Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your trademark. - Jay Danzie
What does your smile say about you?
The passage of time – as well as wear-and-tear – can leave your smile looking a little lackluster. Luckily, you don’t have to settle for a smile that’s, well, so-so. Here are five ways to achieve a beautiful smile that you’ll love.
1. Brush and Clean Between Teeth Daily
We all know that a beautiful smile starts with good dental hygiene, but are you doing everything you can to keep your smile clean and bright?
The key is to develop healthy habits.
Floss between your teeth at least once a day, holding floss so it is in a c-shape as you clean each tooth from gums to tip. This assures that you are cleaning half of each tooth with each stroke.
Brush twice daily – for a duration of two-minutes – with fluoride toothpaste. Spending about thirty seconds on brushing each quadrant of the mouth will assure a thorough cleaning.
Your dentist might have different recommendations or a special plan for your oral hygiene, so be sure to consult with her/him regularly.
2. Regular Dental Appointments
Visiting your dentist often will help you stay ahead of dental issues, keeping your oral health on track and your smile healthy.
Those who visit the dentist regularly are more likely to catch potential issues early on, when treatment is less invasive and cheaper.
Regular dental appointments can help your dentist diagnose not only dental issues, but also signs of possible medical conditions.
3. Teeth Whitening
Everyone knows that white teeth make for a beautiful smile, but it can be hard to keep teeth bright.
Staining from drinking coffee and wine, smoking, or simply the passage of time can dull your smile.
A visit to your dentist for professional teeth whitening is one way to achieve an immediate improvement in your smile.
Professional teeth whitening has its advantages:
- See immediate results
- Easy, quick, and painless process
- The least costly cosmetic dental procedure
From in-office whitening to take-home kits, having your teeth whitened is one of the fastest and most effective ways to get a swoon-worthy smile.
4. Teeth Straightening
Did you wear braces when you were younger? After removing your braces, your dentist likely sent you home with a retainer and instructions for when and how long to wear it. Unfortunately, retainers can often get lost, forgotten, or just neglected, which means there’s a chance that your teeth may have shifted over time.
Even if you didn’t have braces when you were younger, the aging process can have an impact on your teeth. It’s not uncommon for adults to experience tooth crowding as they get older.
If your best smile requires straighter teeth, you have options.
- Traditional metal braces are worn permanently during the treatment duration. Metal braces can yield faster results and are the preferred option for fairly complex dental situations
- Invisalign uses removable, clear plastic aligners to gradually move your teeth. Invisalign aligners can be easily removed for eating, drinking, brushing and flossing and are virtually invisible.
5. Porcelain Veneers
Thin shells of porcelain that are permanently bonded to the front of your teeth, veneers are custom-made and custom colored. Porcelain veneers are virtually identical to natural teeth when placed by a qualified cosmetic dentist. Once veneers are bonded to teeth, they function just like your normal teeth would.
Veneers can be used for a full set of teeth – creating a pleasing and permanent smile – or to repair one tooth that is chipped or discolored.
Properly caring for your teeth with regular cleaning and dentist appointments is the first step to a healthy smile. But if you need a little more work to get the smile of your dreams, you’ve got options.
Having your teeth whitened, straightened or improved with veneers are all options to help you get a smile you'll love!