When you’re taking a selfie or sitting for a professional portrait, chances are you smile for most of them. Unless, of course, your teeth don’t look very good. Then, you’re probably making every expression possible to conceal what lurks in your mouth. You don’t have to live this way. A good smile is subjective, but a perfect smile is undeniable, and a perfect smile makes nearly every picture better.
Smiling Throughout Art History
The famous smile on the Mona Lisa has been debated for decades. Why did she only smile a little bit? Is she smirking? Was it just too hard to hold a big smile for the length of time it took to paint the portrait?
Researchers have said Mona Lisa’s smile wasn’t genuine because of its asymmetry. Books have claimed she had nothing to smile about, since she was married off to a slave trader at the age of 15. We may never know the reason behind this woman’s barely-there smile. Maybe it had something to do with her teeth.
Smiles are rare in art history, as a recent piece in Artsy explains, but hiding teeth in portraiture was the norm, and it wasn’t because of bad teeth. Hundreds of years ago, poor dental hygiene was common. It was the smile itself that was unfashionable.
Now, a picture is taken in seconds, and it’s rare for anyone to sit for a painted portrait and be expected to hold a pose. Smiles are also a response, a show of emotion, and, most of the time, a smile isn’t held in one place for an extended time – at least not without your mouth starting to quiver and a grimace eventually taking its place.
Smiling in Modern Art AKA Selfies
Every photo you take, no matter how little or how much thought you put into it, is a moment captured in time, a mini piece of art whether that was your intention or not. Selfies are the norm. While you might post dozens of them, choosing different poses and facial expressions, a smile should still be at the top of the list.
Smiles, after all, are contagious. They make you look better, happier, healthier, friendlier. Whether you’re posting a selfie on social media or your dating profile, you want others to response positively to you. So, the question is: Do you have a perfect smile or are you always hiding your teeth?
Are you revealing or concealing with your smile? That secret is yours alone. Your teeth, however, are out there in the open. If you need to make them look better, it’s time to talk to your Manhattan cosmetic dentist about how you can improve your smile. You don’t even have to commit to your new smile right away thanks to digital smile design. This technology lets you see yourself with better teeth before you go ahead and say yes to a new you.
Schedule a consultation with Dr. Michael J. Wei at his Madison Avenue office in Midtown Manhattan. Find out whether teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, porcelain crowns, full-mouth reconstruction, or other procedures are right for your smile makeover.
