Archive for the ‘Gorgeous Smiles’ Category

Many times I’ve seen ads on the internet that say something like “what your dentist doesn’t want you to know about bleaching teeth”. As a dentist myself, I wasn’t aware there was anything I didn’t want my patients to know, so I followed one of these ads till I was convinced it was just a cheap ploy to sell cheap bleach. The other day, however, I had a patient confess that he had fallen for the almost free offer – “what could it hurt?”

Here is his story:

He paid only $5 for an introductory bleaching kit, which had some generic one-size-fits-all trays that he was to customize himself. It had some tubes labeled bleach in varying concentrations, including some at 44% (a higher percentage than I have ever seen recommended for professional use!) The most interesting thing was a small hand held battery operated light. Considering the lack of evidence that any of the professional lights, which cost many thousands of dollars, really do any good, this little reshaped penlight is a joke!

But he only paid $5, so no harm done, right? After reading all the warnings and potential side effects, he didn’t have the nerve to try the stuff. He decided to return it for a refund, but was told it was past 20 days and he could not get his money back. A little while later he received more of the stuff in the mail, and was billed for $70! It seems he was automatically enrolled in a monthly plan, charged to his debit card. He told me he had so much trouble trying to stop this auto-mess, he was forced to close that account!

It looks to me like this particular company was not nearly so interested in lightening his teeth as they were in lightening his wallet! As with a lot of things, you get what you pay for… there are many ways to whiten teeth, ranging from legitimate over the counter kits to dentist made tray bleaching to in-office bleaching. They all have their pros and cons. I would advise anyone considering teeth whitening to ask questions of their dentist, and together decide which option fits their situation the best. And if the deal looks too good to be true… it probably isn’t true!

Sometimes I hear people comment negatively on the fact that everyone is looking for cosmetic dentistry today, as if that was a bad thing. I respond that it is certainly not a bad thing – why shouldn’t we try to look our best? We dress well, care for our hair, and we keep the beauty/cosmetic companies busy producing everything they can think of! Not only is this desire to look good a healthy thing, it is by no means new!

Cleopatra wore expensive makeup, and there has probably been a “dress for success” manual for most every culture and era. But one dental aid may top them all..

Radioactive Toothpaste! During World War II a German pharmaceutical company obtained patents for, and started producing, radioactive toothpaste! Doramad radioactive toothpaste contained trace amounts of Thorium, a slightly radioactive metal that can be used for fuel in nuclear reactors. It was thought in those days that radioactivity could stimulate re-growth of unhealthy or dead tissue. If radioactive things glow in the dark, wouldn’t a little make your teeth sparkle? They even had a marketing slogan ready for when they would go into post-war production: “Use toothpaste with thorium! Have sparkling, brilliant teeth – radioactive brilliance!”

I’m all for dazzling smiles, but I would not want to use atomic toothpaste to achieve them! But the good news is that today we have many SAFE ways to create dynamic, beautiful smiles. Tooth whitening is safe, comfortable and fun. Discolored or badly shaped teeth can be restored with tooth colored filling materials or gorgeous porcelain veneers. Teeth that are crooked and out of line can be aligned with Invisalign – invisible braces.

Aren’t you glad we don’t need nuclear toothpaste!

The other night we had fresh corn on the cob… and it was fantastic! I love good corn! When I was finished, my wife looked at my plate and said “wow! Look at that!” I was wondering what she could find so fascinating about empty corn cobs, but she commented on how well I cleaned up every morsel of wonderful corn. Now I have to explain why this is noteworthy…

I am almost done with my Invisalign treatment to straighten my teeth. I never felt my teeth were grossly crooked, but I could tell that some areas were wearing prematurely, as teeth often do when they are crowded or crooked. So I decided to have my teeth straightened – but I was not interested in all the metal brackets and wires needed to straighten teeth in the past. Instead, I chose Invisalign, because I would not have to show off any metal in my smile, would not have the discomfort of all that hardware in my mouth, and it would be so easy to keep my teeth clean during Invisalign treatment.

So now, as I am almost finished with my Invisalign treatment, I have been happy with the alignment that has been achieved. I appreciate the improved looks, the better balance of my bite. But I had not really paid attention to the improved function…My bite is more efficient now! My empty corn cobs look clean and well eaten, instead of all raggedy like before. And I don’t get all the stuff stuck in between my front teeth like I used to!

So the moral of this story is: if you want to show off well eaten corn cobs, use Invisalign to straighten up your teeth! Ok, maybe that’s not the best take-away point here. But protecting your teeth by balancing your bite pays dividends far beyond a gorgeous smile – you become more efficient! And when it comes to fantastic food… don’t waste another bite!

I just read a story about a guy named Wolf who was backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. He was carrying a pack that only weighed 14 pounds, including his food and water. When folks asked him how on earth he kept his pack so incredibly light, he just replied… “You just have to know it’s possible!”

Ok, I’ll admit I’ve never spent weeks on the Appalachian Trail. But I have done a fair bit of backpacking, touring with backpacks, touring with suitcases, and touring with a boatload of stuff! And when, midtrip, I get tired of lugging all the stuff around, I always ask myself why I took so much junk! But I think this phrase applies to far more than just lugging luggage.

For decades, athletes thought that man could never run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Then Roger Bannister messed up the theories by beating that time by a bit over half a second. Once he proved it was possible, many runners were able to do it. In fact, now the record is something like 17 seconds faster than his! You just have to know it’s possible.

This year Shaun White did some amazing snowboard feats to win Gold at the Winter Olympics. He seems to consistently “raise the bar” by doing things nobody else can do… at first. You just have to know it’s possible.

Too many people are stuck behind an unattractive smile… they might have severely crooked teeth, or broken or missing teeth, or dark dingy teeth. They might feel like there is no hope for them, and go around covering their mouth when they smile or talk. Or they might refuse to smile openly at all, causing people to think they are grumpy or have no sense of humor.

But there is hope! All these problems can be eliminated with contemporary cosmetic dentistry. You just have to know it’s possible!