The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) recently conducted a study on how people’s teeth affect how they are perceived. Respondents saw a random sampling of “before” and “after” photos of cosmetic dentistry patients, and were asked to rate each person along several dimensions (attractiveness, intelligence, happiness, success, and other positive attributes).

The pictures of those who had had cosmetic dental work were rated higher along all dimensions. That means that people with better teeth were perceived as smarter, more attractive, happier, more successful, kinder and wealthier than those with crooked or dingy smiles.

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In this survey, we asked dentists which presidential candidate has the best teeth. And the winner was clear: Mitt Romney received just over 50% of the vote!

It’s worth noting that Romney also did well in our recent political survey of dentists. Though the two surveys asked very different questions, answers to both surveys were markedly similar.

Gender played a clear role in a dentist’s analysis of candidates’ smiles. Male dentist were overwhelmingly in favor of Mitt Romney (61%), but female dentists did not agree. Women dentist preferred Hillary Clinton’s smile (39%) and Barack Obama’s (26%) over Romney’ (22%).

Geographic location was also correlated dentists’ opinions. Rural dentists are almost twice as likely as urban dentists to choose Mitt Romney’s smile. On the other hand, urban dentists were more than twice as likely to prefer Hillary Clinton’s.

• “Barack Obama has beautiful smile. He is just blessed with good genetics. His teeth appear to be aligned in an almost ideal Angles Class I occlusion. From a dental esthetic standpoint, the other presidential candidates don’t have a chance.” (Illinois dentist)
• “I like Barack Obama’s teeth; they appear natural. Romney’s look nice, too. I’m guessing they are laminates or crowns.” (Tennessee dentist)
• “Even Mitt Romney’s smile line fits his face. Plus, he doesn’t try to smile too big.” (Virginia dentist)
• “Hillary Clinton has the best overall smile, well-proportioned with her facial features.” (Wisconsin dentist)
• “I would have to say Barack Obama. Yes, it’s sad, but true: the worst possible choice for President has the best smile!” (Arkansas dentist)

Read the complete candidates’ teeth survey results…