There have been countless studies over the years, including a thirty-year longitudinal study conducted by UC Berkeley, that have linked smiling to increased happiness and success.
Smiling can not only make you happy, but it may also make you seem more attractive, more confident, and more approachable.
But if your teeth are showing age and wear, you probably aren’t feeling great about your smile.
Restoring the youth and brilliance of your teeth can go a long way towards boosting your confidence and making you look and feel years younger.
There are plenty of ways to go about brightening and improving your smile, though some methods have proven more successful than others. If you’re looking for a long-term solution, consider one of these procedures to recover your smile.
Professional Whitening
One of the easiest ways to make your smile appear younger is by whitening your teeth.
While you can certainly purchase home remedies from your local grocery store these won’t provide the lasting effects that professional methods can have. Nothing beats the services that a dentist can supply.
Most dentists offer in-office treatments, as well as solutions that they can give you to take home and use on your own. While at-home treatments can offer great results, in-office procedures are often more effective, and offer longer lasting whitening.
Teeth-whitening solutions have come a long way in recent years. What once involved long, sometimes painful or foul-tasting treatments now involves lasers that painlessly whiten your teeth by up to eight shades in just one session, which usually lasts less than an hour.
Laser treatment options (such as those by Zoom!) even have various settings that can be adjusted for patients with sensitive teeth.
Veneers
If your teeth have become uneven or worn from age, another way to recover your smile is with the addition of veneers.
Veneers are thin ceramic layers that are bonded to the front of your existing teeth. This method can be used for patients with irregular gaps between their teeth, those with misshapen or worn teeth, or even those looking to restore their teeth to a brighter white.
There are several veneer treatment options that your dentist may consider, depending on your individual needs and preferences.
Dental Bonding, Inlays & Onlays
Another great option for repairing damaged or misshapen teeth is with dental bonding, inlays, and overlays.
Inlays and overlays are used in place of crowns or fillings to repair a damaged tooth. Unlike crowns and fillings, these treatments can last up to thirty years and can strengthen your teeth by up to 75 percent.
Dental bonding is used to treat a variety of problems, from repairing decay, to protecting against receding gums, to adjusting the shape of a tooth, and more. The tooth-colored bonding material also ensures a natural look.
Dental Implants
If you are missing permanent teeth, you may not feel as confident as you once did about your smile.
Dental implants can replace missing teeth, and give you a natural looking smile that you can be proud of.
Your dentist will take a mold of your teeth, allowing them to create an implant that looks and feels great. You also won’t have to worry about changing your routine too much; with the exception of using implant-friendly paste and tools, you’ll be able to continue your regular, healthy oral hygiene practices.
Braces
Crooked teeth can not only be uncomfortable, they can also make you embarrassed about your smile. Even if you had perfectly straight teeth when you were younger, over the years teeth can shift and collapse inward, causing crowding and a crooked smile.
While braces are an easy fix, many adults are weary about the look and discomfort of traditional braces. That’s where Invisalign comes in.
Invisalign provides a discreet, effective way to straighten and align your teeth. Like traditional braces, they are adjusted over time as your teeth begin to shift. However, they are easily inserted and removed, which means that you won’t have to give up your favorite foods.
Even better yet, many patients only wear Invisalign for a year or less, which is much less time than traditional braces often take to reshape a smile.
Switch Up Your Morning Routine
While nothing beats the professional help that your dentist can provide, there are a number of small tweaks that you can do during your morning routine to help recover your smile.
If you’re looking to brighten your smile, or if you’ve already invested in whitening treatments, you might consider reducing your coffee intake.
Coffee stains your teeth and can create permanent discolouring that even regular brushing can’t fix. If you’re looking for a caffeine boost without the stains, consider switching to green or white tea.
Another easy way to improve your smile is to rethink your lipstick choices. Darker colors, or those that are tinged with yellow shades, may make your teeth appear less white. Look for a lighter color that works with your skin tone to reap the benefits of a brighter smile.
If the skin in the area above your lips is wrinkled from age, sun exposure, or smoking, your smile may appear older and less brilliant. Treating these wrinkles either with professional laser treatments or by applying a retina-a product at home can help restore your smile’s youthful appearance.
Also, be sure to use sunscreen whenever you venture outside, to help prevent wrinkles in the future.
Once You Recover Your Smile, Continue Your Regular Visits to the Dentist
If you think that visits to your dentist every six months are just a suggestion, think again.
Plaque begins building up on your teeth just 24 to 48 hours after a cleaning, even with proper brushing and oral care. Regular check-ups and cleanings from your dentist mean a fresh start twice a year, which help to keep that plaque from building up to dangerous levels.
Another way that regular visits to the dentist help improve your smile is by allowing your dentist to check for abnormalities.
Cavities, unhealthy gums, and chipped teeth can all lead to even worse problems down the road. By scheduling regular visits, your dentist can check for these problems and more, and treat them before they can become worse.
If you’re interested in any of these smile-improving treatments, talk to your dentist to see which is right for you. With just a few simple tweaks and procedures, you can restore your smile to a brighter, more youthful appearance!