We’ve all had the experience of meeting someone with a great smile. While most people can’t explain exactly what makes for a nice smile, they always know a great smile when they see one. Genuine, confident and radiant smiles warm the coldest hearts, forge the strongest relationships, and are never forgotten. Because smiles say something about you, your smile may be your most important accessory; certainly one that can’t be removed at the end of an evening out!

Unattractive and unbecoming smiles are just as easily spotted as the good ones – even when their owner is trying to hide them. You’ve no doubt been around these people and seen them cover their mouth when they eat or smile or laugh. Even worse, these people often reshape their personalities and find ways of expressing themselves that are reserved, lifeless and are usually quite restrained. This has obvious consequences and repercussions in their social life, career, and personal self-esteem.

Whether the problem is bad breath or infected gums, crooked miss-fitting teeth, old fillings or unsightly crowns, or simply an aged worn-down smile – a damaged or blemished smile runs the strong risk of betraying self-confidence, hurting careers and social standings, and generally gives their owners away as being less than polished.

What Makes a Great Smile?

While the average person might have a difficult time trying to describe a great smile, it’s actually quite easy to break down and understand. Established Principles of Smile Design are used by experienced dentists every day to create attractive smiles. You can use these same principles and observations to analyze your own smile and discover the reasons for why your smile might be naturally attractive or unattractive, as the case may be.

When science and the art of smile design are blended optimally by nature (or by a well trained cosmetic dentist) the results are very predictable and can be simply amazing - and life-changing! Exceptional cosmetic dentists understand and use these principles every day to transform dull lifeless and even average smiles into radiant successful confident smiles.

Some people think that a nice smile is simply a straight one or a white one. That might have been true in times past, but not today with our advanced understanding of cosmetics and the use of modern materials. There are actually many elements other than just having whiter or straighter teeth that make for a radiant or confident smile.

From a dental point of view, the "art" of cosmetic dentistry comes in first knowing how to analyze the presence or absence of these features in a smile, and secondly how to blend their corrections together to produce a balanced result utilizing these principles along with today’s modern dental materials.