Page 29 - FWG_Issue 9_2022

Lifestyle

There have been many lessons learnt from the pandemic – one of
the most important being how often we used to overlook the value
of a simple smile. Dr Sheryl Smithies believes that understanding the

frame of your face and smile is key to your personal beauty.

sually, a smile is the first thing The positioning of your jaws also plays a
noticed on a person when big role in how your face presents itself, as
you look at their face. Widely it affects how far forward or back your chin
Uconsidered to reveal the beauty is and whether your nose tip goes down or
of the soul, a smile exudes warmth and up, for example. Straightening your jaws
approachability, and is the facilitator of will help straighten your teeth and improve
conversation. A pretty smile is not just your smile. In some cases, it can also
nice to look at though – a glistening smile improve the way you bite and chew food.
generally means rosy cheeks and bright Chat to your dentist about any concerns
eyes – which are all signs of good health, you may have and consider bonding or
vigour and youthfulness. veneers to bring back a youthful jaw shape
over time.
Yet, just like the rest of our body, our smile
changes over time. Dental surgeon and 3. Maintain a natural youthful
facial aesthetic practitioner, Dr Sheryl appearance
Smithies shares her three top tips to ensure Our bone, skin, gums, and teeth all age
your smile is always healthy, picture- as we do, and over time this changes our
perfect, and beautifully complements your facial structure and alters our smile. As we
facial features. get older, our skin gets looser and thinner,
which causes our teeth to become weaker,
THREE WAYS TO ALIGN YOUR SMILE move and become more crooked. Our gums
WITH YOUR FACIAL FEATURES also move and in some cases even shrink,
1. Smile widely to create symmetry which can cause recession. The good news
Dr Smithies says that so many people feel though is that there are many ways we can
ashamed to smile properly because they are slow the aging process around the mouth.
unhappy with their teeth. Not opening the
lips when smiling might seem like the best Facial fillers can help make our bone
solution to conceal discoloured or crooked structure appear to stay in the same
teeth, but this does more harm than good. youthful shape, while tooth alignment
A closed mouth pulls other facial muscles can straighten the teeth and prevent
into a different position and, after a while, movement. A simple gum surgery can
this can make the face look unnatural and be performed to bring the teeth forward
cartoon-like. (within reason), while the upper lip, which
tends to droop as we age, can be lifted
Although no one has a perfectly with another simple surgery. There are
symmetrical face, by parting your lips and also plenty of antiaging treatments on the
showing your teeth when smiling, you market, including peels, fillers, toxins, and
automatically create the illusion that your threads – and in the most extreme cases,
face is symmetrical. Ideally you want to smile rehabilitation can be done using
reveal at least 3mm or more of front teeth bonding or porcelain veneers to create an
when you smile to create proportionality entirely new smile.
in the face. If you feel embarrassed by the
condition of your teeth, then start with a Smiling is so important. As well as being
gentle and thorough cleansing regime – highly contagious, a smile can make a
incorporating good dental hygiene and person feel more attractive, positive and
teeth whitening practices if necessary. happy. Research has also shown that
smiling helps you live longer and can even
2. Jaws, Jaws, Jaws reduce stress and blood pressure levels.
The positioning, size and shape of your top
and bottom jaws will affect the overall look The path to the perfect smile starts with
of your smile – eg. you may have a small, good dental hygiene and understanding
dark smile, or a very large and gummy type how your smile can enhance your existing
of smile. facial features.

Fourways Gardens • 27 • October 2022