Right or wrong, Americans are obsessed with looking younger. One indication of that is the fact that Americans have spent more than $12 billion (that is with a B) annually on cosmetic surgery in recent years, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. If you would like to look younger, we have a much simpler suggestion. It requires no surgery, and you can have it done at any Sunrise Dental location in the Triangle. What is this wonderful treatment, you may ask? It is professional teeth whitening. Skeptical? We understand, but stick with us and we will explain how fixing your stained teeth can change how old other people think you are. To learn more or to find out for yourself, call any of our dentist offices in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, or Raleigh. Yellow Teeth And Getting Older Almost everything that you eat contributes to the stains on your teeth. Every coffee that you drink … Every iced tea you enjoy on a hot summer afternoon … Every delicious barbecue sandwich you eat has a tiny effect on your teeth. After 30, 40, 50 years of eating and drinking, every little bit adds up. Your teeth will naturally lose their pearly white quality. Your stained teeth are just another example of the wear and tear our bodies go through as we get older. Now, we can do things to slow down this staining, but we won’t ever stop it completely. You also can do things that speed up the staining, like ignoring your dental hygiene or using tobacco. That, too, can affect how old people think you are (but necessarily in a way you would like). The Photo Test A British newspaper, The Daily Mail, tested how our teeth color affects the way others perceive our age. Using photo editing software, they lightened and darkened the teeth color in photos of celebrities and ordinary people. They asked volunteers to guess the ages of the people in the photos. Here’s a sample of what they found:

• A picture of a woman was presented with white, lightly stained, and heavily stained teeth.

People who saw the picture with the whitest teeth thought the woman was 31 years old. People who saw the mild stains thought she was 37, and people who saw the darkest stains said she was 43 years old. That’s a 12-year difference just by changing the color of her teeth.

• A picture of a male was shown with three different shadings, white, lightly stained, and heavily stained.

Volunteers who saw the heavy stains thought the man was 38 years old. People who saw the light stains guessed that he was 32, and people who saw the whitest teeth said he was 28 years old. A decade was wiped away with whiter teeth.

• Model Kate Moss was shown with two different shades of teeth.

People who saw her natural teeth thought she was 41 years old, but people who saw her photo with white teeth said that she was 35. How You Can Look Younger We know instinctively that our teeth become yellower, darker, and more stained as we get older. This may be why we consider people who have whiter teeth to be younger. You may be able to experience this effect for yourself with our professional teeth whitening service. This is one of the simplest forms of cosmetic dentistry, and whitening remains one of the most popular cosmetic services. We use Sinsational Smile® for our in-office whitening treatments. In a single visit to our office, this product can remove layers of stains from your teeth. Your smile could be multiple shades whiter in as little as 20 minutes in one of our chairs. There are many professional teeth whitening products on the market, but one of the advantages of Sinsational Smile® is that it does not increase teeth sensitivity the way other products can. This is the fastest and most effective method we offer for changing your teeth from stained to white. In some cases, it’s a quick way to improve your self-confidence as well. We’ve treated many patients who were ashamed by their yellow teeth when they walked through our door but who left with their heads held high and big smiles on their faces. Reclaim Your Smile Your smile says a lot about how you feel about yourself. If you want to feel better, and maybe a little more youthful, professional teeth whitening at Sunrise Dental could be just what you need. To make an appointment, contact the dentist office closest to you in Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham or Raleigh. Your new and improved smile is waiting.