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Americans spend a lot of time and money caring for their teeth every year. But when one or more of those teeth go missing entirely, it can be a devastating blow to your emotional health. There is nothing worse than feeling self-conscious about your smile. Fortunately, people who have suffered tooth loss due to an accident or medical reason have some options to boost their confidence in the wake of the loss. These three confidence-boosting strategies ought to help.

1. Get Dental Implants

While they can be pricey, dental implants, by professionals like those at Somerset dentistry, have come a long way and are an excellent and seamless substitute for missing teeth. For a number of reasons dental implants are usually your best option if available to you, because you not only fill in the hole in your smile with a fake, rooted tooth that looks just like the one you lost, but they also prevent possible bone degradation that can happen with leaving holes in place. Another option you have is to get a bridge, which is usually cheaper than getting implants. Bridges hold fake teeth in place by anchoring them to adjacent teeth rather than affixing the fake tooth via a fake root. It’s very difficult for people to tell the difference between a bridge and a real tooth, and nearly impossible to tell a dental implant from the real thing.

2. Focus On Being Healthy

This will likely improve your external appearance and thus leave you feeling more confident after losing a tooth. Exercise releases endorphins that simply make you feel good, and working out and eating healthier give you a sense of accomplishment. This extends to your teeth – brush and floss frequently and generally take good care of your dental hygiene. Do what you can to negate bad breath and particularly yellow teeth. Always go to the dentist when there is a problem rather than putting it off and potentially making the issue worse. Using products to improve both your dental and physical health can help. For example, if your teeth are very close together and it is difficult to floss with normal floss, use floss picks. As another example, owning a hot tub can help you relax tremendously and improve your sleep.

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3. Change Your Perception

People tend to really focus a lot of negative energy on their appearance. While it is true that a smile is often the first impression someone has of you, it’s also true that you can change your own perception of beauty. Even with missing teeth, you can improve your own self-confidence and change your perception of how you look. This will in turn change how other people see you. They will be far more likely to take a liking to you if you come at them confidently rather than being “unfriendly” by not smiling. There are a number of techniques that can change your perception of yourself and boost your confidence. For example, you can focus on the features of your body, face and even your teeth that you do like.

Missing teeth don’t have to make you feel bad about your smile or your appearance overall. Solutions can involve surgical implants or just confidence-boosting techniques that will teach you how to love yourself, even with your flaws. In the end, it’s up to you whether you want to try and do a surgical fix vs. owning a flaw and making it a part of who you are. Be sure to consult a professional dentist and weigh all of your options as well as take into account any potential issues that may occur by leaving gaps as they are.