Like your smile and yourself

Regardless of what anyone else thinks about your smile and overall demeanor, if you feel good about yourself, it's a first step towards self-confidence and a good healthy self-image. Do what is necessary to give yourself the confidence you need to accomplish what you desire, or to feel good about yourself. Being able to cope in a turbulent, complex environment sometimes means having a good, strong sense of self-worth. Taking care of your physical self first can give you this stronger self-concept, something you can build on as a foundation to enhance other areas of your life.

If you are not really pleased with your smile, you may subconsciously avoid smiling as often or widely as you could and should. You may have developed a habit of hiding you smile with your hand (or even your tongue) so as not to reveal how ugly you feel it is! If you have had braces on for a while, you may have tried to hide your braces by not smiling or smiling only half-heartedly. Others try to restrict their lips when smiling or laughing to avoid showing a dark front or side tooth.

Once you have had your cosmetic correction, you may have to practice smiling by looking into a large mirror, then relax your lips and ease into a big smile. Think of something funny so that you really let your lips reveal your teeth. See how much better your smile looks! Repeat this procedure enough so that you will become accustomed to smiling again.

Always remember to smile, it increases your face value.