Are You Ready For A New Smile?
Not everyone is. Not everyone should have a new smile.
Many people with crooked or spaced teeth are perfectly happy with their appearance and degree of function. The
self-confidence that many people have regardless of their appearance is admirable. We should all like ourselves.
But if we don’t like ourselves with the smile we have, then let’s do something about it! The following test is
a self-analysis to help you determine how content you are with your smile. Take it—and judge for yourself.
Are You A Candidate For Cosmetic Dentistry?
A Self-Analysis Quiz
Why change your smile? If you’re happy with it, don’t — but first, ask yourself the following questions:
YES NO
1. Are you self-confident about smiling in front of other people? ___ ___
2. Do you ever put your hand up to cover your smile? ___ ___
3. Do you feel you photograph better from one side of your face? ___ ___
4. Do you look at models and wish you had a smile as attractive? ___ ___
5. When you look at your smile in the mirror, do you see a minor
defect in your gums or in one or more of your teeth? ___ ___
6. Do you wish your teeth were whiter? ___ ___
7. Are you satisfied with the way your gums look? ___ ___
8. Do you feel you show too many or too few teeth when you smile? ___ ___
9. Do you think you show too much or too little gum when you smile? ___ ___
10. Do you wish you had longer or shorter teeth? ___ ___
11. Would you prefer wider or narrower teeth? ___ ___
12. Are your teeth too square or too round or too pointed or jagged? ___ ___
If you answered “NO” to every question except #1 and #7, you are apparently content with your smile.
If you answered “YES” to some, you might wish to look more closely, and complete your Smile Analysis.
Print it out and bring it in with you at your next visit, and we can discuss your concerns and consider available possibilities. Some things can and should be corrected. Others can or should not.
Each person is a unique individual and must be evaluated as such.
SMILE ANALYSIS
Looking into a full-face mirror at “close-up” distance, analyze your smile in two phases — slight smile, and full smile.
Teeth YES NO
1. In slight smile with teeth parted, do the tips of your front teeth show? ___ ___
2. Are your two upper front teeth slightly longer than the adjacent ones? ___ ___
3. Do you feel they are too long? ___ ___
4. Are your six upper teeth even in length? ___ ___
5. Do all your front teeth contact their neighbors? Any unsightly spaces? ___ ___
6. Are your front teeth straight (versus crooked, overlapped or “buck”)? ___ ___
7. Smiling wider—are your teeth more-or-less one color? ___ ___
8. Do your teeth have unsightly white or brown stains? ___ ___
9. Are present fillings in your front teeth color-blended to be unnoticed? ___ ___
10. Is one front tooth darker than the rest? ___ ___
11. Do the lower six front teeth appear relatively straight and even? ___ ___
12. In a full smile, some back teeth often show. Are they teeth
free of stains and discolorations from old silver restorations? ___ ___
13. Do the necks of your teeth have erosion, a ditched-in V
that can be seen or felt with a fingernail? ___ ___
14. In a full smile, does your top lip rise above the necks of your
teeth so the gums show? ___ ___
Gums
1. Are your gums pink and “knife-edged” (versus red and swollen)? ___ ___
2. Have your gums receded from the necks of your teeth? ___ ___
3. Is the curvature of the gum tissue good around the teeth
(approximately) half-moon shape)? ___ ___
Breath
1. Is your breath always pleasant (except when eating garlic, onions)? ___ ___
2. Is your mouth free from decay or gum disease that cause bad breath? ___ ___
3. If you could alter your smile, what would you most like to change? ________________________________________________________________________________________________
An Attractive Smile Is One Of The Most Important Things You Can Wear!
Adapted from: “Change Your Smile” by Ronald E. Goldstein, D.D.S.; ©1984, Quintessence Publishing Co.
