With a click of button, you can have the perfect smile you never had.  Technology has done it again. Cheaper and faster than ever, iPhone^®, iPad^® and iTouch^® users now have the capability of what would cost hundreds of dollars to whiten teeth for a low-cost of just $4.99.

Although not a true makeover, the Apple^® website describes the up-to-the-minute application “Whitening Simulator”, as the world’s first automated teeth whitening app.  It incorporates an advanced face and smile detection engine to show users how white your teeth can be.  The application allows users to enhance personal photos by instantly whitening your teeth and then shows a before and after photo illustrating the results!

The application is being used for more than just iPhone^®, iPad^® and iTouch^® users’ pleasure.  Some dentists are even taking the application to a new level and bringing the “Whitening Simulator” into their offices to help patients decide if they would want to invest in a brighter smile.

In a recent article written on the Mobile Applications Blog, Dr. Chasen, DDS explains, “I am impressed with how realistic the results from “Whitening Simulator” are.  In just a few seconds, I can take a picture of a patient and show them what they would look like with whiter teeth. It is fun and helps me motivate my patients to take better care of their teeth.”

What are your thoughts about bringing this application into the dental practice?  Do you think this crafty application will drive more patients to invest in that whiter smile?

This post is for all those in the middle of planning a spring or summer wedding, like I am.  What’s on your to-do list? Securing the date and the venue, getting the invites out, hiring your photographer, etc. While it takes a lot of time and effort, these are still exciting times! And if you’re like me, you want your wedding day to be nothing short of memorable. And to make sure we have lasting memories, we have wedding pictures and wedding videos to help us.  Obviously, for both of these we need to be looking our best. And of course, we need to be smiling. This is why it is critical that we include in the “to-do” list, at the very least, a hygiene prophy/cleaning appointment a short time prior to the big day. These appointments will guarantee that when everyone is asking you to pose for their camera, you will not lack the self-confidence to smile from ear to ear! Of course, if you want to take it to the next level, a whitening appointment can be scheduled with your dentist, or you could invest in over-the-counter alternatives like Crest^® Whitestrips^®.

Proper regular oral hygiene is critical to a patient’s health and well-being all the time, but especially around your wedding time. And of course we all know it’s not “just a cleaning,” but a clinical appointment in which you can receive such important health information as the results of an oral cancer screening. This may not be something you’re thinking about with the deluge of wedding plans and personal time constraints, but for your total overall health, it simply cannot be overlooked. And how about this for all us wedding planners working to stay within budget – statistics show that patients who come in for regular hygiene appointments spend 50-75% less in dental treatment over their lifetimes. This is something to keep top-of-mind as future financial obligations (a house? kids? new car?) come rushing in quickly once the wedding and honeymoon are over.

-Derek Van Volkom

Lanmark360 Vice President, Account Supervisor