Phoenix twins getting 'extreme makeovers'

Marty Sauerzopf
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 27, 2003 12:00 AM

As if going to the dentist doesn't sound painful enough, try having the entire experience filmed for a national television audience.

But this isn't the usual laughing-gas and cavity-drilling trip to the dental chair. Not when dancing champion turned celebrity dentist Will Hoskyns of Goodyear is turning a set of Phoenix twins from homely to comely for an MTV series.
 

Matthew (left) and Michael Schlepp, Phoenix twins who underwent plastic surgery and dental work for a TV show, display their new looks.

The twins in “before” photos.

"We're dealing with young people just getting their start," Hoskyns said as he inspected the thousands of dollars of porcelain he just installed in the mouth of an unconscious Michael Schlepp, 21.

"It's going to change their lives," he said. "It'll change what they do with their lives, who they marry, their confidence level."

And that's just what the MTV cameras were looking to capture, as they filmed the six-month transformation of Michael and Matthew Schlepp for the network's acclaimed True Life series.

"It'll be very life-changing and for the better, too," said Ethan Pisz, one of the show's producers. "We've seen them go through a huge transformation. They've gone from not even wanting to look in the mirror to way over the top."

The show, which debuted in 1998, is touted as a documentary look at "young people and the unusual subcultures they inhabit." In this case, it followed the Schlepp brothers' overhaul after they responded to a solicitation on the MTV Web site and underwent an "extreme makeover" to capture a celebrity look.

And the transformation, which will hit the MTV airways next spring, is nothing short of mind-boggling.

"I'm blown away totally," Michael Schlepp said. "I couldn't be any happier. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm actually good-looking now."

"They (MTV) actually gave us our very own episode," Matthew Schlepp added. "They're ecstatic about the show. They told us this is going to blow every other show away."

Pisz said the Schlepps underwent a series of procedures, including rhinoplasty, chin, cheek and jaw implants, with the assistance of Paradise Valley plastic surgeon Marty Johnson.

Hoskyns and his wife, Susan, helped pull together various pieces of the show and even arranged a roughly $12,000 donation of porcelain from Sundance Dental Labs in Phoenix for the twins' rebuilt smiles.

"When you meet someone, you shake hands, make eye contact and smile," Hoskyns said. "If you hold back, you don't exude confidence."

Hoskyns, whose Goodyear offices fall just shy of qualifying as an art museum, is made for MTV. With his black shirt, yellow tie, manicured style and boldly spoken attitude, Hoskyns was a natural before the MTV cameras.

"Some doctors don't speak very eloquently," Pisz said. "Dr. Hoskyns is very well spoken. We enjoyed working with him a lot."

The Schlepps didn't want to reveal too many details of their experience, saying it will all come out on the television screen. But the transformation in their looks and confidence level is easy to see.

"They're in the 'hot' category now," Susan Hoskyns said. "We have seen (photos) from MTV that are absolutely amazing. They're going to be the next hot MTV veejays, definitely."

Reach the reporter at marty.sauerzopf@arizonarepublic.com  or (602) 444-6920.

source: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1227dentist27.html