The top 10 smile trends we will see in the coming year

Mayur N Pandya, Dentist and Chief Clinical Officer, Together Dental, said; “2021 is going to be the year of the smile with a renewed focus on our health! After overcoming so many challenges this year we are witnessing a change in the psyche of the British public where thinking about, and taking care of our teeth and overall health is coming to the fore.” The top 10 trends are below:

1. More gentlemen having cosmetic dentistry

More gents are having cosmetic dentistry than ever before. We are seeing an increase in men who wish to improve their smiles with the latest technical treatments on the market. Gents increasingly want to look after themselves and their health, and having a lovely fresh bright smile is the most striking way to improve their appearance.

2. Teeth grinding

Patients presenting with Bruxism; more commonly known as teeth grinding and clenching have doubled in 2020. Unfortunately, we expect to see the knock-on effects of this perpetuate throughout 2021 as our levels of stress remain high. Bruxism has two different forms: Grinding and clenching. Grinding is when you move the upper and lower set of teeth against each other. Clenching is when you tightly grip teeth together, but there is no movement – its static and you often can’t hear it. Grinding wears down the teeth and will leave tell-tale wear and tear which will be visible to the dentist. You may also be able to hear the faint sound of someone grinding their teeth. Clenching could cause damage to teeth but may manifest more as muscle pain and headaches. In more extreme cases this can lead to problems with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or the facial muscles that can be painful and limit the ability to open the mouth during flare ups.

3. Teeth whitening as an anti-aging treatment

Having ‘good’ teeth is now seen as being one of the key anti-aging treatments. Teeth whitening can literally take the years off!

4. ‘Natural’ trend

We are stepping away from whiter than white perfect designer smiles and into a more natural look which is all about ‘perfect imperfections. The ‘Hollywood Smile’ was the look many wanted, and the straighter and whiter the better. But it seems that perfection just got too perfect and we’re now celebrating our differences. It seems this has all changed, and 2021 is all about embracing the ‘au natural’ way or ‘improved smile’, with perhaps a few tweaks.

 5. Snore no more

Sophisticated snoring technology implemented by your dentist looks set to improve snoring for good! A variety of oral devices or mouthpieces are now available that address snoring problems. By preventing the lower jaw from dropping back during sleep, these devices can prevent the partial closure of airways, which will reduce snoring. It features a custom-made mouth piece made from impressions taken of a person’s teeth.

6. White fillings

We simply don’t do such large amounts of metals fillings anymore with technology changing and more subtle white fillings routinely used. We will see large numbers of people coming in to switch their metal fillings for the more attractive white ones.

7. The wedding delay smile

One trend we are seeing this year is the wedding delay smile where people were supposed to be getting married in 2020, and now as they have an additional year (or longer!) to wait they are thinking about additional cosmetic treatments such as whitening and composite bonding.

8. Zoom into composite bonding

 The sustained increase in home working and use of Zoom, and other face to face virtual communications will lead to a surge in Composite Bonding treatments. People are more conscious of their smiles and how it comes across on camera so want to fix it before we go back to normal. Composite bonding is one of the easiest ways to solve different dental problems including chipped or cracked teeth, decaying teeth, discoloured teeth, spaces between teeth, or restoring lost teeth structure. It is a very versatile treatment which involves applying a tooth-coloured composite resin material to existing teeth. The resin is moulded by clinicians so that it creates a perfect match with the surrounding teeth. It is widely used across the world for whitening or masking discoloured teeth, improving cosmetic structure, filling dental gaps or cavities, and repairing broken or fractured teeth.

9. 2021 The year of teeth straightening

This is going to be the year of teeth straightening with a huge increase in patients opting for these treatments, whether they are choosing clear aligners such as Invisalign or fixed braces.  We’ve seen patient numbers double, as braces can be hidden behind a mask and the new technology of clear aligners means that no one need know that you are having a cosmetic treatment.

10. Teeth staycations

In the last few years we have seen increasing numbers of people traveling abroad for cosmetic dental treatments. However, this has already changed in 2020 and in 2021 we will see the Staycation Smile Makeover where people take a week or two off work to have their teeth improved in smile makeovers with people placing value on not traveling and having the assurance of great quality treatment here in the UK.

We’ve also seen people gifting treatments as people reach out for more experiences to make up for being confined working from home, or unable to attend concerts, sporting events and festivals. We’ve become much more focused on having experiences which make us happy. This has filtered through into gifting where we have seen a stark increase in people purchasing gift vouchers for dental treatments for the loved ones.

For more information about Together Dental visit our website www.together.dental or please call us on 01277 289096.