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Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw says poor smiles give pause
“You never get a second chance at a first impression [and] so much of a person’s self esteem is based on their ability to look someone in the eye, up close and personal, with good dental hygiene,” Dr. Phil said at the Nobel Biocare World Conference 2007 in Las Vegas. Dr. Phil said that many a potential guest on his talk show, “Dr. Phil”, have refused to go on air because they had a missing tooth or teeth. In fact, 113 million people are missing at least one tooth, according to statistics culled by Nobel Biocare. Getting a better smile is second only to losing weight on the list of things viewers and talk show guests want help with, he added. “Surveys tell us that [better smiles] are on the absolute short list of things that give people confidence,” he said. “Really bad dentistry is a badge that puts them in a perceptual role that is not positive,” he said. Dental health and mental health linked “There is a definite link between body image and self esteem and dental health,” he said. “I am not saying they should be tied together, but they are that’s just the fact of the matter.” According to statistics from Nobel Biocare, 99.7 percent of Americans believe that a smile is an important social asset and 96 percent of adults believe an attractive smile makes then more appealing to the opposite sex. And for better or worse, this is true, Dr. Phil said. Missing or discolored teeth portends a “lack of education, sophistication and [that person] is not given the respect that they get might otherwise be due,” he said. A smile makeover, however, can change people’s lives and their employability because without one they shy away in work, social and romantic situations, he said. “The world might walk right past the person with poor dentistry [although] having a great smile does not change the worth and value of that individual.” The media is partially to blame for stereotypes associated with lackluster smiles, he said. “We tend to measure ourselves against media images, everybody on TV is slender and has that bright, engaging smile,” he says. “That’s the yardstick.” Roadblocks to better dental care Many people end up with a less than stellar smile because they avoid the dentist until it’s too late, he said. People don’t consider their dental health until they have problems with their teeth. “We don’t work on our heath until we are sick and we react to the squeaky wheel instead of engaging in preventive care,” he said. “We need a new model of care.” Dr. Phil knows of what he speaks. “The first time I went to the dentist as a child, I had impacted wisdom teeth that he took out with a jackhammer and then sewed my teeth onto my gums,” he recalled. “If I had a history of taking pride in my dental hygiene, this would not have happened.” Since then the talk show king has had root canals and a smile upgrade, ”I had caps put on my teeth to broaden my smile because it got dark on the sides,” he said, adding that this was a while different experience than getting his wisdom teeth pulled as a child. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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