It was fascinating this weekend to read ‘The Times’ interview with Malcolm Gladwell, author and influential social scientist, about his new book ‘David and Goliath’ which discusses the new signs of social divide. He argues that as gender and race inequalities are reducing, the new barrier to upward mobility is physical appearance – specifically obesity and bad teeth. He highlights that many customer-facing jobs will be denied to someone with poor teeth and that their opportunities will therefore be limited as a result.

London has the highest percentage of people in the UK who have Cosmetic Dentistry – you would expect this from a capital city where people want to look their best and see it as a way to improve their prospects at work and socially. Many of our patients, after their adult orthodontic treatment or cosmetic dentistry, comment on how their new smile has boosted their self esteem and confidence.

The Smile Transformation competition that we ran last year for National Smile Month really highlighted how the state of someone’s teeth can affect their entire sense of self. As a private dental practice, we no longer see the worst cases of dental decay and neglect that we all saw in our training, and it was a shock to see the photos that were submitted. We are thrilled to be treating Julie in order that she gets a beautiful, healthy smile and we helped all the finalists to overcome their dental phobia and find treatment closer to home.

Let’s hope this debate throws a spotlight on dental health and encourages everyone to visit a dentist regularly and seek a winning smile!