Thanks to the current trend for taking lots of ‘selfies’, dentists are warning that more and more people are suffering with ‘dental dysmorphia’ as the practice makes them paranoid about having the perfect set of teeth. According to dentists, an increasing number of people are asking for unnecessary dental work to correct perceived flaws in their smiles.
Tim Bradstock-Smith, clinical director of the London Smile Clinic, spoke to The Daily Mail about the effects of rampant selfie taking, explaining that people can often end up with a distorted image of their face and this leads them to believe that they need corrective work for their teeth. He said that some people are under the impression that they have ‘horse-like’ because the teeth look like they protrude more than they actually do; a problem which could be emphasised by unflattering light.
Dr Bradstock-Smith said that ‘photos will undeniably exaggerate defects’ but this can be misleading if the person concentrates too much on the ‘flaws’ in the picture. He added that the front teeth are generally thought to be more aesthetically pleasing if they are slightly larger than the neighbouring teeth, but if selfies are taken too closely this will distort and ‘exaggerate’ the size of these teeth.
He went on to say that ‘We have seen a 30 per cent increase over five years in the number of patients sending selfies through the website with concerns about the look of their front teeth, yet when patients come in person, often the teeth don’t look too bad at all.’