Perhaps you’ve seen the statistics: 74 percent of adults believe that an unattractive smile has a negative impact on a person’s chances for success. 99.7 percent of all Americans believe a smile is an important social aspect.
According to research conducted by Beall Research & Training of Chicago, a beautiful smile will not only make you more attractive and feel more confident, but will also make you appear to be more intelligent, interesting, successful and wealthy to others.
Dr. Anne Beall, a social psychologist and market research professional, held an independent study on behalf of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). Photos of eight individuals were shown to 528 people. They were asked to judge the eight people in the photos as to how attractive, intelligent, happy, successful, friendly, interesting, kind, wealthy, popular with the opposite sex, and sensitive to other people they were. Two sets of photos were created, with each set showing four individuals before undergoing cosmetic dentistry and four after treatment. Half of the respondents viewed set A and the other half set B. The eight people in the photos were evenly divided by gender. Two had slight improvements through cosmetic dentistry, two had moderate improvements and four had major improvements to give a wide range view. None had visibly rotten teeth, missing teeth, or bad dental health in their before photos. Viewers were not told they were looking at dentistry, but were asked to make snap judgments rating each person for the characteristics listed above. The results indicated that an attractive smile does have broad-ranging benefits. While “attractive, popular with the opposite sex, wealthy, and successful” were the strongest results, the change was statistically significant in all areas.
We’ve seen the changes in our own patients’ self-confidence, successes, both personally and professionally, and overall well-being after improving their smiles. Now we have independent evidence that a great smile can improve the perception from others.
For more information on how you can improve your smile, please call us at 661-254-4000 or visit our website at www.drdell.com . A Unique Dental Experience, Dr. Dell A Goodrick, DDS, FAGD is located at 23504 Lyons Avenue, Suite 104 in Newhall.