What is the first thing you notice about another person when you meet them? You shake hands, you smile and introduce yourself and say hello. Clearly, it is the person’s smile that makes the greatest impression. Having an attractive smile counts for a lot when you interact with others. It often determines whether other people find you desirable, as a friend, as a prospective employee or as a date. This is not a phenomenon that starts late in life. Elementary school teachers were surveyed and found to favor children whose smiles were more attractive and to judge them to be more intelligent than their peers with less attractive smiles. In a society that puts such emphasis on beauty, a pleasing smile can either make or break other people’s judgment of your attractiveness. Even more importantly, your self-image is guided to a large degree by your satisfaction with your own smile. A smile that is not pleasing is likely to lessen your desire to interact with others, as you are likely to cover your mouth (in shame) when meeting others.
Having a pleasing smile often starts early in childhood as the primary teeth are shed and the permanent teeth come into position. As early as age 7 (and sometimes sooner), there is often evidence of future problems that are beginning to fester that will affect the alignment of the teeth and jaws and make a major impact on smile development. Because teeth and jaws of people in this age group are developing at a rapid rate and are most susceptible to orthopedic and orthodontic intervention that will help reshape the jaws, this could be a good age for all children to go for a screening exam with the orthodontist. For instance, if a child has a habit such as thumb or finger sucking, these habits are likely to cause deformation of the developing structures and are best intercepted as early as possible to prevent further distortion of the jaws. Parents are often hesitant to take an object of comfort such as a thumb, pacifier, bottle etc. away from a child who is comforted by these things. Think about it- if your child was comforted by a habit such as taking a sharp #2 pencil and gradually perforating their eardrums, leading to hearing loss or deafness, how long would you sit by without reacting- even if desisting of this habit led to a temporary inconvenience for your child. We are responsible for our children’s welfare and well-being. Does it make sense to monitor every item your child consumes but to ignore developmental defects of the jaws that may affect future dental health, function and appearance?
Today, we’re finding that a pleasing smile is not just for the young, but the “young at heart”. People of all ages are pursuing an “update” of their smiles, from tooth whitening, alignment, cosmetic dentistry, replacement of missing teeth with implants and even jaw surgery to refit jaws that don’t align. It often involve a collaborative effort between the dentist, orthodontist and other dental specialists to outline and present to the patient a plan that would best suit their needs. These plans could be simple veneers to reshape and recolor unattractive, stained teeth to multispecialty reconstructive work. Can these procedures add up to a lot of money? Yes, they can. But, when you think of the cost of a college degree with no guarantee for a future job – you realize that what you are ultimately selling is “yourself”. Honestly, that college degree may be no more important than making a good impression on perspective employers. Having an attractive smile can’t hurt.
It’s never too late to be thinking about improving your smile. Speaking to your dentist is a good place to start. He or she will be able to guide you in the right direction. Remember there are no shortcuts to quality dental care.
Advertorial sponsored by Dr. Ira Schwartz, Orthodontist, 718-225-6000
