Your smile is the reflection of your personality. It is often the first thing people notice about you and it is one way for you to express yourself. However, if you are conscious about the way your smile looks, it can become a social barrier for you. Meeting and interacting with new people can become a major challenge and your self-confidence can take a hit. While having a great smile is not everything, it can surely feel like it if it matters to you. However, you don’t need to worry because there are a lot of things that you can do to improve your smile. Here are a few tips to help you achieve the smile of your dreams.
Visit Your Dentist Regularly
Regularly visiting your dentist is important to ensure that you remain unaffected by any oral issues that can affect your smile. Getting your teeth cleaned regularly can help prevent staining of teeth which is a common issue that many people have to face.
Practice Good Oral Hygiene
Taking on good oral habits is your first step on the road to achieving a great smile. Regularly brushing and flossing your teeth is important to prevent the formation of plaque and dislodge anything that may be stuck between your teeth. After all, you don’t want everyone’s focus to be on that piece of spinach stuck between your teeth when you flash your teeth. A good oral hygiene regimen would include brushing your teeth at least twice a day, first thing in the morning and just before bed. This is the most basic step you need to make sure to do every day. You can take it up a notch by flossing, cleaning your tongue, and following it with a mouthwash after brushing every night before bed.
Straighten Your Teeth
Embarrassed by your crooked smile? Get your teeth straightened. Embracing braces can work wonders for your smile. It can even improve the structure of your face. Unfortunately, dealing with braces can be quite difficult and can involve numerous painful and uncomfortable visits to the dentist. A lot of people don’t like the way braces look and often prefer to keep their crooked smiles. If you are suffering because of a set of crooked teeth and feel that braces are too much trouble, Candid or Byte aligners can be a great option for you. These teeth aligners are transparent and are almost invisible. So you don’t have to worry about them affecting your appearance while they straighten your teeth. The treatment usually lasts from 3 months to a year.
Wear a Retainer
The best way to keep a smile in position after orthodontic treatment is by wearing an aftercare retainer. Typically, people opt for a fixed retainer on their lower arch. At this appointment, your orthodontist will bond a small wire behind your front 6 teeth. For the top arch, you can choose between two kinds of removable retainers: Hawley or clear. Hawley retainers have a metal wire on the front that wraps around to meet an acrylic plate resting on the roof of your mouth. Clear retainers look very similar to clear aligners like Invisalign, only their function is to keep teeth in place — not move them. Though you need to make an appointment for a professional to attach a fixed retainer, removable retainers can be purchased online.
Get Your Teeth Whitened
Getting your teeth whitened can make your smile very appealing and give you a lot of self-confidence. The best part is that it does not require a lot of money. All you need to do to get your teeth professionally whitened is to book a short appointment with your dentist. Not only does it make your smile look good but it also promotes oral hygiene by killing off harmful bacteria. The effects of whitening your teeth can last anywhere from six months to three years depending on your habits.
Get Treated For Teeth Grinding
A lot of people tend to grind and clench their teeth. While doing this occasionally is not really harmful, if it occurs regularly, it can lead to numerous dental problems. Teeth grinding is an outcome of stress and often happens while sleeping. In some cases, it can put a lot of strain on your teeth and wear them down, often leading to cracking of teeth as well. One of the more severe consequences of teeth grinding happens due to the pressure it puts on the jaw muscles; it can lead to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems and cause severe pain. This can cause you pain each time you smile and, in extreme cases, may also require surgical intervention.
Quit Smoking
Smoking not only affects your health but also your smile. Smoking can cause staining of your teeth and leave marks on your lips which can ruin your dazzling smile. In addition to smoking, excessive intake of coffee and wine can also lead to staining of your teeth. The effects of smoking tobacco are, however, more severe as the stains settle deep into the enamel and can often penetrate the dentin as well. In addition to staining teeth, regular smoking can worsen oral and gum health. Fortunately, these effects can be reversed if one quits smoking and the stains on the teeth can be removed through teeth whitening. However, the effect of teeth whitening does not last very long if you continue to smoke regularly.
Get Your Teeth Reshaped
There are numerous, easy-to-perform dental procedures that can help you reshape your teeth to get the perfect symmetric smile that you crave. These dental procedures can help fix small chips on your teeth and can even adjust the height of your teeth to make them uniformly aligned. Up to a few millimeters can be shaved off your teeth to make them even. In addition to this, pointy teeth can be smoothened out and any pits in your teeth can be cosmetically filled up. The gap between your teeth can also be reduced. These dental procedures can help you overcome any flaws that you think hold back your smile.
Moisturize Your Lips
Your lips play a major role and can impact your smile. It is therefore important to regularly moisturize your lips with a suitable lip balm to prevent dry and chapped lips. Smiling can also hurt a lot if you have dry lips. The same applies to the skin around your lips as well.
Achieving the smile of your dreams is not very difficult. Most of the problems you face can be overcome simply by making suitable lifestyle changes. Positive lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, will not only help improve your smile but will also have a positive effect on your health. Having a great smile can give you immense confidence and can change your entire outlook on life.
