People often forget that taking care of their teeth, and oral hygiene in general, is just as important to your regular health as your diet, your exercise, your sleep, and every other aspect of your general health. But too often we forget that regular brushing, flossing, and trips to our dentists are just as necessary as check-ups with your family physician. While the American Dental Association might not care if you're eating enough fruit or vegetables, you should certainly be aware that improper oral care can lead you beyond your regular dentist's chair, and into the attending care of cosmetic dentists.

I don't mean to put a scare into you beyond your regular normal fears of dentists, as cosmetic dentists are specialized professionals who can fix your smiles like nobody else's business. The tricky thing is when it becomes necessary to visit a cosmetic dentist, you want to be able to find the right one, not just the one with the best smile--because he probably had someone else do it for him!

No, the best proper course of action is probably to obtain a cosmetic dentist referral, to help you with your porcelain veneers, your bleaching, or your smile correction. If the cosmetic dentist that you happen to find just happens to have the whitest and straightest teeth you've ever seen, maybe he learned his practice from the best.