We’re almost there. It’s nearly spring. We’re nearly through the long, dark night of winter and into the season of renewal and rejuvenation. The earth rebounds with color and new life and we reemerge ready to face the world again. As we emerge, it is time to embrace beauty. The beauty of spring, the beauty of nature, and the beauty of ourselves! With all the upcoming graduations, weddings, and other events, this is the perfect time to invest in looking and feeling your best. You’ll be greeting friends and family and meeting new people, so your smile will be on full display. What better time is there to make sure your smile radiates the beauty you possess within?

Why is Smiling So Important?

Smiling is an important part of feeling well. There are many reasons to smile every day. Smiling helps you live longer, relieves your stress, lowers your blood pressure, and best of all, is contagious! You can partake of those amazing health benefits with another merely by sharing a smile. Smiling also suggests success and helps you stay more positive, so feeling good about your smile is crucial to your well-being.

Ways to Improve Your Smile

There are several ways to improve your smile. Some are simple and relatively inexpensive, while others require a bit more of an investment in yourself. First, let’s talk about dental cleaning. What’s better than the feeling of just-cleaned teeth? They feel so shiny and smooth; it makes you want to show them off. Going to your dentist for a cleaning and check-up is an easy way for you to become ready to smile. Your dentist can also check for things like cavities or gum disease and help you find ways to prevent or treat both.

If you’ve had your biannual cleaning and your teeth just aren’t as white as you’d like, you can pursue tooth whitening. Although over-the-counter tooth whitening products are available, they only lighten teeth by one or two shades. Tooth whitening has become the most popularly requested dental procedure, and when done in your dentist’s office, whitening can achieve more dramatic results and whiter teeth. In addition to that, your dentist will protect your gums while the whitening process occurs.

Wanting to Look Your Very Best

If your smile has become one that you think needs more improvement, you can choose to have cosmetic dental work done. Some cosmetic dental procedures include veneers, dental implants, shaping of your teeth, tooth bonding, and even orthodontia.

  • Dental veneers are custom-made, thin shells that are cemented to the front of your teeth. They can be used for discolored or chipped teeth, or even to cover some instances of spacing between teeth.
  • Implants are metal devices surgically implanted into the gum where a tooth is missing. The implant acts as the root of the tooth and has a crown or other artificial tooth placed on top of it.
  • Tooth shaping occurs when your dentist removes some of the tooth enamel, sometimes by filing it, and shapes the tooth so that it’s more pleasing to the eye.
  • Tooth bonding occurs when tooth-colored materials are bonded to a stained, broken, or chipped tooth.
  • Orthodontia. You may have had braces as a child, or you may want to correct an overbite or crooked teeth as an adult. If so, orthodontia is a treatment possibility that can improve your smile.

Put Your Best Smile Forward

The benefits of smiling are clear. There are health benefits, mental health benefits, and social advantages to smiling as often as possible. This spring, talk to your dentist about ways to ensure your smile is one that you’re proud to share and that reflects the best of who you are.

Image credit: Szepy / iStock / Getty Images Plus