Your Smile and Your Relationships
BY DR. RUDY WASSENAAR DMD, MAGD, DICOI, DABOI
When you meet somebody new — personal, social, work or otherwise — the first few seconds are important. You never get a second chance to make that first impression. Everybody is judged in an instant and usually it sticks. In terms of your smile, it probably is the single most important aspect of your presentation in general. A nice smile exudes confidence, health, happiness and more. Do people smile because they are happy, or are they happy because they smile? Who is to know, but in any case, studies have shown that a person with a better smile is considered to be more trustworthy and likeable.
So it is fair to say that when we meet someone new, it is the appearance, that ‘out-side stuff, that first gets our attention. It breaks the ice, and curiosity opens the door to a new beginning, possibly something different or exciting. Once the at-traction is there it still is the personality of the parties that keeps it going. Obviously, if a  person only looks more confident but in fact their personality does not match what they project, things will not go very far.
Those who are self-conscious of their smile as part of their overall presentation tend to hide their dental flaws by not smiling, avoiding eye contact, or simply not interacting socially at all. And yet, they have so much to offer and so much to say.
Dentistry has much more to offer these days, more than ever before. So what is holding us back from simply going ahead and getting things taken care of? It is not always fun to go to the dentist, and wouldn’t it be nice if we could have the results without the process? A good under-standing of your dental needs, as well as good communication with your dentist will help in meeting your expectations.
Dental health is like a lot of things; do a number of little things right all the time and it will work out. Have a conversation with your dentist and find out what the issues are and how to best deal with them. A well thought out approach should produce results that look good, feel good and that last a long time. The same goes for those first impressions we just talked about.
