Studies have always shown that white teeth and a beautiful smile make you more attractive and appealing. People also believe that their chances for a good job and a better career increase with white teeth.

Now a recent study of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) revealed that people consider men and women to be more intelligent and more successful as well if they have white teeth. In this market research more than 500 Americans were asked to view pictures of eight individuals and to judge how attractive, intelligent and successful these people were. The pictures showed the same persons, once with bad teeth and then with perfect white teeth.

The AACD conducted another study in 2004 already which has shown similar results. Virtually everybody states that a beautiful smile makes more attractive and is an important social asset. After straightness of teeth, white teeth are the second thing people notice. People find discolored teeth most unattractive and most people would like to have whither and brighter teeth more than anything else.

But vanity is not the only reason why cosmetic dentistry treatments are booming lately. People also decide for expensive smile makeovers because they gain new self confidence. Many say that their new teeth have changed their whole life. The positive feedback they get from their family, partners, colleagues and friends leaded to new self-consciousness and a happier life.

Teeth whitening is just the most popular treatment but there is more. A professional in-house bleaching at your cosmetic dentist is done in two hours for about $600. It works much faster and better than the sets for home usage and the effect lasts up to two years.

Cosmetic dentists report that many bleaching patients sooner or later go one step further and decide to get porcelain veneers, the latest achievement in cosmetic dentistry. A porcelain veneer is a very thin layer which is attached directly to the surface of your tooth with minimal invasion. Because it works so quickly and with almost no pain, the veneers have become extremely popular. Just two visits are necessary and after just a week you can achieve a complete smile makeover with veneers, not just white teeth.

When you look the news and see a movie star smiling with perfect white teeth, then you see porcelain veneers. Although prices have come down much recently, porcelain veneers are still not cheap with about $800 to $1200 per tooth. This doesn't hold people back to get porcelain veneers because they see it as an valuable investment which brings them more than just white teeth. The veneers can hold up to twenty years.