3 Tips To Prepare Your Smile For Your Senior Portraits

As the time for your senior portraits approaches, it's important to get prepared. These tips will help you improve your smile so that you'll look your best when it's time to have your senior portraits taken. 

Practice Your Smile

Several weeks before your senior portraits are scheduled, begin practicing your smile while standing in front of the mirror. Hold your head at different angles and assume different postures. Part your lips in multiple ways, with teeth showing and not showing. 

As you practice smiling, get in the habit of visualizing something or someone that you truly care about. Whether you're thinking about a loved one, a favorite memory or a happy place, take notice of the way that your smile changes and becomes more genuine as you think about something that brings you true happiness. 

Whiten Your Teeth

Teeth whitening (also called teeth bleaching) is among the most popular forms of cosmetic dentistry. White teeth can make your smile seem more healthy and genuine. In addition, white teeth draw attention to your smile right away, so that your mouth is the first thing many people look at. 

There are many ways to get your teeth whitened, but the safest and most long-lasting methods are done at the dentist's office. For an evenly white, bright and beautiful smile, get your teeth professionally whitened a few weeks before your senior portraits. To learn more, contact a company like Staller & Gandel D.D.S with any questions you have about working on your smile.

Moisturize Your Lips

Moisturizing your lips will help your smile look its best. There are several different ways to moisturize your lips in the days and weeks before it's time for the pictures.

• Use lip balm with sunscreen. Carry around a stick of lip balm with you everywhere you go, and whenever you think of it, moisturize your lips. Use lip balm on a daily basis--if not multiple times per day. Using lip balm that contains sunscreen will prevent your lips from becoming sun damaged and dry. 
• Get hydrated. Drink plenty of water every day. If you're a woman, you should drink 9 cups every day. If you're a man, drink 13 cups of water every day. Drinking water hydrates the skin and keeps parts like your lips moist and soft.
• Avoid licking your lips. Saliva will dry out your lips, causing them to become cracked and chapped. Avoid licking your lips. If your lips feel dry, don't use your own saliva to hydrate them. Use lip balm instead. 

For more tips about how your smile can look its best for your senior portraits, speak with your dentist at your next appointment.