Living in an age of cosmetic enhancement and fake beauty, we women often feel pressured to make the most of our assets to boost our aesthetic appeal. A nip here and a tuck there, a bit of hair dye and the occasional sunbed, and we have the potential of feeling like Pammy in the pulling stakes. It’s not surprising that women aim for such a high benchmark given that the over Photoshopped pages in FHM and the other lads mags. These publications portray flawlessly rendered babes with perfect teeth, tums and bums, and not a split end in sight.


Cosmetic enhancement has gained in popularity in recent years with little tweaks and small procedures becoming run of the mill procedures. It is common for banks to give loans for boob jobs and lunchtime Botox sessions to be popped on a credit card. Shopping for makeup has been notched up a step or two; women are now shopping for a new way to wake up. It isn’t just the ladies either; men are becoming major targets of cosmetics campaigns. The metro-sexual man wants a buff body and white teeth, just like the men that adorn the magazine covers in WH Smith.


Without going too near the surgeon’s knife, there are simple yet effective ways of improving your appearance. Most can be done in a lunch hour, all are temporary and you are more or less guaranteed never to come away looking like Pete Burns, the one-man walking warning against permanent cosmetic ‘enhancement’. Exercise caution however, as bodily modifications are well known for being addictive. It may start off with a Saint Tropez tan, and end up with liposuction! In my opinion, one of the first ports of call is to get a gleaming smile. The procedures involved can involve as little as using a tooth whitening kit and a good mouthwash through to low invasive tooth implant surgery.


Tooth whitening can be done by a dental surgeon or at home using a specialized kit with a whitening gel, an applicator and gum shield. The procedure uses a form of bleaching agent called peroxide and comes in a variety of strengths. The stronger the solution the shorter the time it takes to bring your pearly whites to perfection. Be warned however that if you have exceptionally porous or sensitive teeth, the weaker solution is recommended. The bleaching treatment takes around 15 to 35 minutes and should be repeated daily if it is a home treatment for a few days until the desired results are achieved. After this, the kit only needs to be used as an ‘as and when’ top up treatment.


If you opt to get the treatment done at a dental surgery, the process is a little different. The orthodontist uses a high strength solution that is painted on in a very thin layer. This allows for a precise application and a short application time. Surgeries use a protective light-cured solution to minimize the risk of chemical burn to the gums as the surgical strengths are far greater than the ones in a home kit. Once you’ve successfully bleached the smile back on to your face, you’ll need to try your best to keep it that way.


The major causes of stained teeth are tobacco, coffee, tea, red wine and some foods. If you don’t fancy giving up the dental demons, adopting a sensible tooth care routine will keep your pearlies pearlescent. Regular brushing combined with flossing and mouthwash will prevent bacteria causing a buildup of plaque and keep those pegs-a-gleaming. Who needs to be a perfect 10 when you’ve got a smile that dazzles so bright they won’t be able to see if your bum looks big in that dress or not!

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