Might as well ask, "How much is a blue suit?" Blue suits, of course, vary in dollar worth.  You may even need one to look great at a job interview. But even an expensive, perfectly tailored blue suit will go out of fashion one day.

But a great smile—now there's something money can buy that will last you a lifetime with proper care! The worth of a great smile can hardly be over-estimated.  It may cost you a bundle to get your teeth from where they are today to where you want them to be (namely white, gorgeous and completely healthy) but the dividends that a great smile pays can be reaped for the remainder of your life.

A great smile is a major asset to your appearance, and as such it can add a great deal to your personal and professional lives. The people you see on extreme dental makeover programs may indeed be spending major bucks. But one look at their "before and after" pictures is enough to remove all doubt that every dollar spent was very well spent!

The dollar cost of getting a great smile is always going to be relative to the value it brings, so don't be scared off by what you may think are high prices. Most dentists today will work out a payment plan with you, and the dividends that a great smile creates can be yours to enjoy a lot sooner than you may think!

Acidic foods can be quite harmful to your teeth because they erode your tooth enamel.  The enamel n your teeth is a strong, protective coating that helps to prevent decay.  Once the enamel is softened and eroded, you can't get it back and your teeth become more vulnerable to decay.

The saliva in your mouth is meant to neutralize acid.  However, continually consuming sugary foods such as soda, cookies and fruit juices causes excessive amounts of acid to form in your mouth and increase the possibility of tooth enamel erosion.  Dentists recommend that your reduce the amount of soft drinks, sports drinks and fruit juices you drink to minimize tooth enamel erosion.  If you cannot brush your teeth after eating a sugary snack, rinse with water for 30 seconds to remove some of the sugar left behind.  The best way to remove sugary debris is to brush your teeth with an ADA approved fluoride toothpaste after snacking.  You should brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes.  Also, daily flossing is imperative to remove the particles that get stuck in between your teeth and may cause enamel erosion.

Remember to schedule routine visits to your dentist's office for checkups and professional cleanings.  A professional cleaning can help to remove stubborn plaque and tartar that compromises the enamel on your teeth.  Additionally, your dentist will be able to detect early signs of decay to keep them at bay.

The best way to keep your teeth healthy is to avoid acidic foods, eat healthy snacks, brush and floss regularly and visit your dentist for routine checkups.

If your kids are wearing braces, congratulations – you have already done something terrific for their teeth.  However, while your children wear braces you need to ensure they are taking proper care of their teeth so they look great when the braces are removed.

Good oral hygiene is essential with braces because food particles and plaque can get caught in the small spaces in between braces and wires, causing tooth decay and stains on the tooth enamel.  Food may also react to bacteria in your child's mouth and the metal braces causing a bleaching effect that create small light spots.  Because of all this, it is necessary to have clean teeth and braces at all times.

Children should brush after every  meal.  You may want to give your child a small portable toothbrush to use at school and after school activities to keep their teeth and braces as clean as possible.  A floss threader or special orthodontic floss can be used daily to clean between the braces and under wiring.  When your child does not have a toothbrush, advise them to vigorously rinse their mouth out with water after eating to get rid of food particles.

You should also advise kids with braces to avoid soda and sugary snacks that promote tooth decay.  Sticky foods such as chewing gum, dried fruits, caramel and taffy are completely off limits because they can get stuck on braces and become difficult to remove.  Healthy snacks that are hard to chew, like apples and carrots, should be cut up before eating to avoid damaging wires.

With a bit of extra care and attention, your kids' teeth will look much better after braces with no telltale signs of decay.

Do your kids play sports?  Most kids today play at least one sport to boost their physical skills and increase their overall level of fitness.  Sports are beneficial and fun for kids, but can also be dangerous to a child's teeth.  If your kids play physical sports, protective sports gear is essential to avoid injury.  Protecting your kids teeth while they play their favorite sport can help to prevent a serious injury to their mouth.

Depending on the sport your child plays, there is a myriad of injuries than can happen to your child's teeth while they are enjoying their game.  Teeth can be broken, chipped or knocked out, tongues can be cut or bitten and jaw collisions even occur.  A simple mouth guard literally prevents thousand of oral injuries each year. 

Some parents are under the misconception that only football and hockey players need mouth guards.  The fact of the matter is that kids who play other sports, such as baseball, soccer and basketball, are just as likely to sustain an injury to their teeth or mouth.  Sports such as cycling, field hockey, martial arts, boxing, lacrosse, softball, rugby and skateboarding can also cause your child to injure their teeth and a mouth guard is a great way to protect their lifetime oral assets.

No matter what type of physical sport your kid plays, consider consulting with your family dentist to have a custom tooth guard fitted to prevent serious injury to your child's teeth and mouth in the future.

Is chewing gum good or bad for your teeth?  This is a really good question, especially with all the controversial information out there about chewing gum and the health of your teeth.

The answer to the question is that it depends on what type of gum you are chewing.  Chewing gum with sugar is not good for your teeth because it causes excessive sugar to build up in your mouth and get ground in between your teeth.  The extra sugar in your mouth is a home for the bacteria that causes tooth decay and infection.

However, chewing sugarless gum is actually good for your teeth.  The American Dental Association approves of chewing sugarless gum for twenty minutes after a meal when you are unable to brush your teeth.  Chewing the sugar free gum will actually make your mouth produce additional saliva that will help rinse the acid off your teeth after eating. 

If you enjoy chewing gum, it's great to know that you don't have to stop.  All you need to do is get rid of the sugary gum and replace it with sugarless gum to do your teeth a favor.  It's also convenient to grab sugarless gum when you won't be able to brush your teeth after a meal.  Who ever thought that chewing gum could be good for your teeth?

Wondering how much it would cost you to get some dental bonding work done to your teeth? The best way to find out, of course, is to simply ask your cosmetic dentist, who presumably has already seen your teeth and knows where bonding would be of value, to give you a specific cost for the tooth imperfections you want to have corrected with dental bonding.

However, it always helps to be forearmed with knowledge before undertaking any discussion about the cost of anything, and dental bonding procedures re no exception.

Research shows that the cost of dental bonding will vary with the extent of the bonding process you need or want to have done; however, the average cost of cosmetic dental boning appears to range from $300 to $600 depending upon where you live.   Many dental insurance plans cover most of the cost of the bonding, particularly when it is done for structural reasons, so be sure you check with your insurance carrier before you talk with your dentist.  That way, you'll know what is and isn't covered, and exactly how much you will be expected to pay out of your own pocket.

In today's society, we all try to put off the signs of aging for a more youthful appearance. Often work with a team of professional to ward off the telltale signs of aging, such as a physician, aethetician and masseuse.  Another important person in your team to combat aging is a cosmetic dentist.

With the miracles of modern dentistry, a cosmetic dentist can often quickly and painlessly improve your smile for a younger look.  For example, if your teeth are dingy you can have a professional whitening treatment done in just one hour.  The dentist applies a hydrogen peroxide gel to your teeth and often heightens the results with the use of light.  After only one treatment, you can enjoy teeth that are up to five to ten shades whiter.

For serious stained, chipped or cracked teeth, you can have dental bonding done.  The dentist sculpts a tooth-colored dental material around your damaged teeth and hardens it with heat to recreate your teeth.

When your teeth are serious discolored, chipped, cracked or misaligned, the cosmetic dentist may suggest porcelain veneers, which are thin, tooth-colored shells bonded to the fronts of your teeth to recreate your smile.  Even if you have missing teeth, dental implant, bridges and natural looking partial dentures can replace them.

Add a cosmetic dentist to your team of anti-aging professionals to recapture the look of your youth.

Cosmetic dentists are unique and offer incredible services to transform your smile because they have a specialized education in techniques to correct dental problems and improve the appearance of teeth.

Visiting a cosmetic dentist offers you a myriad of solutions to dental difficulties.  If you have stained or discolored teeth, a cosmetic dentist can perform professional tooth whitening in the office and you will leave with teeth that are up to five to ten shades whiter.  In only an hour or so, a hydrogen peroxide gel is applied to your teeth and the process is accelerated with light so your teeth are whiter and brighter when you leave.

If you teeth are more highly stained or have chips and cracks, dental bonding is a great way to recreate the shape of a tooth.  The cosmetic dentist sculpts the tooth colored, dental bonding material around the damaged tooth and hardens it with heat so the tooth looks just like it did before it was damaged.

For teeth that are significantly stained, chipped, cracked or misaligned, porcelain veneers can give you a Hollywood smile.  The cosmetic dentist bonds thin, tooth colored porcelain shells to the fronts of your teeth to totally transform your smile.

Even if you have missing teeth, cosmetic dentist can discuss dental implants, bridge and natural-looking dentures to replace teeth for an incredible smile.

The cosmetic dentist is a highly skilled professional with specialized expertise in making smiles more functional and attractive.

Dental implants are a superior way to replace missing teeth because they are natural looking and function just like your own teeth.  You brush dental implants, floss them and get regular dental checkups as if they were your teeth.  Because you do not remove them, you can easily chew and talk with them without the adjustment period that exists with dentures.

However, although most people can replace missing teeth with dental implants, in certain situations dental implants may not be recommended.  If you suffer with serious periodontal disease or degenerative bone problems, your jaw may not be strong enough to accommodate dental implants.  People taking certain medications such as corticosteroids should avoid dental implants because they compromise healing.  Also, people with diseases that compromise healing such as uncontrolled diabetes, collagen vascular diseases and moderate to severe anemia are not good candidates for dental implants.  Additionally, heavy drinkers and smokers may experience poor results with dental implants.

Further, dental implants are not recommended for those folks under 15 or 16 years old because their facial structures have not finished growing.  Certain dentists prefer to wait until a person is in their 20's because of ongoing jaw growth.

If you are interested in dental implants to replace missing teeth, discuss your medical conditions with your dentist to see if you are a viable candidate.  Remember, there are also natural looking bridges and dentures that effectively replace missing teeth and give you something to smile about.

Have you ever finished a restaurant meal wishing that you had a toothbrush so you could clean your teeth?  While most of us don't carry a toothbrush and paste with us everywhere we go, our teeth and the state of oral health would be much better off if we did.

Now there's a great solution for cleaning your teeth when you're "on the go." Called Brush-Ups, they are little textured tooth wipes that fit over your finger like a sock. They're small and fit neatly into purse, pocket or even your wallet. You can use them anywhere to quickly clean the plaque off of your teeth and refresh your breath.

You just stick a Brush-Up on your finger and rub ot over your teeth after eating. Don't worry—you don't have to rinse after using a Brush-Up.  It's pre-moistened, but in a way that no moisture will be left on your finger. 

Sugar-free Brush-Ups are available in a tasty mint flavor that leaves your breath clean. They come individually wrapped and are perfect for travel and parties. Keep some at the office and in your car, too.

Brush-Ups are a great new tool in your dental health toolkit. A really neat new invention for busy people who like to keep their teeth feeling clean and fresh.