Smile Like You Mean It

Charley Williams-Howitt on teeth tweaks worth smiling about

Remember the TV show 10 Years Younger? It wasn’t the new wardrobes and trendy haircuts that got us excited, or even all that surgery, it was the teeth transformations that made us sit up and go, “Ooh”. Psychotherapist Lucy Beresford explains: “In our psyche, good teeth equal fitness, vitality and, above all, youth.” I’m currently having my own midlife smile dilemma. OK, so my teeth aren’t as bad as the 10 Years bunch, but decades of teeth grinding, too much red wine, wisdom-teeth problems, yada yada... means I’m now not smiling as widely as I should. And I’m not alone. Most of us are unhappy with our teeth. So what to do? “Today, it’s less about invasive procedures and more about enhancing what we have with a little ‘smile tweaking’,” says cosmetic-dentistry expert Dr Uchenna Okoye. “Just as you may have a peel or Botox, fine-tuning teeth is becoming a part of beauty routines, as clients realise the anti-ageing benefits of improving a little bit here and there.”

First things first...