No matter how good your hair cut, how toned your triceps or how well you’ve nailed smooth Botoxed skin, one thing that gives away your age is an unpolished smile.
Coffee and red wine stains, chipped enamel and receding gums make you look long in the tooth, and if you find yourself pulling a rictus grin in selfies to cover up, you may need some help.
From high-tech breakthroughs transforming cosmetic dentistry to brilliant at-home hacks that can de-age your smile, our dental experts reveal their trusted techniques:
Bathroom-shelf heroes
‘Upgrading at-home tools can radically anti-age your smile,’ says dental therapist Anna Peterson, who rates the Oral B iO2 toothbrush (£45, oralb.co.uk). It is said to remove 100 per cent more plaque than a manual brush, and has ‘smart’ ultra-fine bristles that are gentle on gums, glide between teeth to clean deeply and fade in colour to show when to replace the head.
Pair it with Oral B’s new Advanced Healthy Whitening Toothpaste (£3.98), which contains a ‘stannous fluoride complex’ that forms a protective shield around teeth to prevent enamel erosion and remove surface stains.
The Oral B iO2 toothbrush is said to remove 100 per cent more plaque than a manual brush
For a gentler alternative to fluoride, the Danish brand Urtekram makes organic vegan toothpastes. Its Fresh Mint Fluoride-Free Whitening Toothpaste (£3.99, superdrug.com) contains chalk grains and hydroxyapatite, the mineral teeth are made of, and claims to rebuild enamel, reduce sensitivity and prevent decay.
For freshening up between brushes, Harley Street dentist Dr Reena Wadia has created The Mouth Cleanse (£24. bydrreena.com), her take on traditional mouthwashes, which are often harsh and destroy the oral microbiome. The vitamin spray to supports gum health, strengthens connective tissues and can be ingested so the body can absorb its nutrients.
The mathematically perfect smile
You may have heard of the golden ratio – a mathematical measure of beauty – but Dr Sepi Jalali, clinical director of toothclub.co.uk, says there is also a golden ratio of teeth. He adds: ‘This is defined when the front teeth are in proportion to create a harmonious smile that looks right to the eye. This balance is something we associate with youth and health. Over time, teeth wear down and shift slightly which can throw things off.’
Dr Sepi Jalali says there is a golden ratio of teeth
To address an ageing smile, new tweakments abound. At A.B.C. Smile in London, (abc.dental) Dr Edward Li offers Composite Contouring (from £350 per tooth), a resin that’s moulded on to reshape jagged or worn teeth.
At the Nejati Clinic in Belgravia (nejaticlinic.com), Dental Microlayering (from £795 per tooth), reshapes worn teeth and covers chips and cracks by painting on 15 layers of a nano composite (a liquid resin containing porcelain) to mimic tooth enamel. ‘Think of it as a manicure for teeth,’ says cosmetic dental surgeon Dr Brandon Nejati.
Celebrity AI upgrades
With Beyonce and Tom Cruise proving it’s never too late to straighten our teeth, adult braces are ever more popular. Modern aligners use artificial intelligence to plot the most efficient route to straight teeth, cutting appointments and treatment times.
Removable aligner maker Invisalign uses an algorithm based on its bank of 18million cases to predict how to move teeth and AI to convert scans of patients’ teeth into models for braces and aligners.
Luceo Dental (luceodental.com) in London uses such AI programmes for its orthodontic scanning & modelling, and Invisalign Smile View software to show patients how their treatment could look.
‘This not only shows the results of orthodontic treatment like Invisalign (from £3,850) but also cosmetic treatments like porcelain veneers (from £1,150 per tooth) or Composite Bonding (from £410 per tooth),’ says Luceo’s founder Dr Tom Crawford-Clarke.
Award-winning dental practice Dawood & Tanner (dawoodandtanner.co.uk) uses customised, 3-D printed temporary crowns (from £520 per tooth) and veneers (from £1,970), enabling ‘trial smiles’ that let patients see what things could look like.
Whiten in your lunch hour
New whitening treatments include light-activated gels and peroxide-free options. At top dental clinics a trip to the hygienist is now more like a spa treatment. At the Nejati Clinic, Oral Detox Cleansing (£179) uses Guided Biofilm Therapy in which a salt-crystal solution is sprayed on teeth and under gums to remove a protein film containing harmful bacteria. Teeth are coated in a cleansing serum and gums in a herbal serum activated by LED light for an instant gleam.
Certain red lipsticks can make your teeth appear whiter, such as the Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in Always Red
For those looking for quick at-home whitening, check out your make-up bag. Red lipsticks with blue or berry undertones add brightness to teeth, reflecting a cooler light that appears whiter.
Try Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in Always Red (£11.15, sephora.co.uk), Stila’s Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso (£21, stila.co.uk) or Westman Atelier Lip Suede Hydrating Matte Lipstick in Le Rouge (£36, cultbeauty.com).
Olivia Falcon is the founder of @theeditorslist