Casual Talk: 7 Ways You Can Attain a Youthful Smile

Arguably, one of the most important features of your face is your smile. You hear it all the time, when someone is asked, “What was the first thing you noticed about him/her?” Most responses would include something about a great smile.

If you want to have a beaming youthful glow, your smile is your best bet. Here are 7 ways you can amp up your smile and radiate youthfulness!

1. Shade and lustre matters.

Go to a dentist and have your teeth cleaned and polished. Immediately, you will notice your teeth looking brighter and shinier. There is a twinkle and a lustre that wasn’t there before.

Whitening your teeth can brighten the shade of your teeth beyond their natural base colour. We unconsciously associate whiter teeth with youthfulness and more yellow/grey stained teeth with age.

Veneers can help those with deeper enamel staining. Sometimes there may also be loss of enamel through wear and erosion. Teeth that have been root canal treated may also turn darker over time. Veneers can assist to shape and rebuild lost tooth enamel and mask the base shade of the tooth.

2. Healthy gums are necessary.

Without healthy gums you will have swelling, inflammation, bleeding, and recession. These are all indicators of gum disease and definitely do not inspire a youthful appearance. There is the saying, “He’s looking long in the tooth.” This refers to someone looking old because their teeth appear long as a result of gum recession. If you don’t want to look long in the tooth, then you must take care of your gums!

3. Straight and proportionate teeth are pleasing to the eye.

Having straight teeth in harmony with the other features of your face and midline are desirable for obvious reasons.

So often people will hide their smile behind their hand if they feel embarrassed about their teeth. Others won’t even bother to smile at all. Those who don’t smile just look grumpy and old. Those who smile, appear friendly and younger!

There are scientifically derived ratios and proportions that are related to having the smile that is right for you. Things that are taken into consideration are sex, size and shape of the person.

There is an expression, “Teeth like Bugs bunny.” Well you might be surprised but this is actually characteristic of a youthful smile. Central incisors that are slightly longer than their adjacent teeth give us the idea of youthfulness versus worn down central incisors that are the same height as their adjacent teeth which in turn make us look old. Naturally, we would not want them too long either of course!

4. How much do you show?

The fact is, we tend to display more tooth when we are younger and as we get older we display less tooth. There are various reasons why, muscle tonicity and tooth wear are just two. So to look younger, you need to show more tooth.

How much of your upper front teeth do you show when lips are at rest? How much do you show when you are smiling?

Gummy smiles will show a lot of tooth when smiling. For a full explanation on gummy smile, everything is nicely explained in this article.

5. Porcelain veneers rejuvenating your teeth.

You may want to consider porcelain veneers:
When whitening alone is not enough to give you the effect that you want
When teeth are chipped and worn , making you look older than you are
When teeth are slightly crowded, rotated or slightly out of alignment.
When your teeth are just not right but they aren’t too far off from being really nice.

Veneers are a thin shell of porcelain, which is layered over the surface of the tooth. Veneers may be the solution to brighten up a smile, close small spaces, de-rotate a tooth and/or align your teeth. They can restore your teeth to ideal length, size and shape and you can even play with the effect of veneers by choosing a slightly lighter shade if you do not wish to match it to your existing shade.

6. All the fuss about Fillers and injections ?

Did you know that dentists can help improve the appearance of your lips and skin too?

Who doesn’t want luscious lips?

Full and defined lips are seen as attractive and youthful. Unfortunately, not all lips were created equal, but luckily treatment such as Hyaluronic Acid Fillers can give you fuller lips and a more defined lip line in one visit.

When it comes to our skin, everyone knows to stay away from sun tanning and alcohol. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

If you still need a little help because you don’t quite love your lines, an injection to numb the muscles and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers can be a relatively non-invasive option.

An injection to numb the muscles decreases lines and creases and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers plump up and add volume and hydration to improve the health and condition of your skin.

Dentists are trained and certified to administer both these treatments to further enhance your smile.

7. Please do not smoke!

Smoking causes bad skin, wrinkles, gum problems, staining of teeth and bad breath. Enough said!

When you have your teeth and gums all sorted, you plainly and simply will have more reasons to smile. To top it all off, people who smile are not only seen as younger looking but also seem happier and more approachable. They also look more confident, successful and trustworthy. Wow, who doesn’t want those added benefits?