Perfecting Your Smile

(CBS)  "The Early Show" series "Search for the Perfect" continued with advice on how to get the ideal smile.

Dr. Marc Lowenberg, a cosmetic dentist, showed how you can improve, as well as whiten and brighten your teeth.

So what is the perfect smile?

Lowenberg said the perfect smile is the one that is perfect for you.

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"Julia Roberts' amazing smile works for her but it we put that smile on Demi Moore, for instance, it would make her look less beautiful," Lowenberg said. "A great cosmetic dentist can tell what would make the smile perfect for you."

According to Lowenberg, a great smile is very individualized. He said different designs work differently on different people.

"Most of the smiles we love are not really perfect -- Julia's, Cameron Diaz, Julianna Margulies, Amanda Peet -- they all have imperfect smiles but they are perfect for them," he said. "Same thing is true for mere mortals. However, things we look to create are white healthy looking teeth, where the teeth are in proportion to the face."

Typically, that means most beautiful smiles have the two front teeth a little longer than the next teeth, with a wide or broad smile, and symmetry on both sides, Lowenberg said.

So how can you achieve this look?

In today's cosmetic world, Lowenberg said the Rolls-Royce of cosmetic dentistry is porcelain veneers. Veneers are a thin facade of porcelain that is bonded or glued to your tooth and can change the color, shape, tooth position and length of teeth. Due to new technology they are extremely thin, translucent, and require a minimum amount, if any, of tooth structure to be removed, Lowenberg said.

Porcelain veneers, Lowenberg said, aren't cheap. In different parts of the country, and depending on the dentist's expertise, he said they can range from $800 to $3,000 per tooth.

However, there are low-budget alternatives to help achieve similar results, Lowenberg said. These include using whitening or bleaching in the dentist's office or at home, reshaping or recontouring your existing teeth, bonding the surface of your teeth with composite resin rather than porcelain veneers, or a combination of all of the above.

Lowenberg recommended these products for whitening:
1. The natural way -- baking soda and peroxide mixture
2. Over-the-counter products -- Crest White Strips, Listerine Whitening Rinse, and J&J Whitening Floss
3. Mouthwashes for healthy gums -- the Natural Dentist
4. Most important thing for healthy white teeth is dental floss

[MendelPotok]

Thank you for the post, my dentist would only recommend <a href="http://www.utahvalleydentallab.com/">porcelain veneers</a>, but for that price I could get a boob job :p I'll try the teeth whitening route first.