Cosmetic Dentistry
A nice smile is one of the best first impressions that you can give, and an absolutely necessary part of your beauty regime. Teeth are becoming more and more important, with North America taking the lead in cosmetic dentistry techniques. Its no longer good enough to have OK teeth as a model - they need to be perfect.
More and more, kids are being given a great set of teeth by their dentists when they are still young. Those of us who are older though, have to go through the discomfort of dental treatment while trying to hold down a job and continue to live our lives. The good news is that cosmetic dentistry has advanced incredibly far, so the dentist of today is nothing like the one you knew as a child.
Teeth Whitening
You
can either whiten your own teeth or let the dentist do it for you, at some
expense. There are home treatments that can give you whiter teeth (Catherine
Zeta Jones swears by mashed strawberries as a whitener) but for serious
whitening nothing beats a chemical treatment.
If you decide to whiten at home, buy one of the Crest Whitening Strips kits. Over a week long period, all you need to do is put the Strips on your top and bottom set of teeth, twice a day for 30 minutes. These really do work and your teeth will be whiter, although they are slower than a trip to the dentist and do not whiten your back teeth.
If you choose to let the dentist do it for you, there are a couple of things you should know. Firstly, it can be quite expensive, up to $500 or more depending where you live. Secondly, you may notice some extra sensitivity to hot and cold after the procedure. If your gums and teeth are already sensitive, make sure to tell your dentist and he/she can prepare a weaker treatment for you.
Having said that, there's no doubt that a proper teeth whitening by the dentist will give tremendous results. In fact, make sure you don't go over the top as it might seem a little obvious when you return to work or see your friends!
Veneers
Veneers can give you an amazing smile in no time at all (look at Donald Trump or Kate Beckinsale), but really are a last resort for when you have already tried other orthodontic techniques. This is because the procedure involves real and permanent damage to your teeth, even though the plastic or porcelain veneers will look like a perfect, healthy smile.
The first step in the process is to file down your teeth. They need to be filed down quite far, so that there is room for the veneers to be fitted. The dentist will then take a mold, to be sent off to the factory where your personal veneers are created. In the meantime you can't walk around with filed down teeth, so the dentist creates some temporary veneers that you can use for a week or so.
When you next return to the dentist, he/she will fit the new veneers on to your teeth. At first you might have trouble pronouncing some words, but this quickly passes. Your dental routine remains the same, unfortunately you still have to brush and floss just like before.
Another point to consider when looking at veneers is the cost of maintenance. Every ten years or so they will need to be replaced, so make sure you factor that into your decision.
Gum Lift
A Gum Lift is another procedure commonly used by celebrities. It opens up your smile, lengthening your visible teeth and eliminating the excess gums that can make a smile unattractive. Celebrity recipients supposedly include Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Orthodontics
Tom Cruise did the world a favor recently by getting braces at the age of 40! Although he got some flak in the press, people everywhere should feel more comfortable about getting braces at a later age.
Most orthodontic surgery is done on children, but it is just as effective for adults. Just think, only six months of wearing braces can give the smile you've always wanted for the rest of your life!
Although
braces will never be comfortable, there are some great options now. Two of the
best are Lingual Braces and Invisalign. Lingual Braces fit behind the teeth and
are not visible from the front. They can cause some difficulty pronouncing the
letter 'S' though, and there is always the danger of food getting stuck in them.
Invisalign is the latest technique, abandoning traditional braces and replacing them with a see-through mouth guard that brings your teeth into line and is replaced every two weeks. The mouth guard is very difficult for anyone to see, so this is now a very popular option. The only downsides are that it costs more and takes longer.