Ways to improve your smile without braces
I remember being in elementary school when I realized my teeth and smile were less than impressive. I had silver teeth in the front (this was before the song Grillz came out and made my silver teeth cool, just FYI) until I was in the 3rd or 4th grade. However, that is a completely different story, but I’m sure you get the picture that my smile was less than awesome.
When my adult teeth finally came in, pushing my silver teeth out, my smile still wasn’t great. The dentist recommended to my parents that I needed braces. We started the process to get braces, but I quickly put the brakes on that process when the words headgear were mentioned. (LOL!) I looked right at my dad in the dentist office, and said, “we can go home now because I am not wearing headgear 12 hours day.” I still stand firmly behind that decision.
This also meant that whatever my teeth looked like then is what I was going to have to “deal” with moving forward. I really didn’t hate my smile, I brushed my teeth, whitened my teeth, and just accepted that it is what it is.
That is until I started competing in pageants …….I was always noticing that it seemed like everyone had perfect teeth. I figured they all had braces growing up or they just were blessed with perfect teeth. Plot twist, as usual there was a lot I didn’t know. By competing for Miss Colorado USA, I learned there are so many options for getting perfect teeth or at least an improved smile that are not braces. Who knew?! Not me!
Luckily for me, part of the prize package of winning Miss Colorado USA is a dental sponsor that makes sure your teeth are camera and stage ready. Like with everything else, I pride myself in being very transparent so I would be BSing you if I said I got exactly what I wanted when it came to my new teeth. If there were no limits, I would have gotten perfect porcelain veneers, bright, white that never fade or get stained by coffee (aka my addiction), however, porcelain veneers are very pricey and weren’t an option for me.
There are multiple types of other veneers (WHO KNEW!?). There are veneers that go over your teeth like covers, these look amazing on some girls but weren’t my style. I wanted something that looked natural, and not much bigger than my teeth. I also care A LOT about my profile and didn’t want my teeth to be pushing my gums out. This isn’t knocking people who have this type of veneers, they just weren’t for me. I ended up getting bonding to fill in my gaps specifically in between the middle of my front teeth. I didn’t have to be numbed or really experience any pain to have this done. It took just a few hours and I noticed a HUGE difference.
A couple things I wish I would’ve known before walking into my dental appointment would’ve been to have my teeth as white as possible. Bonding is matched to your current teeth shade, and mine absolutely could’ve been whiter. Looking back, I also would’ve really liked to have bonding on my bottom teeth as well instead of hoping a retainer would cure those gaps because who really wears their retainer.
If you’re considering bonding, here are a few more things to think about. Bonding can be covered by dental insurance as “fillings” you just need to know what ask for and be prepared to ask a dentist who can do that. Bonding does not whiten, so the shade of your teeth you have when getting bonding is the shade you will have to keep your teeth. Bonding will most likely have to be redone. I have already had one tooth of mine touched up because it chipped. Bonding was the most inexpensive option when I got my dental work done (it was sponsored in full, but I cared about the price). There are probably tons more options out there, but this is just what I experienced with my sponsorship. Depending on where you go, bonding will run a few hundred dollars a tooth vs. thousands of dollars a tooth like porcelain veneers. Most importantly, do your research and develop your own plan on what works best for you.
If you have any questions, please let me know. I am happy to answer anything!
XO,
Madison