The title says it all: Having your teeth fixed, rotated, realigned, and whitened can result in a significant improvement in your chosen career, regardless of the field. This is why people are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a mouth makeover. Celebrities themselves are known to sink a cool hundred grand into their pearly whites.
Some of the more tight-fisted people may wonder if getting cosmetic dental work done is even worth the dollars invested. But numbers don’t lie, and the statistics are answering with a resounding absolutely. Here are a few reasons how and why focusing on your teeth can get you further in your career.
THE HALO EFFECT
Statistics show that you have a higher potential – about 10% — of landing a job if your teeth are white, straight, and clean. On the flipside, people with poor dental appearance – e.g., stained or yellowed teeth – have less potential in obtaining their dream job compared to that of people with a great set of teeth. As painful as it is to admit that aesthetical appearance can be a factor in getting that dream job, studies also point to a higher possibility of you getting hired if you are considered “attractive” by general standards.
The reason behind this is called the Halo Effect. This is a bias in which people’s overall positive aesthetic look will end up influencing someone’s pre-assessment of them, making the person think they have other positive qualities. For instance, people who are attractive are also thought to be kind, responsible, respectful, and trustworthy.
It’s the same reason why a woman wearing a sharp business suit can command the attention of a room whereas a guy walking into a high-end corporate office wearing flip-flops will automatically garner questioning, judgmental looks.
TRUSTWORTHY = DEPENDABLE
In an office setting, the person who is trusted by a good number of people to either get the job done, do the right thing, or make the right call is considered dependable and is therefore given more opportunities.
Trustworthiness goes a long way in a business setting, and our looks go a long way in creating this perception of trust. A lot of a person’s trustworthiness is rooted in his or her smile. It’s very easy to let your guard down and feel more sympathetic toward someone with a warm, friendly, inviting smile. People who have a tight-lipped smile (i.e., don’t show their teeth) are harder to trust and view as positive, open people. Likewise, people who don’t smile at all are seen as surly, obsessed with rank or power, shy, or closed off.
NAILING THAT INTERVIEW
Smiling – at the right times! – during an interview can set a calm and positive tone throughout the whole process. The interviewer is more likely to remember you if the tone of the interview is relaxed, positive, and reasonably upbeat. However, if you are stiff, too formal, and smile only at the beginning or end of an interview, the tone of the interview may be either forgettable or sour – neither of which is going to bode well on the interviewer during deliberation time.
Having a great set of teeth makes it easier for you to flash a smile. If you have certain dental imperfections, like a gap-tooth, chipped teeth, overcrowding, or exaggerated overbite, smiling may not come as easy or as natural to you, but having cosmetic dentistry can equip you with a smile that you love to show off – and one that will take you leaps and bounds in your career.
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