Say cheese! Sometimes your grin may not be something to smile about. If you feel you have an unattractive smile, it can really hurt your overall confidence. The good news is that there has never been a better time to improve your smile. Technological advances like whitening and dental implants procedures have opened up doors to correct almost everything you could want to change about your smile.

You won’t find “unattractive smile” in a dentist’s handbook of dental problems, but that doesn’t mean that a crooked or gummy smile doesn’t feel like a problem to the owner of that smile. It also doesn’t mean that you just have to live with a smile you don’t love. As a matter of fact, an unsatisfactory smile is a major impetus for many people to seek dental treatment. If your smile doesn’t leave you beaming, it may be time for a change. 

What Makes an Attractive Smile?

What makes an unattractive smile? We find sometimes it’s easier to pinpoint what makes a smile appealing. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are a few things that most people agree on when it comes to an attractive smile.

Tooth Color

White teeth are indicative of thriving enamel. The enamel protects your teeth and gives them their white color. Teeth can be stained by behavioral choices like consuming coffee, red wine, tobacco, nicotine, or even certain medications. While teeth can be whitened by bleaching or other teeth-whitening products, we recommended a professional appraisal before taking teeth-whitening measures. Too much or incorrect bleaching can leave teeth painfully sensitive. 

Gum Display

Your face is an intricate map of muscles that determine how you smile. A “gummy smile,” a smile that shows a large percentage of your gums, has a tendency to make your teeth look smaller, while a small percentage of gum display can give the appearance of receding teeth and exaggerated age. You can train yourself to show more or less of your gums when you smile, though sometimes realignment is called for to achieve the desired look.

Gum Color

Pink gums are healthy gums, and the worst consequence of off-color gums is not merely an unattractive smile. If your gums appear red or inflamed, it may be a sign that you have gum disease, which should be treated promptly to prevent more serious oral problems like tooth loss.

Spacing

Anyone who’s ever been teased for gapped or “buck” teeth knows how painful unevenly spaced teeth can be in more than just the physical sense. The proper spacing for teeth is for each tooth to touch just slightly the teeth on either side of it. Teeth can be too close together, spaced too far apart, or even turned. Turned teeth can cause gapping and be unappealing in their own right. Misaligned teeth are also more difficult to clean, increasing the risk of cavity growth. Overcrowding, gapping, and turning can be corrected through orthodontia or cosmetic dentistry. 

Bite Alignment

The human brain craves symmetry, and when it finds it, it files it under the beauty department. The more symmetrical a smile, the more attractive people naturally find it. Symmetry typically comes down to spacing and bite alignment. Your bite is how your upper and lower teeth nest when together. Uneven bites can be corrected through dental work.

Tooth Fracture

Tooth breakage can be painful and embarrassing. It can also yield other problems like difficulty eating and vulnerability to infection. Your teeth protect your gums, so broken or missing teeth leave the soft tissue open to bacteria and whatever you put in your mouth. If you have broken or missing teeth, attending to them is not only important for your self esteem and confidence in your smile; it is highly important for your oral health.

Correcting Unattractive Smiles in Bismarck

The most important opinion of your smile is your own, and you don’t need to feel you have an unattractive smile. At Bismarck Advanced Dental and Implants, we want you to love your smile and feel confident every time you grin. For that purpose, we offer a host of different types of dental implants as part of our revolutionary cosmetic dentistry focus.

Dental implants are of course our specialty, but we offer many other procedures, from teeth whitening to veneers, to give you a smile you’ll love. For the best dental implants in the Bismarck area, as well as other quality cosmetic dental work, give us a call today.