Love your mouth on Valentine’s Day
With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, now is the ideal time to pucker up and take a look at your oral health.
The British Dental Health Foundation’s chief executive, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, states that smiling is not only a powerful show of emotion, but can put those around you at ease, which proves to be an attractive feature, and so could greatly benefit you when looking for a date on the holiday of love.
Dr Carter says that when we prepare for a date, we ‘probably spend more time and money on our hair or the clothes we wear, rather than caring for our teeth’. However, we should pay closer attention to them, as smiling shows confidence and can be particularly endearing. Studies have shown smiling can have a positive effect on our relationships, careers and overall image.
‘We can also tell a lot about a person from their smile’ continues Carter, as a smile can be a measurement of overall hygiene and general lifestyle, demonstrating for example what people eat and drink, or if they smoke.
A healthy smile is shown to be a valuable asset when trying to attract someone, whilst poor oral health can have the opposite effect when trying to charm a partner.
A poll created by the British Dental Health Foundation determined the biggest turn-offs when it comes to smiles: 40% of the overall vote revealed that the biggest turn-off in a partner was having ‘food stuck between teeth’. 24% of the vote went to ‘bad breath’, 21% to ‘stained teeth’, and ‘not brushing twice a day’ took up the remaining 16% of the vote.
Between men and women, 76% of the participants in the survey called men out as having the worst oral health habits.
Dr Carter recommends adopting a ‘simple but effective daily oral hygiene routine’ in order to avoid such problems. Brushing teeth twice a day, cutting down on sugary foods and visiting the dentist regularly are all basic things we can do, but will make a positive difference to our oral health.
