Rating your smile
Both patients and dentists think a nice smile is important. But many people appear to be satisfied with smiles on which their dentists would frown.
Dentists in Norway asked 78 patients to rate their own smiles on a 100-point satisfaction scale; while the patients’ own dentists and an independent periodontist also rated the smiles. The patients’ average rating was 59.1; the dentists’ average rating was 40.7 and the independent periodontist, 38.6.
Study co-author Oystein Fardal says patients rate their smiles from memory that may be inaccurate. The dentists, however, looked carefully at tooth shading, spacing and crowding and lip lines.
The research, published this month in the Journal of the American Dental Assn., shows that dentists shouldn’t assume patients are content or unhappy with their smiles. Even though aesthetic dentistry is big business, many people like the way they look.
“I certainly think patients should ask their dentists’ opinions about their smiles if they feel the need to,” says Fardal, a periodontist. “However, it is debatable whether dentists should provide their opinions non-prompted.”
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