The Top 10 Celebrity Smiles #1

#1- Jessica Alba

This may be a cliché choice, but Jessica Alba is no stranger to top celebrity smile lists. Jessica is almost universally considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. Which begs the question how much of beauty is universal and how much is purely subjective. The same can be said about teeth and smiles in general. Every dentist has his or her take on how teeth should look within certain guidelines that dentistry has established based on what nature has determined.

                How does nature determine beauty? Nature through evolution determines beauty based on function, health and sex. For females there are physical attributes that signal to all members of that species whether or not that animal or person has the genetic make up for survival and reproduction. The mouth and teeth and smile are just one part of the total equation, but an important one. When you see white teeth, pink gums and no missing or abnormally shaped teeth or jaws it is interpreted as youthful, healthy and physically fit or what we interpret as beauty. That is the science of beauty.

   But beauty and dentistry is as much about science as it is about art. I have studied dental aesthetics for years from every scientific and mathematical direction and though there are aesthetic principles that guide us in “designing” smiles in the end the art takes over. To paraphrase a famous saying “I may not be able to define a beautiful smile, but I know one when I see one”.