The Smile Is the Window To The Soul: Part 3


My philosophy has developed from my education and training in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

The Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry’s stand: We, as a dentist, must think twice before erecting a new smile without regard for the human being to whom that smile belongs. The disconnected, disembodied smile is the result of an approach neither safe nor esthetically responsible. Just as a home renovation must take into account the home’s origins and intentions, a smile renovation must be based on something deeper than a set of rigid right angles and the most garish shade of white available through modern cosmetic technology.

Be esthetically responsible! For us, the learning and exploring of our field has never stopped, and it’s led us to believe that responsible esthetics means dealing in a beauty that’s deeper than skin-deep. It means striving for a smile that connects. Resonates. Rings like a bell.

Part 2 continued from May 9, 2010...

Now, that sounds a little intense—after all, it’s just a smile, but that’s only because we take the smile seriously. It is, after all, our business. We are dentists, and passionate ones at that; the smile is our field of expertise, our chosen avocation, our life’s work. We think about it. We analyze it. We consider its personal, social, and ethical implications.

And we defend it. We defend the true smile against the fake smile. The fake smile is a fearful thing, roughly as warm as fluorescent lighting and about as believable as a politician. Faintly ominous, entirely unnatural, and more like a sensory assault than a show of confidence.

Needless to say, that’s not our thing.

The smile is the window to the soul: Part I

Recently I attended the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry session in Dallas, Texas. We have a new logo and more important, we have a new statement about what we do. “We have the Power to help bring it out.” Brightly, soulfully, vividly, truthfully, we help bring it out.” Of course we are talking about Beautiful Smiles.

Ever heard someone say the eyes are the window to the soul?

Well, maybe it’s because we are dentists, but we beg to differ. Nothing against eyes, but if you really want a glimpse into someone’s soul, it’s their smile you should be looking for.

Yes, their smile. Not an anatomical part, per se, but a moment—an expression. A smile is a brief pulling apart of the clouds, a clearance through which light and levity, humor and humility, kindness and compassion may all simultaneously pass. It’s a complex cocktail of personality distilled into one fleeting instant when defenses fall and guards drop and the truth of a person is laid bare for all to witness.

To be continued…