Dental Filling

Do You Have a Perfect Smile?

A healthy, beautiful smile should be part of your wardrobe. When you're getting dressed in the morning, don't forget that a perfect smile is a vital part of your total image.

Your smile is often the first impression people have of you. A psychological study reported in Perceptive Motor Skills found that people judged a person's physical attractiveness by "the mouth, eyes, structure of the face, hair, and nose" in that order!

What is "attractive?"

Psychologists have trouble defining "beauty." But they agree that beauty is important in every social relationship. For example, it was found that mothers cuddle their physically attractive babies more than their so-called "ugly" babies.

Take a moment to smile at yourself in the mirror. Do you have white teeth? Is your smile attractive, appealing? Or, is your smile weakened by cosmetic dental problems? Do you have a broken or missing tooth? If so, you can do something about it.

Cosmetic dentistry has made great strides in the last 20 years. Not only do cosmetic dentists make it possible for people to keep their natural teeth all their lives, they help people look and feel better about themselves.

You can change your profile

A cracked tooth, or stained and uneven teeth can be restored. Gaps between teeth, poorly positioned teeth or a jaw that recedes or protrudes, can often be successfully fixed with orthodontics. Did you know that dentists do 95% of all face reconstruction in this country? Through procedures called maxillofacial surgery or orthognathic surgery, many bone and jaw deformities or conditions caused by accidents can be corrected.

Developing a beautiful smile - even if you weren't born with one - is important at any age. Make your smile your strongest fashion asset.

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

A Beautiful Smile and Your Cosmetic Dentist

Everyone knows Mona Lisa's smile, but who knows what she meant by it?

Why do we smile?

Psychologists tell us that, in our ancient past, a smile was a gesture of appeasement. They also believe that, to modern man, a smile signals many different messages - recognition, sympathy, apology, lessening of tension, confusion, embarrassment, doubt, joy, delight. A smile, social observers agree, is a mask behind which we can hide our true feelings.

This mask is a complex gesture. First the corners of the lips curl upward. Then, as the smile grows, front teeth are exposed. In our culture we consider people with glistening white teeth and a beautiful smile to be "good" people. Bad teeth, on the other hand, tend to distort the smile "message" because, curiously, we subconsciously judge others by their teeth.

The Eyes Don't Have It - The Teeth Do!

Some people believe that teeth are a more important element of beauty than the eyes.

Have you noticed that, in the movies and on TV, the "good guys" never have broken teeth or a missing tooth? The "bad guys" almost always do.

What Does Cosmetic Dentistry Have to Do With Facial Beauty? Everything!

Nearly all dentistry affects our appearance, and our appearance affects our sense of personal worth. Among the many things that a cosmetic dentist can do to give you a beautiful smile are:

• Teeth bleaching to remove stains caused by plaque, coffee, cigarettes
• Teeth Whitening
• Covering worn teeth (ground down by age or deformity or chipping) through application of dental crowns, dental bridges, or other cosmetic dental techniques
• Teeth Straightening (orthodontics) for adults as well as children, to improve appearance and to provide better chewing surfaces
• Shortening a long face, realigning a protruding jaw, correcting a cleft lip through dental surgery

So … cosmetic dentists are scientists, clinicians, artists and image-makers!

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.