Everyone wants one. We’re all jealous of those who do. But not everyone has one.
I’m talking about a beautiful smile.
So let’s go over how to achieve (or maintain) a beautiful smile.
Implement Proper Dental Care
The first thing you can do to brighten your smile is to take care of your teeth. Teeth whitening methods will only last if you also have good oral hygiene.
To keep your mouth healthy, you’ll need to brush twice a day, preferably after meals. It’s important to have the right toothbrush for your teeth -- the bristles shouldn’t be too tough that they cause sensitivity or too soft that they aren’t effectively cleaning. Likewise, you’ll need the right toothpaste for you (definitely one with fluoride).
Flossing is another critical step in the oral care process. Using floss helps remove food debris and scrape away bacteria buildup, and is a good thing to do right after you eat.
And lastly, you can consider using mouthwash. This is a great way to rinse out areas that are hard to reach with a toothbrush or floss. Rinsing for 30 seconds once a day should be a nice addition to your oral hygiene routine.
Make Your Teeth Whiter
The best ways to keep your teeth white is to brush and floss regularly. You should be brushing twice a day, flossing every day, and visiting the dentist twice a year. Also, it’s important to use the proper brushing technique, the right type of toothbrush for your mouth, and the most effective type of toothpaste if you want white teeth.
But, of course, the most obvious way to get whiter teeth is to, well, whiten your teeth. And the best way to whiten your teeth is with a kit with a teeth whitening LED light. AuraGlow has a very impressive one and it’s under $100.
You can also go to a dental professional to whiten your teeth with teeth paint and LED lighting machines, but it will cost you a lot more than an at-home kit, which can be just as effective.
Get Orthodontic Treatment
An orthodontist is a professional who would help straighten your teeth, giving you a beautiful smile and keeping your mouth healthy. They would apply braces, a retainer, and/or some other type of orthodontic contraption that would play a large part in giving you a good-looking set of teeth.
An alternative option to visiting an orthodontist is to get an at-home kit from a company like SmileDirectClub, Invisalign, ClearCorrect, or Damon Clear. These services send custom clear aligners to your door and progressively adjust your teeth. After getting an implant of your teeth, they make a plan to straighten your teeth and you can have corrected teeth in several weeks or months.
It doesn’t matter how white your teeth are -- if they’re not straight, they won’t look that great.
Consider Cosmetic Dentistry
Another way to get a prettier smile is to visit a cosmetic dentist, who can help you with things like veneers, dental bonding, crowns, and bridges.
Porcelain veneers can fill in gaps between your teeth, cover up a chipped tooth, make crooked teeth look better, and cover severely stained teeth. They’re basically very thin pieces of tooth-like ceramic that the dentist would place over your existing teeth (or where your natural tooth was) in order to give the appearance of a healthy natural tooth.
Typically, they’re meant as a temporary fix, but veneers can last for multiple years if you take good care of them.
Another similar option is dental bonding, which is where the dentist will apply resin (plastic) that’s the same color as your teeth. It’s usually used to repair chipped, decaying, or discolored teeth. Tee big difference between bonding and veneers is that bonding can be completed in one visit while veneers have to be custom made by a lab.
If you want a longer-lasting solution, you can go with a dental crown, which is like a hat for your natural tooth. They’re permanently placed over damaged teeth, or they’re connected to an implant that has been drilled into the jawbone.
Your dentist may determine that you need much more involved work, so they may recommend getting a dental bridge. These are usually part of a complete smile makeover and usually fill in gaps where teeth have been removed. They can either attach to the surrounding teeth or to an implant that’s attached to the jaw.
Take Care Of Your Lips
When you think “smile,” you usually picture a set of straight pearly whites. But don’t forget about the lips -- they’re part of a smile too!
And that’s why you should take care of your lips. Use chapstick if needed. Where lipstick if you’d like. Keep your lip area acne-clear and take care of cold sores right away.
Healthy Lifestyle Might Be Helpful
One aspect of keeping your smile beautiful is what you eat and drink. Not many people realize this.
Drinks like coffee, tea, and wine can stain your teeth over time as well as sugary and acidic foods. The more water you drink, the better because that helps wash away food debris and bacteria buildup.
Exercising regularly could also be beneficial for your smile, just because if you’re disciplined in one area of your health, you’ll probably have a better oral hygiene routine. And if one part of your body is in a good state, that will help the rest of your body follow suit.
