What's in a Smile?

A smile can convey all sorts thing. Ever hear the saying..."A smile is worth a thousand words"? A smile can convey friendliness, show compassion, create laughter, and even the devious side of a person. While we know how to read smiles and gauge their meaning, does the real secret lie in teeth themselves? Did you know the different shapes of the teeth suggest personality types?

Analyzing Your Teeth

The two front teeth, or the incisors, show a person’s age. Generally, the younger you are the more rectangular and rounded the corners of your incisors are. As you age, your front teeth become squarer and the corners begin to shorten.

Next to your incisors are your lateral incisors, which indicate gender. More feminine lateral incisors are slightly shorter and more rounded at the ends. The womanly look is referred to as a “gull-wing” silhouette. More masculine lateral incisors are almost the same size as central incisors and more squared.

Cuspids, or the teeth to the immediate left of your lateral incisors, show aggressiveness versus passivity. More pointy canines indicate more aggressive and powerful personalities. People with a more passive nature typically have flattened canines that are rounded at the tip of cuspids. 

Not only does the shape of the teeth reveal your personality but the straightness and health of the teeth say something as well. An individual with a bright, beautiful smile is going to have a healthier self-image and greater self-confidence. It's not a secret that someone with greater self-confidence will be more energetic and go further in life. Dr. Pat DiCiccio and team love helping to create beautiful smiles and improve the self-confidence of their patients.

You can't change your personality! You are who you are. But by doing what you can to straighten your teeth and taking care to keep them healthy with good oral hygiene, you will certainly go a long way toward keeping a positive self-image and making you who you want to be.

Stay Healthy...Replace Your Toothbrush!

Fall is upon us and with it comes the dreaded cold and flu season. After recovering from your cold, Dr. DiCiccio will tell you one of the most important things you can do to avoid becoming reinfected is to replace your toothbrush!

Germs are known to linger on the bristles and you risk prolonging your sickness by continuing to use the same toothbrush. Be smart – keep a spare, just in case! Here are some toothbrush tips that will help you all year long:

• Wash your hands before and after brushing
• Allow the brush to air dry after each use, harmful bacteria dies after being exposed to oxygen
• Store the toothbrush in an upright position to allow water to drain and dry faster
• Prevent germs from being passed between brushes by storing them separately
• Replace your toothbrush every 3-4 months. Worn bristles are less effective in properly cleaning your teeth and can actually be damaging to teeth if used too long! Studies have shown that a new toothbrush removes 30% more plaque than one that is 3 months old.
• To help you remember, some brushes have "reminder bristles" that fade over the 3 month period

We hope these tips help you stay healthier and keep those pearly whites sparkling clean! Feel free to call us if you have any questions or ask us on Facebook.

20 Things That Can Ruin Your Smile

DiCiccio Orthodontics knows you take pride in your smile! And that you want to keep your smile looking as beautiful and healthy as you possibly can. Brushing, flossing and visiting your dentist may not be quite enough to keep those pearly whites in tip-top shape! We found an article about 20 things that can ruin your smile.

Some of these include:

• Sport drinks
• Tobacco
• Puberty
• Citrus or Acidic foods
• Dry mouth

We encourage you to take a look at the rest of them. Feel free to ask our team at your next visit if you have any questions regarding your dental health. We also invite you to ask us on Facebook. 

the Secrets to a Happy Life

Happiness and smiles go hand-in-hand! Dr. Pat DiCiccio and team are exceptional at creating beautiful, life-changing smiles. Here are some suggestions for finding the happiness to go along with it! I found this post on A Smile per Day and just had to share it!

The video brings the transcript to life. The lyrics are taken from a famous essay — written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune — which gives some amazing advice for life. The article is called: "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" and can be found here. 

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - the original video

Enjoy the transcript: 

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday. 

Do one thing every day that scares you. 

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.  

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. 

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements. 

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. 

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. 

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. 

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. 

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out. 

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85. 

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. 

But trust me on the sunscreen.