implants, so I'm not 100 percent sure if we can do it. I flew in a specialist from Florida . His name is Dr. Gunelus . I'll introduce you to him in a moment. All right, let me go get him.
Announcer: While Dr. Dorfman goes off to get the final decision from the creator of this pioneering surgery, Lindsey is left wondering whether her dream of getting her own teeth will come true.
Lindsey: No, I'm not going to cry.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Okay.
Lindsey: I'm trying very hard not to. It's nearly there whether I'll have it done or not. So -
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Okay, Lindsey. Dr. Gunelus is here.
Lindsey: Hello.
Dr. Gunelus: Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you.
Lindsey: It's a pleasure to meet you.
Dr. Gunelus: I've heard all about you.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: The x-rays looked okay. The models looked okay. But the real clincher in deciding was whether you had enough bone and that's why we did the CAT scan. And I'm happy to tell you we can do it.
Lindsey: Oh! (Laughter)
Dr. Bill Dorfman: She just won the lottery. She won the tooth lottery.
Announcer: This is going to be the biggest day of her life. Lindsey will make television history. For the first time we will see a surgeon implant permanent teeth that can be used immediately.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Out with the old and in with the new.
Announcer: Before she gets her upper teeth. Dr. Dorfman is going to tackle her lower jaw.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: These are porcelain veneers. It's just a thin shell of porcelain that goes over the front of the tooth and with this veneer I can give her a perfect smile.
Announcer: Remarkably, Lindsey will be conscious for the whole operation. They're using local anesthetic. Dr. Dorfman takes a mold of Lindsey's teeth to make the veneers.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: We're going to finish polishing these up. And then down the hall for your implants. Wonderful. Okay. Dr. Gunelus
Announcer: Dr. Gunelus is one of only two surgeons in the world who can carry out this kind of cutting edge surgery. We've flown his entire team 3, 000 miles from Florida to operate on Lindsey.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: So what we can do through, it's not quite the magic of implants but the science of implant dentistry these days, is we can permanently replace the teeth and the anchor teeth that you lost. And what's more we can do that immediately. You're going to walk out here today with permanent teeth.
Dr. Gunelus: I've already gone through and washed the areas that I'd like to place the implants.
Announcer: He will cut open Lindsey's gum and drill seven holes in her jawbone. Into which he'll screw titanium implants. Her new teeth will then be slotted on top of them.
Dr. Gunelus: When we have soft bone in the upper jaw sometimes we can make it stronger by compressing it or condensing it. And the way to do that is take little tapered instruments and actually tap it into place. So what we're doing here is starting to place our implants. And these are implants that have a rough surface and big threads. Open a little bit please. What I'm going to do is just slip this right into the sight that we've prepared. I hope it snug's down nice and tight. Move on to the next one. Lindsey is doing terrific. And what we've been able to do so far is we've gotten seven implants in into the upper jaw. And their all really solid and really in great positions and then we're going to start making impressions to make her new teeth. We've got all these red and white impression copings in place on top of the implants. Let that set for three minutes. And that will give John all the information he needs to make the teeth.
Announcer: The mold will be used to put the finishing touches to a prepared set of porcelain teeth. While the teeth are being made, Dr. Gunelus sews up Lindsey's gums.
Dr. Gunelus: Eureka . We're done.
Lindsey: Lindsey gets a break from her marathon surgery and after five hours her teeth are finally ready.
Dr. Gunelus: What we're looking at here on the models are the posts that were placed into the implants. And these posts become the connectors from the implants to the new teeth. This is not a denture and it's nothing like a denture. This is a one-piece bridge and it's supported underneath by the implants. Seven posts and seven implants. And I'm going to put this post right in back here. Listen to how solid these sound. It's in, it's perfectly stable and it's pretty close as far as aesthetics and bite, too. This is where you want to get up and kiss your technician.
Announcer: All that's left now, a minor fitting adjustments to the teeth.
Lindsey: Oh my God. They're so good. They really are.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Aren't they beautiful?
Lindsey: I don't believe it.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: I think you have the prettiest teeth I've every seen on an English person.
Announcer: Still numb from the anesthesia, Lindsey can't believe how fantastic her $200,000 teeth are.
Lindsey: These teeth are worth more ___________and my health and I've had 25 years of that. Thank you very much.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Oh, you're welcome.
Lindsey: My whole mouth is full of teeth. And they're mine; they're not anybody else's. It's fantastic. I just feel wonderful.
Announcer: No more surgery. It's time for the fun to begin and Lindsey to get the new look she's dreamt of.
Lindsey: I'm actually looking forward to the stylist getting hold of me and telling me what he thinks fits me, because my kids think I've got no sense of style at all.
Announcer: in charge of the next stage of her styling transformation is fashion eastern Kendrick Osario.
Kendrick Osario: Now, Lindsey. Incredible spirit, but she dresses far too young for her age. Doesn't complement you, actually makes you stick out like a sore thumb.
Announcer: Stylist Kendrick Osario has worked with the biggest names in couture. And he dresses the wealthiest people in town.
Kendrick Osario: Look at this.
Announcer: After examining Lindsey's wardrobe, Kendrick is determined to get her away from wearing black and into clothes that will flatter her new figure. He's chosen Oscar winning dress designer, Shelly Komaroff, to transform Lindsey's look.
Kendrick Osario: Lindsey, has it been a long time or what? Hey Bella, good to see you. Lindsey, this is Shelly Komaroff.
Lindsey: Hello, Shelly, nice to meet you.
Shelly Komaroff: Nice to meet you, too.
Kendrick Osario: I have here a collection of Shelly's clothing. And if you notice I have black here. But if you notice the other colors, they're all sort of rich robust colors, like the golds, the violets, the rusts, the silvers, the bordeauxs, and the purples. What's great about this line is that it just the next step from black. So what I'd like to do is I'd love for you to try a few things on.
Lindsey: Voila.
Kendrick Osario: Queen Elizabeth eat your heart out. Look at you. Oh, my God.
Lindsey: Hello.
Kendrick Osario: Oh, my gracious. This designer is perfect for Lindsey, because she's 49 years old and you don't want to dress her too young and you don't want to dress her too old. And it has a sense of elegance. It's practical. She can throw it in a suitcase; this is the perfect designer for Lindsey.
Lindsey: It's definitely Grace Kelly getting off the boat.
Kendrick Osario: That's what I want. And that's who you are.
Announcer: Shelly's designs with soft lines and fabrics with a bit of give will make the most of Lindsey's curves.
Kendrick Osario: Shelly and I are going to select which one you're going to wear on your surprise.
Lindsey: Right.
Kendrick Osario: So leave it up to us. We promise we won't disappoint you.
Lindsey: Okay.
Announcer: While they choose a dress for Lindsey's big reveal night. She's got one last appointment at Chas Dean's hair salon.
Chas Dean: More surprise in store.
Lindsey: My favorite seat.
Chas Dean: You're getting to know the seat pretty well, uh. This is from years of coloring every two weeks, and flat ironing. Look at that.
Announcer: Chas starts by cutting away of years of damage.
Chas Dean: Every hair on your head is going to be in a foil, because we have to get rid of all this brassy hair.
Announcer: Chas is creating a daring new look by using five different colors. He coating the hair with a combination of highlights and low lights. The foils keep the colors separate.
Chas Dean: See all these colors here.
Lindsey: Yep, all five of them.
Chas Dean: They're all on your head. Because we need to create dimension in that head of hair.
Announcer: So, what color will Lindsey's hair turn out to be?
Female Speaker #3: Chas it's awesome. Look.
Chas Dean: Whatever. Oh, my God, you are going to kiss me.
Lindsey: (Laughter)
Announcer: It's time for Chas to style a whole new look for Lindsey. And banish the Mortica Adams hair forever.
Coming up, the big reveal night. The combination of all her hopes and dreams after $350, 000 of surgery and dentistry the brand new Lindsey McCurdy will be unveiled before the gurus that changed her forever.
[Silence]
Announcer: Tonight's the night Lindsey McCurdy has always dreamt of. Her Cinderella moment. The woman she's yearned to be will soon be revealed. It's going to be a big surprise. She's not been allowed to look in a mirror all day. As the new look has come together. Only six weeks ago she was desperate to turn back the clock and put the spark back into her life.
Lindsey: I still basically think I'm 18. And then I look in the mirror and me eyeteeth checks in really.
Announcer: Designer rocks and frocks finish the transformation. She's whisked away to a Hollywood mansion for her big night. Lindsey has had $350, 000 of dramatic surgery.
Lindsey: That man is a genius.
Announcer: Face life, tummy tuck, permanent teeth, it's been an incredible life-changing journey.
Lindsey: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Oh, you're welcome.
Announcer: It's almost time. She hasn't seen herself in a mirror. Our gurus are gathering to see their creation revealed. The brand new Lindsey McCurdy.
[Music Playing]
Announcer: What a transformation in just six weeks.
Dr. Gerald Minete: She looks like Elizabeth Taylor, maybe even better.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: And look at those teeth.
Lindsey: Thank you.
Dr. Lance Wyatt: Seeing her tonight with make-up and new hairstyle and the dental work and the other work that's been performed, she looks fabulous.
Announcer: They love her new look. But is it what she dreamt of?
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Are you ready for this?
Lindsey: I'm ready.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: Are you sure?
Lindsey: Absolutely, go on. Oh my God. (Laughter) Oh, it's fant - it is Elizabeth Taylor. Oh my God. WOW!
Announcer: What a dramatic change. Lindsey's gone from a haggard, flabby, middle-aged grandmother to a radiant, vivacious woman with boundless energy.
Lindsey: Oy, I'm so different. The image, you know the picture of me of when I come here and what I am now is a thousand miles apart. I didn't think you could change me this much, but you have.
Dr. Bill Dorfman: Not only do her teeth look beautiful, but she can eat whatever she wants.
Dr. Paul Nasseff: It's the face. I mean, her face does it all. I mean, the teeth is a very nice accent of course to her beautiful face.
Lindsey: I'm just going to take away a new me. And so I can have a lot of fun with it and I just can't wait for reaction when I get home.
[Plane]
Announcer: Lindsey adores her looks. But what's her family going to make of her $350,000 makeover?
Female Speaker #1: I can't even begin to imagine what she looks like now.
Male Speaker #1: As long as she don't come back looking like Quasi Moto. Then if she's happy, then I'm happy for her.
Female Speaker #1: Originally I thought she was always going to come back looking like a completely different person. As long as you can still see it's my mum, but younger than I'll be happy.
Announcer: What's their verdict going to be?
[Yelling and Clapping]
Female Speaker #1: Oh, mum you looked lovely. You look great. You really do. You look different.
Female Speaker #4: You do look real nice, mum.
Lindsey: Is it different than what you thought?
Female Speaker #1: Yeah.
Female Speaker #5: It looks better than what I thought actually. Stunning, you don't look like somebody's that had plastic surgery. It's so natural.
Female Speaker #1: It had be worried, she'd come back and ________her face, but -
Lindsey: I'm a mold.
Female Speaker #5: No, Lindsey, it doesn't look _________ it's very natural.
Male Speaker #1: A 100 thousand pound kiss. Very nice, very nice. You can still see it's you obviously but you have all the facts, not too drastic. Very nice.
Announcer: It's three months since Lindsey came back to Portsmouth . And the transformation is having an amazing effect.
Lindsey: See my age is 50, but most people put my age now between, I've had from 35 to my early 40s. So I've lost like 10 years at a stroke.
Announcer: Lindsey's especially impress by the quality of the face surgery.
Lindsey: What it's left me with is a really natural look. And obviously my face is now symmetrical where before it was lopsided. So I think he's just a pure artist of what he does. He's a genus.
Announcer: Lindsey is now keen to have more plastic surgery.
Lindsey: Later on in a few years time, I'll probably have my under eyelids done, because I didn't have them done. But obviously their going to go back and spoil the rest of the effect. And I will probably have lipo done.
Female Speaker #1: She's the complete package now. She's confident. She's looks good. She feels good. So you can fault her really. She's just very, very happy and confident now.
Announcer: Next week on Brand New You. Thirty year old Nicholas Stratton goes under the knife.
Nicholas Stratton: If my friends could see me now, they'd, Oh, my God, Nick you look a mess.
Announcer: For further information including useful resources and links. Visit the Brand New You website at www.5tv/brandnewyou.
