Smile Self-Esteem

It's time to get real for a second and talk about some issues that are pressing and prevalent in our society. I read this article in the Daily Mail (from the UK) and it said that 75% of all British women avoid having their picture taken because they have a negative self-image. I realize this may not be where you or I live but the point is that this is a global trend, women everywhere are more and more self-conscious by the second. If we're not striving to lose 50 lbs, we're obsessed with our makeup, the way we dress, our hair, our nails, the list goes on and on. The problem begins and ends with society, what do I mean by this? I mean that I can't walk out of the house without makeup on (and I've learned this since I was in high school) without people telling me that I look sickly and pale, or asking me what's wrong. That's just my face, guys, I wasn't born clowned-up, stuffed into tights, and pushed up by a bra (and neither was Kim Kardashian, for example).

Facebook photos are so pathetic now, too. I look at my friends posted pictures and they're all posing like some hypersexed faux-supermodels, nobody is real anymore, everyone tries to be staged and perfect. In all honesty, I can't harp on others without admitting my own faults, I've done this plenty of times, I used to think that smiling made me look too young and imperfect so I would pout in every picture for years, what a goon. 36% of brides are anxious about their wedding day not because of the colossal decision they're making but because they will be the focus of attention and photographed extensively.

Despite the fact that a whopping 52% of women are scared to death of smiling in a photograph for fear of showing their yellowish or wonky teeth and smile lines, men appear to firstly be attracted by a woman's smile rather than her cleavage or legs. The article suggests that instead of saying 'cheese', women should be saying 'oats' to create a perfectly plump pouty smile, but I think this is absolutely ridiculous. If you can't even smile without faking it, whose to say you aren't faking your entire life away? I'm going to say that this issue runs so deep that it permeates every facet of our social interactions and it has got to stop with you. If we continue this deification of what a woman is supposed to be (and it's happening to men, too) we'll fall down a slippery slope where not only our mental image is warped but that of our children and their children's are going to be more disturbed than even ours.

There's no reason in the world you should try to control the way you smile, just brush your teeth regularly and see a dentist once every 6-9 months for a cleaning and you should be fine. Stay away from unhealthy things that stain your teeth such as caffeine and sodas, and bare your chicklets to the world without a care of what others will think about you. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, the most attractive thing about a person is their confidence, so if you can muster that you can pull anything else off. How could you even have time to have fun if you're always worrying about how yellow your teeth are, sucking in your stomach and hiding any sign of a blemish? God forbid we should just be who we are, right?

The pros and cons of teeth whitening kits

For those of us who have somewhat yellowish or off-color teeth, teeth whitening kits might be a consideration. It is a simple option, available at any nearby Wal-Mart or drug store that doesn't require a whole lot of patience or visiting your dentist. Many times, the effects of the options readily available to us are quite astounding and help to brighten our smiles and overall presence in a room.

Kits that you can use in your home will work for changing your smile anywhere from three to eleven shades of color. Whether it be in gel form, whitening trays, toothpaste or strips, each of these works in a very similar way and is much less invasive than what your dentist can do with laser teeth whitening procedures (and far less costly).  However, like anything else you're using, you have to think about whether or not you should, if there are more pros and cons out of it for you, or you could do some serious harm to your smile.

A simple solution is tooth whitening paste because it requires very little effort, it's really just about brushing your teeth as you do as always, merely replacing your current toothpaste with whitening toothpaste such as Crest 3D White. The price-point is just right, costing just a little bit more than regular toothpaste (by about a dollar or two), and there is no associated pain or adverse effects. If you have severe discoloration, you won't see much improvement, if any, from these toothpastes, but they have been proven not to affect the health of your enamel, so you don't risk anything from trying it out.


No matter what you are doing, if you're using a medicated or chemical agent, you should always follow the instruction precisely. Have a timer with you when you are whitening your teeth and make sure you do not leave the strips or trays on longer than the instructions say to or you can ruin the enamel coating that protects your teeth naturally. Some people can experience tooth sensitivity where anything that touches their teeth causes extreme pain and awful sensation. Obviously, if you have used teeth whitening methods and this happens, stop immediately and visit your dentist or use Sensodyne toothpaste. You should not be using tooth whitening kits if you have receding gums, sensitive teeth and gums in general, or are allergic to peroxide (active ingredient in tooth whitening kits), but you should discuss it with your dentist before you go ahead and attempt doing so on your own. It is also important to note what kind of teeth you have because brownish-tinted and grayish-tinted teeth do not bleach well and if you have obvious fillings, bleaching will do nothing for their color but make them stand out even more in comparison to the rest of your newly-whitened teeth.

An easy way to make sure your teeth are white is to follow a proper diet heavily infused with fruits, vegetables, and drinking plenty of water. If you drink red wine, pop, caffeinated drinks, or colored drinks, you will diminish the whitening result fairly quickly. It almost goes without writing that if you smoke cigarettes, you should quit for a myriad of reasons, one of them being that they stain your teeth permanently and whitening kits won't do anything for you.

You may have other, associated issues causing your teeth to change color, for example, if you suffer from Bruxism (tooth grinding) you will wear away the bottoms of your teeth and inside the chipped areas  you will see yellowness. You should go see your dentist if this is the case for you so that they will provide you with a custom mouth-guard to be worn at nighttime when you cannot control your jaw's motions.