Looking for your perfect smile? Don't get too hung up on a gap tooth or a thin lip. The truth is, there's no one look that's better than any other. Practice to find a smile you like, so you have the confidence to show it off to the world. Tooth-whitening treatments are available, but don't fall into the trap of damaging your oral health with excessive treatment. In the long run, healthy teeth will lead to the best smile.
1. Boost your confidence. The perfect smile doesn't need Hollywood teeth or a certain shape of lips. Smile in order to make other feel happy, open, and comfortable. People will care more about the reason behind your smile than its appearance. The advice below will help you adjust how your smile looks, but that's icing on the cake.
2. Find a mirror and relax. Look in the mirror and relax your facial muscles and shoulders. If you're tense, gently rub your cheeks and forehead. Clench and relax your jaw a couple times.
3. Think of something happy. A genuine smile is the best smile.Think of a fun memory or recent event, your friends, or your crush. Even an embarrassing story from your childhood can make you smile.
4. Adjust your eyes. One of the key differences between a real smile and a fake one is a change in the muscles around your eyes. Any of these can work:
Try crinkling your eyes or squinting a little. This might already happen if you have a wide smile.
Try widening your eyes a little, and raising your eyebrows.
Even a small tilt of your head can make a smile look better.
5. Practice a formal smile. Start by practicing a formal smile, for a work or school photograph. Keep your teeth closed together. You can keep your lips closed or flash a lot of teeth, whichever you prefer.
Try putting your tongue behind your upper front teeth. This makes your bottom lip look fuller and gaps in your teeth less noticeable. This is typically a feminine look but anyone can give it a try.
6. Make a friendly smile. This is a subtle, small smile you'd use at a social gathering, to catch someone's attention. Press your lips together and pull them wide. Hold the smile for just a second, long enough for the other person to notice. Here are a few variations on this:
Curve your lips by keeping the center steady as the outer corners move up.
Try the curve again, but keep stretching the corners until you flash a moment of teeth.
Smirk by raising one side of your mouth higher than the other and arching a brow. This can come across as saucy or sarcastic, so be cautious.
7. Show off a giant smile. Open your mouth so your teeth aren't touching, and give a giant, wide smile. Raise your eyebrows as you do this. This smile says "I'm having a great time!"