We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Health

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

How do I Achieve the Perfect Smile?

By Brendan McGuigan
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 11,237
Share

Of course, what exactly comprises the perfect smile is open to some debate. Some would say that all smiles are perfect, and that we shouldn’t try to conform to some societal standard of beauty that involves a great deal of upkeep and work. Generally, though, a perfect smile consists of two main things: whiteness and tooth alignment. Whiteness can be handled to some extent at home, while tooth alignment requires seeing a professional.

Tooth alignment is a tricky thing, made up of many different factors, but is crucial to having a truly perfect smile. There are some basic principles to a perfect smile that a specialist will try to match to make your smile really shine. For one thing, teeth need to incline in towards the center teeth just slightly, in what is technically referred to as a mesial inclination. For another, the line of the upper teeth should roughly match the line of the lower lip. Proportions are also very important in a perfect smile, with the width and length of the central teeth being most crucial, but the relationship between the sizes of all six front teeth also playing in to how a smile appears.

In the past, the only real option to realign teeth was to have fairly intrusive, very visually apparent braces installed. These could remain on for years, to slowly bring the teeth into the desired alignment. Now, however, an alternative exists in Invisalign®, a set of clear dental adjusters that have become incredibly popular. Tens of thousands of dentists and orthodontists are now set up to install and handle Invisalign® systems, making them quite easy to get in.

Invisalign® actually makes it much easier for normal people to get closer to a perfect smile, because they are in many ways easier to handle, and don’t have the stigma associated with traditional metal braces in adults. They are a removable alignment system, which means food can be eaten normally without the fuss of normal braces, and they can be regularly cleaned. The teeth are more slowly adjusted than with metal braces, but gradually they are straightened, with the patient switching to a new set of adjusters every few weeks. It should be noted, however, that Invisalign® is significantly more expensive than traditional metal systems.

Teeth whitening is another large part of getting a perfect smile, and in recent years it has becoming very popular. Dentists can do a much stronger tooth whitening regimen than can be done at home, applying a high-concentration bleaching gel and using lasers to speed up the process. A wide range of at-home kits are also on the market, with differing costs and varying levels of bleaching agent. These include strips of different strengths, as well as at-home inserts much like those used in a dentist’s office.

Veneers are another option to creating the perfect smile, and many cosmetic dentists use them instead of whitening. They are thin porcelain covers for the teeth, and when used on every teeth can make a totally perfect smile. Of course, the cost of a full cosmetic upgrade of the mouth, including veneers and cosmetic surgery on the gums can cost in the neighborhood of $100,000 US Dollars (USD). However, Invisalign® can cost around $10,000 USD for a normal mouth, and mixed with regular tooth whitening this can lead to a close-to perfect smile.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
By mobilian33 — On Jun 18, 2014

If you want a simple way to whiten your teeth, use baking soda instead of toothpaste. People used baking soda before they used toothpaste, and it works great to clean and whiten your teeth. And baking soda costs less money than these fancy toothpastes.

By Feryll — On Jun 17, 2014

I go to the dentist twice a year and have my teeth checked and cleaned, but they still are not naturally white. I asked about getting them whitened at the dentist office. The price for the procedure was more than I wanted to pay. My insurance would not cover it.

I am a ways off from having the perfect smile, but I thought having whiter teeth would help get me closer. I tried several products, but so far I haven't had much luck finding something that I am happy with. One of the bleach trays I tried irritated my gums and that was really a problem for a couple weeks. I have decided to stick to the whitening toothpastes and the whitening rinses. They take longer to work and the effect isn't as noticeable, but I feel more comfortable with them.

By Animandel — On Jun 16, 2014

The idea of the perfect smile is more about companies trying to sell their products than anything else. There was a time when toothpaste companies were mainly responsible for people wanting their teeth to look perfect. Now you have toothpaste makers, all the companies making whitening products, companies selling devices to straighten teeth and dentists and oral surgeons all telling us what we need to do in order to have the perfect smile.

Of course we all want healthy teeth, but do we really need people telling us that our smiles are not good enough because our teeth are not as white as some movie star's teeth?

Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/how-do-i-achieve-the-perfect-smile.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.