Teeth - they're important!

I can’t really blog about skincare and grooming without mentioning teeth, can I? Studies have shown that we tend to find straight, white and healthy looking teeth attractive and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t thought about or already had cosmetic dental work dont.

Here are a few tips you can adopt right this minute to keep your teeth looking white, bright and healthy.

• Drinks like tea, coffee and red wine are major contributors to tooth staining. As are dark fruits like blueberries, cherries and blackberries.  To avoid staining, try to drink some water immediately after and brush your teeth if you can. Failing that, chew a bit of gum.

• Smoking is obviously bad for a multitude of reasons and they stain your teeth to boot. If you’re a smoker, try to brush often but if you want to lift the more serious stains you’ll have to have them professionally whitened.

• Eating foods like apples and celery help to remove stain deposits before they set on your teeth.

• Crest Whitestrips and paint-on whiteners are quite popular and have varying effects. While they’re not as good as professional treatments they’re much better than…

• Whitening toothpastes. These toothpastes won’t give you any of the dramatic effects they promise. At best they’ll be able to lift very superficial stains you accumulate throughout the day.

• If you’re in to DIY treatments. A bit of baking soda on a toothbrush is great for lifting stains from teeth and brightening them up. Another one to try is a paste made form mashed up strawberries – leave it on your teeth for 5 minutes, brush and rinse!

• If all else fails, a dentist can give your teeth a clean to get rid of superficial stains and laser bleaching can get them pearly white in an instant!

Dramatic results - none of the fuss of braces.

Of course bright and healthy teeth are only half the battle, straight teeth can make the world of difference to your appearance. They balance out the face, make you look a lot more er… appealing in general (case in point: those photos above!) and of course you tend to smile a lot more when you have straighter teeth. Now if you’re reading this as a teenager then you’re in luck because you’re at a prime time to get some braces without feeling too self conscious about them – chances are a few of your classmates will already have them. If you’re older and can’t stomach the thought of going into university or work with traintracks, don’t worry  – there’s still hope!

Invisalign is a revolutionary teeth correction system which works like a brace but comes as a completely transparent and removable ‘tooth guard’. I’ve seen lots of people with Invisalign and honestly you can’t tell they have them in until they take them out (which; don’t do it at a dinner table, that’s gross!). I’ve seen the results firsthand and it’s spectacular what they can do. A compelte tooth-transformation without the need for braces!

So, get brushing and share your tooth-tips below!