America's Oral Fixation

{Ross, I can see your teeth}

Number 1: Get your head out of the gutter.

If you're a child of the 90s, you remember that famous episode of Friends where Ross Gellar bleaches his teeth so white that they become glow in the dark. Today, when I was shopping for toothpaste, this episode of Friends came to mind and got me thinking...

For as long as I can remember, American society has focused so much on a whiter, brighter, straighter smile to such an extent that it usually is taken overboard. Both my mom and my dad bleached their teeth when I was younger, and my sister and I used to coerce our parents into buying us Crest Whitestrips when I was eleven and she was eight. Is that even healthy for a pre-pubescent kid? This makes me pose the question: how perfect of a smile is too perfect? At what extent are we willing to forfeit our health for those "pearly whites"?

{The best our teeth have ever looked}

Perhaps Americans focus on white teeth to distinguish ourselves from our British counterparts. Yet, perfectly beautiful people have had crooked teeth. We all remember Jewel, famous for her missing tooth, and also Kirsten Dunst, famous for her "snaggletooth" as my dad calls it. However, it's still not uncommon to make fun of people with bad teeth which is why we don braces, which as we all know are one of those coming-of-age stories that we don't want to relive.

So can you be beautiful with crooked, off-white teeth? Kate Moss manages to do it. She is the #1 supermodel in the world who continues to brand herself well and book huge campaigns (despite her other infamous "white" activities), and she has stereotypical British teeth. Do we fault her for it? Should they Photoshop her teeth to be straight (like below)?

{Kate Moss' crooked teeth seem to be edited}

Ultimately this is a matter of opinion. I'll still continue to use my Sonicare toothbrush religiously with my Crest 3D White toothpaste and rinse, but we'll write that off as good oral hygiene (will we?). There's an ultimate fascination obsession with a beautiful smile (let's be honest, it's the first thing I notice when meeting a new person) in America - but is it really a bad thing? Or should we just accept everyone for their flaws even if it does mean crooked, off-white teeth?