Because a nice smile has served as an invitation to social and professional success from time immemorial, I wanted to give you the most up-to-date information on what you need to do to get yours in prime working order. For that advice, I went to Dr. Linda Golden, a cosmetic dentist based in Manhasset, New York, whom the New York Times has featured as an expert in her craft. Here, she reveals the secrets to a better smile-and a younger-looking face.

Men and women constantly strive to improve their looks. We work out to improve our muscle tone. We address to flatter our shapes. We get the hippest hair colors. Makeup artists show us how to chisel our cheekbones and to make the most of our facial features. We gladly submit to chemical peels, microdermabrasion, liposuction, and whatever nips and tucks we deem necessary to achieve our own best image of ourselves.

So why not beautify our smiles? After all, people from the beginning of time have responded to a happy, reassuring smile. Why not let them respond to yours?

Your smile is gifts you give to the people you come into contact with every day. When you meet someone for the first time, yours smile instantly communicates your good intentions and lack of hostility. It demonstrates in the most natural way possible that you want your experience with this person to be a pleasant one. If someone is already your friend, your smile communicates warmth, playfulness, good humor, and understanding. To someone you love, a smile can say what words cannot. It says with certainty that you exactly where and with whom you want to be.

Smiling is good for your health and well-being. In fact, psychologists say that smiling not only reduces stress, it also releases endorphin, which give you a feeling of well-being.

Because smiles make every one happy all around, if you feel the need to cover up or hide your smile you are robbing yourself of one of the healthiest, most beneficial drawing (or calling) cards available. If you are uncomfortable with the appearance of your smile because your teeth are crooked or broken or discolored, you may subconsciously use gestures to hide them, such as covering your mouth or lips with your hands as you talk, smiling tightly, or doing something to distract the focus from your face (such as gesturing wildly or twirling your hair). These gestures are self-defeating and don’t really fool anyone. If you are careful about how and when you show your teeth, your guarded smile may make other people feel you are unfriendly or uptight.

The people you encounter daily respond constantly to the subtle clues you give off. If you talk with your lips pursed, for example, people may feel you are hiding secrets from them. Placing your hand over your mouth when your smile or talk may make think you lack confidence in other areas of tour life. It may even make people think you lack confidence in other areas of your life. It may even make people feel you are unapproachable or, worse, nervous or angry with them.

It’s a fact of life: If you want to look your best, but you feel that your teeth are holding your back, you’ve got to make a change.

If you look back at older photos of celebrities, you’ll notice that, as most of them achieve fame, they leave behind their old set of teeth in favor of a brand-new (usually whiter and larger) set of chops with star power. But redesigning teeth isn’t just for celebrities.

A good cosmetic dentist can redesign anyone’s teeth and provide a list of options to suit any budget. A good cosmetic dentist will work with patients to help them become their selves and to let their individual personalities shine through their equally individual smiles. The transformation (as you will see) can be dramatic.

Patient profiles

Here is a number of Dr. Golden’s patients and their stories, to show how well cosmetic dentistry works.

Today, you can choose from several cosmetic dental procedures to ensure a better, prettier smile. Let’s go over the most common ones, in order of complexity (from least to most complex).

What It Is: First, teeth are isolated for treatment, with a dental dam, to minimize leakage of oxidizing agents into other areas of the mouth. The teeth are then prepare by "painting" them with a special acid, which is combined with a concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution (as high as 50 percent). Your dentist then uses a laser beam to painlessly active the bleach. At-home maintenance treatments are often using to prolong the effects of laser bleaching.

Strengths:

The combination of the pretreatment and laser creates a reaction that eliminates the staining in the pores of the teeth. For the laser bleaching, a chemical oxidizing agent-normally hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide-is introduced into the pores of the teeth to eliminate the stain. Toothpaste uses a much weaker strength and there is no reactive in the toothpaste.

When Do You See Results: Immediately

Cost: $1,200 to $1,500

Where it’s done: In the dentist’s office

What it is: A process similar to laser bleaching, power bleaching uses an acid and hydrogen peroxide solution that is activated by a high-intensity light (rather than by a laser).

Strengths:

When do you see results: Immediately.

Weaknesses:

Cost: $250 to $400 per treatment; usually requires several treatments.

Also requires additional cost of at-home treatment to maintain effects.

Where it’s Done: First in the dentist’s office, then primarily at home, with observation visits to the dentist.

What it is: With at-home bleaching the dentist makes a plaster mold in exact shape of patient’s teeth. From this mold, a plastic tray is fabricated that fits over the teeth; a compartment inside the tray holds a solution of carbamide peroxide (in a 10 percent to 22 percent solution). The patient wears this tray, filled with solution, for approximately four to six hours (during the day or while sleeping), depending on the brand of bleaching formula used. (Treatment time varies according to the manufacturer.) A variety of treatment options accommodate different patient’s needs, for example, allowing for day bleaching twice a day for 30 minutes or for bleaching while you sleep. Either of the two other bleaching techniques can be combined with home bleaching.

When do you see results? One week to 10 days, sometimes sooner. Results vary greatly, depending on the type of stains and or patient’s compliance with the dentist’s instruction. Yellow and brown stains bleach best. Grays are more difficult, and tetracycline staining can be reducing over a few months.

• Requires periodic touch-ups.
• For best results, the bleaching technique must be repeated once every six month to two years.
• If the patient is a smoker or has a penchant for coffee or red wine, the process most likely will need to be prepared more frequently.
• Patients need to be compliant-noncompliance can lead to disappointing results.
• Less rapid results.
• Length of time required is usually two weeks or more.
• You have to wear something on your teeth for hours a day or at night.
• Patients do not like the taste.
• Results vary.

Cost: $500 to $800 a kit; $20 to $30 for each gel refill (touch-ups)

What it is: Bonding involves adhering a layer of plastic, called a composite, to the teeth to make them more attractive. It is a good choice for patients who want to change the shape, structure, and/or surface of their teeth. First the dentists perform some minimal drilling directly on the enamel of the tooth to prepare it for the bonding composite material. Next, a mild acid is use to condition the surface of the teeth (which is necessary to adhere the bonding to the enamel), and the composite is place on the tooth. Then, a high-intensity light is direct on the teeth to harden the material to create the desired shape and length.

Weaknesses:

Cost: $300 to $400 per tooth.

What it is: If cost is less of a concern and optimal aesthetics are of paramount importance, the top treatment option is most certainly laminate veneers. Laminate veneers Roll-Royce of dentistry: ultra-thin sculpted pieces of tooth-shaped porcelain that fit over the front of your teeth. Veneers are sort of like jewelry for your teeth-perfect, if your teeth are significantly discolored, chipped, pitted, malformed, or crooked, or if you have unwanted spaces.

This two-step process requires anesthesia and usually performed on two separated days: On the first visit, the teeth are prepared; on the second visit, the laminates are applied. The process works as follow:

When do you see results? Immediately after the final (second) treatment, when the veneers are applied.

Weaknesses:

Cost: Not cheap. $1,000 to 1,500 (or more) per tooth. But they’ll last form 10 to 15 years and won’t stain.

Where it’s done: In the dentist’s office.

What it is: Old and worn fillings and restorations, such as silver amalgam fillings, which can give teeth a blue tint on the sides, are replaced with porcelain inlays or onlays that closely match the color of your teeth. Porcelain inlays or onlays require isolating teeth, and then drilling out the old fillings under anesthesia. Then an impression is made–like a piece of jewelry in a ceramic studio. On a second visit to the dentist, your teeth are again isolated, you are numbed, and the porcelain is bonded in place, adjusted, and polished. The porcelain onlays are a more conservative procedure than crowning a tooth and can look wonderful used in conjunction with laminate veneers.

Strengths:

Cost: $800 to $1,500 per tooth

When it comes to creating a youthful smile–and face–just remember this: the lips are the curtains, the gums are the scenery, the two front teeth are the stars, and the surrounding teeth are the supporting actors. So:

Your teeth can also be customized to fit your face shape. For example:

Round Face: Teeth should be slightly square to create a more angular look.
Square Face: Teeth should be more oval-shaped to soften the face.
Heart Face: The central incisors should be flatter across.
Long Face: The smile should be as wide as possible.

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