Everyone seems so obsessed with having perfectly white teeth that it’s changed the way we judge teeth all together. If you ever happen to catch an old rerun of something on TV you’ll notice that few of the actors had perfect smiles. The occasional big star might spend a fortune on pearly whites and people who wore false teeth often looked better but for the most past teeth were teeth. They come in different shapes and different shades and smiles can be crooked or exhibiting a bit too much gums, but so what? When braces came along I was lucky to get them but not every kid on the block did. Most people had imperfect smiles and actually went on to live happy lives.
Not now. Movie stars all have perfect teeth, perfectly straight and white. It's part of the package now like automatic transmission is with a Toyota Camry. The media has bombarded us with so many products, treatments and procedures designed to improve our smile, thereby improving our lives so we can go on to have all of our dreams come true.
Caught up in the tooth whitening craze I tried the strips at the drug store and they did nothing, and then the trays from the dentist, and all they did was cause terrible tooth sensitivity. While whining to my dentist she told me she thinks I have nice, natural looking teeth. This used to be a compliment but now “natural” means that you can see the cracks and bonding and varieties of gray, off-white, beige and cream tones.
She said she has many patients who want their teeth to be the kind of gleaming white that people claim to see at the end of the tunnel during an out of body experience. Society has convinced us all that if we don’t have a perfect Hollywood smile that there’s no point in even smiling…..ever. I considered veneers until I found out how expensive they are! It’s no wonder all the people who have them smile so much, they must really want to get their money’s worth. Or maybe they know that with their perfect white smiles they’ll never have another thing to worry about again in their lives.