Hello Sugar Fix friends, it’s Dr. Brittany Dickinson here. With the holiday season officially in full swing, I thought it would be a perfect time to share some of my tips and tricks to keep your smile as bright as the lights on your tree! And as a little bonus at the end, I’ll be chatting about getting the best bang for your buck with Botox, because we definitely want to look fresh in all our party photos! Botox and teeth whitening are the ultimate combo to crush it this season and feel fantastic all along the way.
The holidays are all about spending time with the people we care about, and in Chicago we have so many fun options for spending quality time with our loved ones! Whether going to a double feature Christmas sing along at the Music Box Theater, ice skating at Gallagher Way, or indulging in a holiday tea at the classic Drake Hotel, there certainly is no shortage of holiday spirit!
With the flurry of activities and get togethers this time of year, it can also be a bit stressful, and it certainly helps to take a few things off your plate. With professional teeth whitening, you can outsource achieving a dazzling smile to your dentist! When you’re confident in your smile, the sentiment overflows to the other aspects of your life. At our dental loft in Lakeview, Chicago, we have guests coming from all over the city of Chicago to boost their smile as part of their holiday prep! Here’s how to get a white smile fast:
Checkup and Cleaning
First, have a check up and cleaning. When it comes to build up on your teeth, the plaque can cast a yellowish tint making your smile appear dull. It can also be stinky, which would definitely be a mood killer when you’re rushing from event to event this season! A checkup and cleaning will remove this plaque along with any surface stains on your teeth as well as give your breath a boost of freshness.
Professional Whitening
Now that your smile is free from build up, it’s the best possible time to book a professional teeth whitening! At Sugar Fix, Dr. Brittany offers two different types of professional teeth whitening treatments. Depending on exactly how white you want your smile to be, you can do a Zoom Whitening or KoR Whitening. Zoom is completed in-office in about an hour and a half, and will brighten your smile 2-3 shades. KoR is completed over the course of a few weeks at home and can brighten your smile as white as you want them! Each treatment has thair own plusses and minuses, so you can read more in depth about each treatment here: Zoom / Kor.
Food Choices
Now, we know the holidays are a time for indulgence, but if you balance the treats out with a few healthy choices, your smile will stay brighter. Did you know apples are a naturally scrubby fruit and will clean your teeth in a pinch? Also, leafy greens and carrots will do the trick. Most parties have a veggie try, so grab a handful of these natural scrubbers and they’ll clear some surface stain from your teeth!
Drinks
Cold weather inspires two beverages more than most: coffee and red wine. Now, We’re not suggesting you totally give these up, but let’s make some small alterations to the habit. Get a few straws to drink your coffee in the morning. When you sip out of a mug, the coffee splashes all over the front teeth, but if you bypass them with a straw, your smile will stay much brighter! You’re welcome to try the straw trick with red wine, but we have to say that it feels strange to mingle at an event with a glass of red wine and a cocktail straw. So we’ve made the switch to something sparkling, or we made sure to sip water along with our red wine to rinse the dark liquid off our teeth as quickly as possible.
Do your At-Home Maintenance
Most of us spend at least 5 minutes on our nightly skincare routine, I’m just asking for two and a half minutes! Brush your teeth for a full two minutes to allow the ingredients in your toothpaste to do their magic, then floss with a woven dental floss to scrub the cracks between your teeth. Our favorite floss is Cocofloss since it has a little coconut oil (a natural whitener) to keep the in-between spaces bright too!
Keep Your Lips Mistletoe Ready!
Now that your smile is perfection, its time to keep your lips party-ready as well! We’ve tried all the super-expensive lip balms and masks out there and we were shocked that the one that works the best is incredibly affordable! Our neighbors over at Plump Room clued us into this one. Neosporin Overnight Lip Mask is truly amazing, and now we’ve shared the knowledge with all our guests. Chicago winters are no joke, dry, cold and windy, and this overnight treatment keeps our lips soft and hydrated. If you’re looking for even more of a boost, our neighbors at Plump Room do the best under-the-radar filler!
The Botox Glow
We promised we’d share our botox info and its time to let out the secret. Botox is a minimally invasive way to refresh your look for the holidays. Just remember it takes ten days to set in completely, so you’ll want to make an appointment ASAP if you want an airbrushed look before the holidays!
It works by relaxing wrinkles, there is little to know downtime, and when done by an experienced professional, it has very natural looking results. It only takes a few minutes to have done, and then seven to ten days to set in. That’s right, you can make your botox appointment during your lunch break or between zoom calls!
Dr. Brittany has been a botox provider for six years, and has a few pieces of advice to save your budget this holiday season. For you young ones in your twenties, you’ve probably had a little too much sun exposure and are starting to see lines on your forehead, so start with baby botox just in your forehead. For those of us in our thirties and forties, we’ve started to lose collagen and our skin begins to look heavy… not a good look for holiday photos! Give your eyes a wake up call with some botox between your brows and at your crows feet. This will lift your brow slightly and smooth the skin around your eyes to make you look rested!
With either treatment, hydrated skin is key. Make sure you’re drinking enough water and switch to a heavier moisturizer in the wither. We love this one from Alastin!
So there you have it, with these tips and tricks you’ll be looking and feeling radiant all season long! To book in with Dr. Brittany for a holiday whitening or botox treatment, click the link below!