Every bride wants to look radiant at her wedding. Between choosing just the right dress, hair styling, manicuring your nails, and finding the best makeup and jewelry, there’s a lot to get done before the big day. But there’s one crucial area – and perhaps the most important one – that often gets overlooked in the long list of wedding beauty activities – your smile. Here are our top 5 dental tips for brides!
As you walk down the aisle smiling left and right at friends and family, you want a smile that looks as radiant as the rest of you — not a smile that is yellow, discolored, stained or crooked. Unfortunately, an unsightly smile can be hard to ignore, especially when you’re the center of attention throughout the event. And the last thing you want is an imperfect smile memorialized in the wedding photos that will forever capture one of the most important events of your life.
Fortunately, achieving a sparkling smile can be accomplished with a few easy steps.
1. Professional Teeth Whitening
Nothing will whiten your teeth like a professional treatment from a dental office. Over-the-counter products you wear at home will whiten your teeth to a moderate degree. But when you want “movie star” teeth that sparkle and shine, let an experienced dentist work his or her magic. Depending on your teeth’s level of discoloration, it may take several treatments to achieve the desired level of whiteness. So don’t wait until the last minute to talk to your dentist about professional whitening.
2. Teeth Straightening
Next to discoloration, crooked or misaligned teeth are the worst offenders when it comes to ruining a beautiful smile. Over the past two decades, the dental profession has made tremendous strides in orthodontic products for adults. For example, some companies have developed new techniques that can create straight, perfectly aligned teeth in just a few months, making it faster and easier to achieve the smile you’ve always wanted.
3. Other Cosmetic Dental Treatments
Old fillings, broken or chipped teeth, a gummy smile, and other dental imperfections can also detract from the quality of your smile. Cosmetic dentistry offers a wide variety of procedures designed to improve and enhance the health and safety of your teeth as well as the sparkle in your smile. These can range from small porcelain veneers and tooth-colored fillings (especially good for replacing old metal fillings) to correct minor flaws, to major work such as bridges and dental implants when several teeth need correcting. Keep in mind that any procedure involving dental surgery will require some recovery time, so plan well ahead for these types of treatments.
4. Avoid Teeth Staining Foods
Your wedding day is fast approaching and your dentist has professionally whitened your teeth to a shine that requires wearing sunglasses to look at them in the mirror. So why ruin it just before the wedding by consuming food and drink that can bring the stains right back?
Many foods contain substances called chromogens (which give certain foods and drinks their strong color), and tannin, which can make your teeth much more susceptible to staining. Acidic foods can also wear down your teeth, thereby increasing the possibility of staining. To play it safe, avoid the following in the weeks leading up to your wedding:
- Tea and coffee
- Red wine
- Cola
- Dark-colored fruit juices
- Tomato-based sauces
- Curry
- Balsamic vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Berries
5. Get a Regular Dental Checkup
Last but not least, pay a visit to your family dentist for a checkup a few weeks before the wedding, especially if you’re experiencing any pain or discomfort, such as sensitivity to cold or hot foods. It’s no fun walking down the aisle with a throbbing tooth distracting you from the excitement and glamor of your wedding. Your dentist will check for any signs of tooth distress that need to be rectified before the wedding, and can also give a thorough cleaning to augment any whitening you may have had performed. People will certainly remember your dress and the colorful flowers and decor. But nothing says “radiance” like a smile that beams your joy and excitement to the world. A winning smile makes a dramatic impact on your overall appearance, and can also boost your confidence and self-esteem.
