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A great smile can improve your entire appearance by making you look younger and feel more confident. Here's how to make yours stand out.
• Get in the habit. You can't have good teeth if you don't brush and floss twice a day. Focus on the gum line, where plaque lingers, and try a whitening toothpaste to remove stains. I also recommend professional cleanings every three to four months to reduce plaque and prevent tooth decay.
• Bright ideas. For whiter teeth, a drugstore bleaching kit may do the job. If not, book an office treatment, which whitens with a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide and costs about $500. Afterward, cut back on coffee, red wine, and dark sodas. Or drink them with foods so they are less likely to leave a yellowing residue.
• Material concerns. It's very common to replace silver fillings with porcelain ones now. Besides the aesthetic concerns, the metal may raise mercury levels. For gaps or spaces between teeth, consider cosmetic bonding; it adds a thin layer of white composite resin to the enamel. However, resin chips and stains easily, so you'll need to brush and floss well.
• Fake it. Those of us not born with perfectly shaped teeth usually get the look with veneers—thin sheets of porcelain applied directly to the enamel. The procedure is not cheap, so always see pictures of your dentist's work beforehand, and ask him to apply temporary veneers, which stick to the surface (and only last for one day) but give you a sense of the finished image. As a less costly option, I advise patients to get veneers on the most noticeable four to six front teeth, then whiten the rest to match. The results are great, without the huge investment.
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