In the first few seconds of meeting someone, your appearance, speech, and body language create a lasting impression. While your personality and professional credentials are important, they can be difficult to communicate in such a short time. The most powerful tool at your disposal during an introduction is your smile. A well-crafted smile can express confidence, warmth, and intelligence even before you say a word.
It may seem irrational to place so much weight on physical appearance when it comes to first impressions, but the truth is it happens unconsciously. We don’t realize we are assessing a person’s trustworthiness and capabilities before we get to know them, but we can usually tell if we are going to feel comfortable around someone pretty quickly. The way we feel during a first encounter has a lot to do with whether the person seems genuine and pleasant, and their smile is a good indicator of these qualities.
A smile that allows you to feel confident enables you to truly be yourself. When you don’t feel comfortable showing off your pearly whites, you tend to shrink or hide. Dental improvements like choosing to straighten teeth are a great way to boost confidence and bring that amazing personality to the surface. It can also help you to be seen and heard. Unfortunately, when you lack confidence and fail to smile, the message you have to share is often lost before it reaches the intended audience. People tend to stop listening if the speaker does not convey an appearance of credibility and certainty.
A great smile can quickly spread joy to those around you with very little effort, and can cause a domino effect, reaching person after person. When you allow yourself to express a wholehearted smile, the kind that reaches your eyes and lights up your whole face, the effect is dazzling. Being uncomfortable with the way your smile looks can deprive you of the full effect by preventing you from flashing one of those big toothy grins.
Smiling also produces endorphins in our bodies, which makes us feel happy. When someone smiles at us and we return that smile, our brain stores a message that the person makes us feel good, which increases likability.
A study conducted by social psychologist Anne Beall, Ph.D., showed before and after pictures of patients with cosmetic dental treatments to 528 people and asked them to assess certain characteristics based only on the pictures. The study revealed that the “after” pictures of these patients got consistent feedback of being more intelligent, wealthy, successful, attractive, friendly, interesting, kind, popular with the opposite sex, and happier than the “before” pictures of the same individuals.
NewSmile® offers clear aligners to straighten teeth easily at home. The process is simple and the aligners are virtually invisible so no one needs to know you’re wearing them, unlike bulky traditional braces. NewSmile® is accepted by most insurance companies and you can also use your FSA or HSA cards to help cover the cost. Additionally, NewSmile offers payment plans and options. If our doctors feel that you are not a good fit for the program, we will provide you with a full refund.
The first step is to visit the NewSmile® website and order an impression kit. The impression kit will be shipped directly to your house and will contain everything you need to make a mold of your teeth. Once you’ve completed the molds and sent them back to us, we’ll assess them and create a digital preview of what your straight teeth will look like. You let us know whether you approve and then we’ll send you your aligners in the mail.
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