As much as we love advanced reconstructive dentistry and cosmetic dentistry, we have to admit that preventive dentistry is the best. The more you can do to keep your teeth healthy and beautiful, the happier you’ll be.
However, there’s one condition that we can’t seem to do enough to prevent: the regret that comes from not fixing your teeth sooner. We find that many people live with an unhealthy, unattractive smile for two reasons: either they don’t know they can fix their teeth, or they think it’s just a vanity project and put it off. Fortunately, both these problems can be fixed with education. With this blog, we hope to help you avoid your own dental regret by helping you understand what modern dentistry can do for you, and why you should get it done.
“No Dentist Ever Told Me . . .”
A woman named Sandy recently came to our office for a second opinion about her broken tooth. Dr. Jeffrey Haddad evaluated the tooth in question and found that it did need to be extracted and replaced with a dental bridge.
But he also found other concerns. Sandy had years of dental work in her mouth. The result was marginal. She had many old metal amalgam fillings–silver fillings–that had turned black. These were discoloring some of her teeth. She had several crowns that were supposed to be tooth-colored, but had been done at different times so they were made of different materials. With varying colors, styles, and shapes, they made her mouth look like a patchwork.
Not only that, but old crowns were becoming a source of gum irritation and inflammation. This was beginning to affect the health of her mouth–and would eventually affect her overall health.
To address these problems, Dr. Haddad offered to do for Sandy what no other dentist had: work on her smile as a single whole to restore its health and beauty all at once.
Sandy, who had been going to the dentist every six months for about 50 years had never had a dentist mention that such a thing was possible. In fairness, 50 years ago, we couldn’t do many of the things that we can do now. The speed of dental progress is such that even if you asked about a dental problem 5 years ago, there may be new options for treating it now that didn’t exist back then.
Sandy was happy to get her new, beautiful smile. She was also happy at the speed of the treatment. It took just two visits over about a month for her to get her new smile! Read Dr. Haddad’s personal account here.
“I Wish I’d Done It Sooner . . .”
When we help patients achieve a healthy, beautiful smile, it always breaks our hearts to hear one of them say, “I wish I’d done this years ago!” On the one hand, we’re happy that they love their new smile. But on the other hand, we’re sad for all the years they weren’t living life to its fullest. When we ask why they didn’t do it sooner, a common response is that they thought a smile makeover was a vanity project. They just didn’t realize all the ways their smile impacted their quality of life.
That’s why we’re taking the time to help you understand all the ways your smile impacts your quality of life so you can make an informed decision about your smile makeover.
Smiling Helps You Feel Good
One of the most important benefits of a smile makeover is that it makes you feel more comfortable smiling in any situation. And when you’re smiling, you will enjoy significant emotional benefits: you will feel better. Why?
First of all, smiling leads to the release of neuropeptides that can reduce your stress. Even a fake smile can lead to reduced stress. This isn’t just the psychological side of stress, either, it actually lowered the heart rates of test subjects, which could lead to better heart health in the long term.
In addition, smiling releases endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. These feel-good neurotransmitters can boost your mood and reduce pain.
The Whole World Smiles with You
Have you ever wished someone would smile at you? Just one smile to help you feel better can make all the difference some days.
Here’s good news: if you want to get a smile, all you have to do is give one. That’s because when people see a smile, they’re compelled to smile back. Researchers speculate that it’s part of the way the brain interprets expressions. However, once someone smiles back at you this way, they also benefit from the emotional boost that comes with it.
And when you see them smile at you, your own smile grows and becomes more genuine, stimulating a more powerful mood boost.
Build Better Relationships
Smiling is a key component of building good relationships. Whether we’re talking about friendships, comradeships between coworkers, and even romantic relationships.
When people see a smiling face, they’re more likely to remember it, and the name associated with it. You become a positive association in people’s minds. And they’re more likely to find that person attractive. Overall, these two effects can help you build and maintain better relationships.
Look Younger
We can’t stop growing older. However, we can do something about how old we look. And one of things we can do is to improve our smiles.
Restoring your smile makes you look younger in two ways. First, there’s the smile itself. Discolored, worn, and damaged teeth all cue that a person is older. If you have visibly damaged or discolored teeth, you will notice that you look older and people perceive you as being older. Giving yourself a younger-looking smile will take years off your apparent age.
But restoring your teeth can help you look younger even when you’re not smiling. That’s because teeth are structural supports for your face. When teeth get worn down, damaged, or lost, the skin of your face has to fold and/or sag, resulting in more wrinkles, a more pronounced turkey neck, jowls, and other features.
Restoring the youthful proportions of your teeth can help you enjoy a younger appearance.
Be Healthier
We mentioned above that smiling can help reduce the effects of stress on your heart. But restoring your smile can help your health in other ways, too. We can eliminate any fillings or crowns that harbor bacteria and contribute to local and systemic inflammation. We can also eliminate gaps and crooked teeth that make it hard to clean your teeth.
This will help you avoid gum disease and other oral infections. These infections can increase your risk of heart problems, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and more.
Don’t Regret: Get Your New Smile Today in Rochester Hills
If you are unhappy with your smile, we want to make sure you don’t experience a case of dental regret. Instead, you should start the smile makeover process today.
Please call (248) 656-2020 or use our contact form to make an appointment at Doolin & Haddad Advanced Dentistry in Rochester, MI.
