removing braces?

[benzilla]

hi everyone,
i'm trying to come up with an efficient way to remove braces around the teeth. the only way that i know is by working laboriously with the clone stamp tool. i've also thought about putting a brand new set of teeth underneath and paint the braces with a layer mask. i'm wondering if you guys have a better way of doing this or know of a tutorial out there that describes similar topic.
thanks for your help.
ben

[Doug Nelson]

Removing braces almost never looks natural when you're done. We're just too tuned-in to stuff going wrong with the face. Your best bet is your replacement idea. They don't even have to be from the same person, as long as the color matches (and careful not to make them too white).

[Mike]

Lots of folks keep folders of various body parts so they can just replace whatever. Hope the MD's do not get wind of this, we would all be in trouble for practicing medicine with out a license!

Mike

[benzilla]

the replacement idea so far seems to be the most easiest approach. the draw back is that some people just don't appreciate when you give them a brand new set of teeth. isn't it ironic that how they eventually want their teeth to look like by the time they have their braces taken off?

[OhThatGirl2001]

I suggest a few people post pictures of people with braces and we work on them. That way we can list what works.

Lisa

[benzilla]

well, i don't have picture of actual people with braces. how about this one?
http://www.braceface.com/orthoimages/braces.jpg

[CJ Swartz]

Scott Kelby's retouch book - sample image

Since he has made this image for downloading, hopefully it's okay for practice here.

[grafx]

I have found that sampling color and airbrushing at about 10%works for me. It also works well for closing in gaps.