Now's the time to show off those pearly whites

If you read magazines, you’ll notice more and more are devoting space to fashion – not necessarily the clothes you wear, but what mixes together to make the opposite gender stop and look twice.

Usually, whether it’s a men’s or a women’s magazine, the choices of what draws one gender to the other during a first impression always boil down to these top five candidates:

a) Their butt looks good in jeans
b) They have a knockout smile
c) They make me laugh
d) They’re really built
e) They’re really not built – meaning they have time in their day to spend in a relationship rather than the gym.

Of these five, which do you think always comes in first place?

“B” – They have a knockout smile.

“We’re getting to the point where we whiten the teeth of as many men as women,” says Dr. Steve Gustafson, of Gustafson and Morningstar D.D.S. “It was even in the latest issue of Men’s Health – they took this guy and did eight essential things he needed, like correct his diet and get him on a workout schedule again. One of the eight things was whiten his teeth.

“With the economy going the way it is, and more people out of work, looking your best is a necessity. Getting a decent suit and haircut for a job interview doesn’t cut it anymore,” Dr. Steve says. “A smile speaks to your first impression initially, but it also clues the interviewer in on the rest of your bodily hygiene.”

Dr. Steve said he’s working on whitening the teeth of a groom-to-be. “His fiancé made it real clear she wants his teeth redone for their wedding, and she expects to see some pearly whites.”

Even after already making a fistful of movies, Tom Cruise is just now getting braces and his teeth whitened, Dr. Steve said. “That’s going to cause a trickle down effect. Americans are very style conscious. What they see in the movies, they want. For a change, though, this will be a good thing.”

So, all this begs the question: Does the Crest whitening formula available over the counter work?

“Yes, it works, but like anything else, you get what you pay for,” Dr. Steve said. The Crest formula will lighten your teeth a shade or two over a 14 day period of time. “Our professional gel – we have a new one called Zoom – shows a difference overnight. They call it ‘the weekender,’ because it’s more intense and can lighten your teeth four to six shades in two days, so it’s much quicker than the lightening effect of the Crest strips, plus the effect lasts far longer than the Crest strips.”

“We also make and give you custom-made trays to hold the gel, so you get the whitening where you need it the most,” Dr. Steve says.

In many of the magazine articles, they quoted the cost of getting one’s teeth professionally whitened at about $400. “That’s about what we charge,” Dr. Steve said. “But what do you want to invest in? Would you buy a pair of glasses off the rack?

“A suit – you might wear a handful of times, but a smile, like a pair of glasses, is something you wear every day. They make a first impression every day – and you want that to be a good impression, before you even begin a conversation.”