Beauty Pageant Teeth and Cosmetic Dentistry

As anyone who watches pageants knows, a winning smile is incredibly important. Many beauty contestants rely on the help of a cosmetic dentist to enhance their natural beauty, ensuring their smile is on point for their big moment on stage. While there is certainly some merit to this practice, there is also a fine line between enhancing beauty and crossing into the territory of commercialized perfection.

If you watch the show Toddlers and Tiaras you have probably seen a child beauty queen wear a flipper (false teeth). The controversy surrounding these tooth covers centers on the idea that young girls are encouraged to strive for physical perfection to the point of being unhealthy and damaging their self-esteem. A recent story out of Thailand illustrates this concept perfectly.

A girl named Anurak Inthuprapa was competing in a pageant when she began to cry onstage due to her nails chipping during practice. Her mother rushed her offstage, where she used Vaseline on her hands to hide the nail damage from the judges. This is just one of the ways that beauty pageants can go too far, placing a tremendous amount of pressure on both children and their parents to achieve perfection in order to win a title.

Dr. Priya Uppal, of Incredible Smiles, has been working with pageant participants for years, transforming their smiles and helping them to feel confident on the stage. This is a very important part of her job, but she also recognizes that there is a balance between enhancing beauty and maintaining healthy teeth and gums. For this reason, she always recommends that a smile be maintained with proper brushing, flossing and oral care for long-term benefits.