Wedding Tips

Pearly Whites

How to have a bright, healthy smile for a dazzling look on your wedding day.

The best way to ensure a radiant smile? Good overall health, says Gerald Curatola, D.D.S., a new york-based dentist. Dr. Curatola says research shows a correlation between a healthy mouth and a healthy body. He recommends that in addition to following an at-home dental hygiene regime, you learn to practice good nutrition and stress management beauty from the inside out.

Which foods?
Curatola recommends following a diet that includes lots of leafy greens and whole grains. Eliminate refined sugar (that means no white bread or white sugar), which promotes gum disease. Be sure to eat foods that are high in antioxidants, like spinach and kale, berries and pomegranates, which help the body fight disease. You should also avoid foods that tend to have an inflammatory effect on body tissue, such as luncheon meats and hot dogs and even dairy products, if possible.

Tooth cleaning tips
Since most people tend to spend less than two minutes at a time brushing their teeth, they don’t reach the harmful, sticky plaque that develops on the teeth and in hard-to-reach areas in the mount. For beautiful teeth, eat crunchy fruits and vegetables; like tiny brushes, they scrub your teeth as you eat.
An electric toothbrush can help with this, Dr. Curatola says, but try one that comes equipped with a two-minutes timer so that you do the best job possible. As for teeth whitening, Dr. Curatola cautions against overusing over-the-counter products in order to get fast results. Be sure to follow the instructions on the box carefully or opt to have your dentist do the procedure in his office.

For Healthy White Teeth
Eat: crunchy fruits and vegetables like apples, carrots, cauliflower, pears and cucumbers. Almonds are a good choice too. “ Hit the crudités at parties,” Dr. Curatola advises. These foods are high in fiber, so they act like tiny toothbrushes scrubbing away at your teeth as you eat. You’ll be snacking in a healthy way and whitening your teeth at the same time. AVOID: dark liquids like coffee or red wine and deeply pigmented curry dishes. Also, stay away from carbonated drinks (the carbonation can increase acidity in your mount, making tooth enamel more porous and prone to staining).

Massage Before Marriage
As your wedding day approaches, you can feel your shoulders creeping slowly up to your ears as the stress builds-not necessarily the best way to show off that strapless ball gown you’ve brought. A pre wedding massage may be the perfect way to set those tense shoulders straight, says Marlene Peterson, certified medical massage therapist at the Medical Massage Center of St. Joseph, Michigan.
“Given all the details that have to take place with a wedding, it can be very stressful. Just taking the time to relax clears your mind and calms your spirits,” she says. “A massage can bring you back to a level where you feel like you can cope with everything that’s going on.”
Stress isn’t the only great reason to get a rubdown, says Kathryn Vanderplough, owner and operator of BioTouch Massage Therapy in Michigan City, Indiana. Massage increases blood flow in the body, bringing more of it to the surface. It’s the healthiest way to get that “blushing bride” skin every girl wants.
Relaxation has the added benefit and helping you to focus, something you can easily lose track of in the hubbub of a wedding. “You can remember the real reason behind the whole ceremony,”Peterson says. “Massage kind of gets you back in touch in that.
Both therapists offer this warning to ladies seeking a pre-wedding massage: know your therapist and get your massage at least a day before. A deep-tissue massage on the morning of the big day could leave you in to much pain to walk down the aisle. If you’re new to massage, get references of practitioners from friends and ask the therapist to use lighter techniques. Drink plenty of water after your treatment.
Perhaps most importantly, Vanderplough says, is that you take your time, relax and enjoy yourself. After all, she says, it may be one of the last times you’re alone and indulging as a single woman.