Smile.
Smile — one of the most impactful features of a human being. Many advertisements have proven the impact of a smile. There are images that use Photoshop to remove a tooth, eyebrow, ear or other body parts, however among these edits the feature that is the most noticeable and catches the eye first is the smile.
Its purpose, meaning, and value have gone through many changes and iterations over the centuries. When photography was invented, it was common to take photos without smiling. In some cultures, it is still considered graceful to conceal one’s smile. Today the majority of people and cultures believe that a smile portrays a warm and welcoming feeling. There are studies showing that a person smiling is immediately perceived as kind or friendly, regardless of whether that is the true sentiment. A person who does not smile can have an opposite effect and portray negative emotions or attitudes.
As a dentist, I experience that very frequently. I walk into a treatment suite to greet a new patient wearing my biggest smile. In return, I usually get a reserved hello. At the beginning of my career, I was surprised by their initial reaction defaulting to assuming it was personal. As I started getting to know my patients in the following appointments, as their treatment was progressing and therefore their teeth condition started improving, their entire personality and attitude started to positively shift. Again, I thought it was because they started to know me better and felt comfortable. And while this might have played a small role, I now know that I am not the center of this change. Their smile was improved and now they started feeling confident again to smile!
They were kind and friendly people all along, while their insecurity about their smile did not allow them to show it. There is a perception of judgment when someone doesn't smile right away which may lead to jumping to conclusions about someone without getting to actually know them. Smiling goes hand in hand with confidence. We have seen in the news that people suffering from broken, decayed, or missing front teeth do not get hired as easily or at all for some jobs. Their social life with friends, family, or random strangers is impeded, and might miss out on important life events. Most health and medical conditions will have a negative impact on a person’s life. Problems including missing, broken, or decayed teeth, bleeding gums, teeth grinding, and tooth pain are no different. They are all medical conditions that affect the overall systemic and mental health and should be treated accordingly.
At the end of an extensive treatment providing a brand-new smile on a patient with several other medical problems and concerns, he told me “People say all the time, that someone changed their life. You changed mine”. He went on to share how he never used to smile for over a century because his teeth were dark, and he thought that it was or felt normal. Now he cannot stop smiling, he smiles at people on the street, to the driver in the car next to him at the traffic light and he genuinely has a more positive view of life that has improved his mental health. There is a clear connection between the condition of our teeth as an extension of our smile and our mental and psychological health.
