A new study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) reveals that people with a whiter-than-white smile are perceived smarter than duller-toothed counterparts! The study – carried out in the States via the internet – was aimed at ascertaining what impact attractive teeth have on perceptions of an individual's appearance and personality and used ‘before and after' pictures of people who had undergone cosmetic surgery.

No respondent ever saw the same person with both a ‘before' and ‘after' smile but all respondents viewed the same set of eight individuals.

After seeing each picture, respondents rated each person on the following attributes:

• Attractive • Intelligent • Happy • Successful in their career • Friendly • Interesting • Kind • Wealthy • Popular with the opposite sex • Sensitive to other people

Respondents used a 1 to 10 scale where a ‘1' represents ‘not at all' and a ‘10' represents ‘extremely.'

The statistical analysis demonstrates that there is a major effect of a smile on perceptions of all major attributes.

In each case, people are viewed as more attractive, intelligent, happy, successful in their career, friendly, interesting, kind, wealthy and popular with the opposite sex with smiles that have been altered by cosmetic dentistry versus their original smiles.