Chew, chew. I am not doing a steam train impression here but bringing to your attention the Grand Smile Designs philosophy,the form of your teeth follows the function of your teeth. What are the key functions of your teeth as part of your body?
1) The first stage of digestion.
Take your time, chew slowly, savour every mouthful of food. Have you ever thought about how effective your chewing is? The next time you eat, pay attention to how many times you chew, the more the better, and what side you might prefer to chew on. Ideally a balanced chewing stroke maintains a healthy muscle balance. Chewing more on one side to compensate for a missing tooth or pain on another side of your mouth can create an imbalance in your chewing stroke. Think how much force goes through your teeth when you are eating. The structural engineers amongst you will know that if the bone,jaw and teeth are out of alignment that the force will not be clean through to the biting surface of your teeth and therefore will create areas of tension in teeth and muscles. We have teeth for different functions, your front teeth cut and tear your food, whilst your back teeth grind the food into pulp as the first stage of digestion. So if your back teeth donot contact each other at the same time, all the force of your biting goes through one small area of tooth rather than several teeth. In time this tooth could be worn down to naturally improve the balance but it can also develop cracks or even break under the load. A healthy chewing stroke not only has the chewing surfaces of your back teeth coming into contact at the same time but also protects your front teeth from chipping. The next time you are flossing in the mirror look at the different shapes of your teeth. A front tooth is designed to cut, imagine the discomfort if the chewing force went through this tooth. It is not designed to chew, but to cut.
2) As part of the function of speaking, whistling and singing. The filtering of breathing from your lungs, through your larynx,tongue,teeth and lips created sounds that form words and musical notes. These are pretty important if you want to get a point across verbally or to entertain yourself or others. Many of us have orthodontic treatments to move our teeth into the optimum position. As you are beginning to see the function of your teeth is the essential priority of your teeth. In no way am I saying that you cannot have the smile that helps you smile more but that your smile is more than appearance.
3) Part of your fuller body language. As I am sure you are aware, a confident smile is more than just your teeth, but they are an integral part of it. Take a few moments to think about all the communication that comes from your mouth that is not spoken. Look in the mirror and try out a few facial expressions like Derek Zoolander.
I am not sure how many of you really want to practice your ‘Blue Steel’ look but you get my point!
Enjoy your week.
Best wishes
Tom
Dr Tom Keppel
Clinical Director
Grand Smile Designs,London
