Previous consumer studies have proved that a beautiful smile will make you more attractive. But according to research conducted by Beall Research & Training of Chicago, a new smile will make you appear more intelligent, interesting, successful and wealthy to others as well.
Dr. Anne Beall, a social psychologist and market research professional carried out the independent study on behalf of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD). Pictures of eight individuals were shown to 528 Americans, a statistically valid cross section of the population. The respondents were asked to quickly judge the eight people as to how attractive, intelligent, happy, successful in their career, 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 the respondents viewed set A, the other half set B. The eight subjects viewed by respondents were evenly divided by gender. Two had mild improvements through cosmetic dentistry, two had moderate improvements and four had major improvements to their smiles, to give a wide range for respondents to view. None, however, had visibly rotten teeth, missing teeth or catastrophically bad dental health in the before shots.
Respondents were not told that they were looking at dentistry, but were asked to make snap judgments rating each person for the ten characteristics, on a scale of one to ten, with “one” being “not at all,” and “ten” being “extremely.” The results indicated that an attractive smile does have broad ranging benefits:
Characteristic Average “Before” rating Average “After” rating Increase
Attractive 4.5 5.9 1.3
Intelligent 5.9 6.5 .6
Happy 6.2 6.8 .4
Successful in their career 5.8 6.7 .9
Friendly 6.3 6.8 .5
Interesting 5.4 6.1 .7
Kind 6.0 6.4 .4
Wealthy 4.9 5.9 1.0
Popular with topposite sex 5.0 6.2 1.2
Sensitive to other people 5.6 6.1 .5
While the change was most dramatic for the characteristics of “attractive”, “popular with the opposite sex”, “wealthy” and “successful in their career”, the change was statically significant in all areas.
Dr Sunita Verma, Principal from Sparkle Dental Boutique Kew says “Based on a lot of interaction with our patients, I am not surprised to see the results of this research. Our patients tell us that they have felt huge benefits from having cosmetic dentistry with us from feeling more confident and attractive to being able to strive for new possibilities whether it be in a new job or a new relationship. Investing in a beautiful smile is certianly a worthwhile investment.”
