The first impression you make on someone may be wrapped up in the smile you present. A bright, healthy smile can signal confidence, optimism and approachability. Like a bright light in darkness, when your smile is attractive, people will gravitate toward you. People respond positively to an aesthetically pleasing smile.
Your smile also has an impact on your psychological and emotional well-being. A beautiful and healthy smile can help you feel confident. On the other hand, when you feel self-conscious about your smile or you are not satisfied, maybe even unhappy about the way it looks, your personality can be affected. This can also affect how other people perceive you.
Lack of confidence can cause others to see you as being timid and withdrawn. You may be perceived as being angry or sad. Your own perceptions may have you feeling insecure and unattractive. You may hide your smile or stop smiling altogether if you feel your smile leaves much to be desired.
When your smile has an adverse effect on your self-esteem and confidence, you have many options available for improvement. Achieving your unique perfect smile includes taking many factors into account. An aesthetically pleasing smile is one that fits your unique features.
Your Smile Design
To the casual observer, a pretty smile is a natural occurrence. There are some individuals who are fortunate to have a naturally beautiful smile. Other people may need help in achieving their personal best.
The smile design uses certain principles to create an individualized smile makeover. There are four parts to the smile design. These include, facial aesthetics, gingival or gum aesthetics, micro aesthetics and macro aesthetics. Each of these principles factor into creating your perfect smile.
Facial aesthetics take into consideration your facial features, including the musculature of your face. Using visual and photographic analysis, your dentist studies how you smile, speak and laugh to understand how your lips frame your smile.
Some individuals show an excessive amount of gingival tissue when they smile. Gingival aesthetics are considered in the smile makeover. Sometimes gums can be swollen and inflamed due to periodontal disease. When your gums are unhealthy, you smile can be affected. Healing and repairing the gums may be an essential part of a smile makeover for some patients.
Your teeth play an important role in creating a beautiful smile. Micro aesthetics involves studying the characteristics of the teeth. Their color, blemishes and how they reflect light are some of the factors taken into consideration. Whether you are having cavities filled or teeth replaced, the end result ideally resembles your natural teeth.
Where micro aesthetics involves the relationship of the teeth to the smile, macro aesthetics goes further and analyzes your facial characteristics in relation to your front teeth. The shape and size of anterior teeth matters when creating the perfect smile. How these teeth look in proportion to your bone structure, shape of the face and other features can determine how natural and attractive your final look will be.
Technical and artistic skills are needed to create the ideal smile. Every aspect of your smile needs to be included in the analysis to create the most aesthetically pleasing look. Without thorough consideration of all components, the end result could be less than ideal.
The Anatomy of a Smile
An ideal smile is more than teeth and lips. When creating the ideal smile, there are rules, strategies and tools that are used to make assessments of the teeth and gums. These help in making the decision regarding the most effective cosmetic and/or restorative procedures to produce the best results.
The lips are often considered the frame that sets off the smile. Within the frame are your teeth and gums. In the most appealing smiles, about 75-100% of the space between your upper and lower lips are filled with your upper front teeth.
The midline is also an important feature. The facial midline ideally coincides with the midline between the central incisors. Your dentist determines the location of your facial midline by focusing on a point between your eyebrows and the center of your upper lip, also called the Cupid’s Bow. Using the eyes, nose and chin to determine the facial midline is not always accurate. A nose could be off center and it is not uncommon to have eyes at slightly different levels.
The smile line is formed by the top of the lower lip. Regardless of the size or shape of your smile, ideally the bottom of your lower lip will have the same line as the gums on your lower jaw. When the orientation of your smile line is identified, your dentist can determine the length of new restorations. The smile line also dictates the curve or shape.
Healthy gums are a requirement for a beautiful smile. Only about three millimeters or less of gum will show between the top of your tooth and the bottom of the upper lip for the most appealing of smiles. The shape of the gums is a factor as well. Upper incisors look best with an oval gum shape. The same is true for the canine teeth. An oval or half circular shape is ideal for the upper lateral teeth and lower incisors.
When your smile, you will notice a dark space which is visible between the upper teeth and corners of your mouth. This space is called the buccal corridor. Females usually have broader smiles and therefore smaller buccal corridors. This is significant because research shows that broader smiles are considered most attractive.
The Importance of Healthy Teeth
All the minor nuances of your smile’s anatomy can make the difference between a good smile and one that is perfect. Your teeth, however, are still the main ingredient in a perfect smile. If your teeth are less than attractive, no matter what else is in place, your smile will suffer. The most attractive smiles are those with teeth meeting certain standards: white, unblemished, straight and evenly spaced with no gaps, crowding or overlapping.
There are procedures available to correct any of the problems you may have that keep you from your ideal smile. Teeth whitening is the most requested cosmetic dental procedure on earth. People in every country ask for this procedure more than any other to enhance their smile. White teeth have a tendency to make people appear younger and more vibrant.
Tooth color is important. The color of the teeth in the ideal smile should complement your features. Your skin color, eye color and hair color are factors. When creating the perfect smile, the dentist will take these into consideration. You may be surprised to discover that your best smile may not depend on your teeth being super white and bright. A natural aesthetic is more desirable than one that looks artificial.
In addition to natural color, shape and alignment of teeth are also factors in creating an ideal smile. Correcting these problems can be done with cosmetic dentistry in many cases. Misalignment may need to be corrected with orthodontic work. Dental bonding or veneers are often used to correct or mask minor problems.
The perfect smile is a combination of many factors coming together. It hinges on healthy teeth and gums. If your teeth are not healthy, are missing or out of alignment, your smile is not at its best. Discover your options for your perfect smile by contacting Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Atlanta. We can help you achieve your ideal smile.
