Is The Smile The Most Cosmetically Important Part Of The Face?

A recent survey conducted by the ADA, Crest, and Oral B found that the smile outranks eye, hair, and the body as the most attractive physical feature. When one’s smile is in dazzling and orthodontically-great shape, it is said to be the most eye-catching, fascinating, and engaging physical feature to other people. Smiling is the most recognized body language signal in the world. And smiling is an endorphin-releasing action when it's a genuine smile, as opposed to a forced smile. A great-looking smile can make an otherwise homely-looking person appear more confident, even emboldened, by increasing one's face value. But the teeth must be in proper order. The models, moguls, and movie stars that we see in all of the ads on TV, on billboards, and in magazines all show phenomenal sets of “ivories.” And the better one looks, the greater are the chances that he or she can become more successful in life.

Maintaining a brilliant smile takes work: floss, brush, and rinse (in that order!) daily, periodically visit with your dentist, limit sugary-foods snacking, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, minimize drinking colored beverages and acidic liquids, get adequate sleep, don't smoke, and practice a healthy lifestyle.

A person with visibly decayed, missing, discolored, and unattractive teeth may find people trying to avoid them to a degree, and he or she might have anxiety about it. Some may think that people with unsightly teeth have a financial, mental, medical, and/or a social problem and are to be given as much separation space as possible.

In the animal kingdom, predators, including humans, may dangerously brandish their teeth to get an aggressive, survival-of-the-fittest point across. Teeth are needed to fight, to kill, and to eat. Do teeth-rich sharks look "sexy" to sharks of the opposite gender? I don't know. But human teeth have evolved and our modern dentitions seem to have a more esthetic, golden-proportioned value to other humans when in an orthodontically harmonious form. The muscles involved in smiling include the levator anguli oris, triangularis, obicularis oris, and the zygomaticus.

Martin Charnin said, "You're never fully dressed without a smile!" And Phyllis Diller quipped, "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight!"  I have heard that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. So, go ahead…relax… and show us your “Duchenne” smile!

May you have many…I’ll take that first, cosmetically-great, center of attention… smiles!