Whenever I see polls about what girls look for in a guy, I always see a large portion of women answering that teeth are important. This alarms me because…well, I don’t exactly have the best teeth.
When I was in first grade, I had serious ear infection problems and the gauntlet of antibiotics I was placed on gave me some pretty extensive staining. I did do bleaching treatments at the dentist a few years back, with minimal results.
My bottom teeth are also fairly out of wack, but I feel that I am passed the point of getting braces, and insurance most likely would not cover it. That, and it would probably require the pulling of at least one tooth, and I don’t think that kind of pain, time and money would be worth it if some girl would be too shallow to see past the small problem.
I’m sorry to hear of your problems that caused your teeth to be so stained and crooked.
As to your question, how gentlemen’s teeth look is pretty important to me. I’m married and shallow, though, so you don’t have to worry about impressing me.
I’m not a woman, but conventional wisdom tells me that perfect teeth — while desirable — are going to be less a deal-breaker than the major characteristics such as
• charisma/sense of humor/personality
• earning power/providing ability
• physical appearance, and
• personal values.
But if it’s an issue for you, I wouldn’t give up on fixing the problems you say you have.
Regarding the bleaching treatment, there are a bunch of whitening products on the market that are way cheaper than having a dentist do it. I would try a few treatments of them before saying “it can’t be done.”
Regarding braces, you are not past the point. My sister had braces when she was in her thirties. Moreover, if you need a tooth to be pulled to get your teeth straight, it’s possible that same tooth may cause you problems in the future by screwing up your bite. Get a dentist’s opinion. I’m just saying there may be reason to have this addressed beyond just cosmetic appeal.
Quick question: aren’t you still in school? Wouldn’t you still be covered under your parents health plan? Check that first. If not, I would definitely make dental benefits a priority when choosing a job once you get out of school.
It’s not a huge priority with me. I do notice if a guy has very nice teeth, but more in a “good job Mom and Dad!” sort of way, appreciating the fact that someone cared enough to pay the ortho bill and instill good hygeine.
I’ve never once thought “now there’s a dreamy guy, too bad about the teeth though, cross him off the potential list” if that’s what your thinking.
I do notice guys’ teeth, but they aren’t a deal breaker.
I have extensive staining due to dental fluorosis (took way too many of those little fluoride tablets as a child). I’ve had porcelain and resin veneers put on my front teeth, but that wasn’t done until I was in the tenth grade–I spent a good chunk of my junior high and high school years walking around with badly stained and splotched teeth.
Having lived through that, I don’t judge people based on their teeth.
My (now ex) boyfriend did not have such lovely teeth. One was chipped from when he fell out of the back of a pickup truck, and they weren’t straight at all. However, they were clean, which was the most important thing.
I kind of liked the chipped tooth. It gave him character.
Jeep’s Phoenix took a whole sentence right out of my mouth (and how’d you do that anyway?)
Also not a deal breaker here. I dated a guy that I really liked for quite a while before I noticed that one of his front teeth was dead, and that was only because one of his friends made fun of it. Seriously, I hadn’t noticed.
Cowboy doesn’t have the straightest teeth in the world, but it gives his smile character, and I like it.
Teeth are important because it’s nice to not have to pay for braces for your offspring. Mr. C’s teeth are very straight, but he does have quite an underbite. After a day of knowing him, though, I didn’t notice it anymore.
Stained is understandable, especially in your situation, OP. A couple of crooked teeth are okay. I’ve seen mouths (male and female), though, that looked as if someone took a handful of teeth and just threw them in there haphazardly. Ick! It’s never too late to do something about it; I’ve seen 50 year olds with braces.
Rotten nasty breath, though, is OUT. Fresh minty breath can make up for a lot of other problems, and flossing is a big plus. And someone may not be able to help having a tooth rot, but a rotten tooth needs to either be pulled or covered up somehow.
Do the best you can with what you have and don’t worry about it. If you do have work done, don’t think of it as something you’re doing to attract women. Having really crooked teeth (if that’s your situation, anyway) is something that you should correct just because you deserve to go through life with a nice smile. Being more attractive to women is just a fringe benefit.
It’s not the quality of teeth, it’s the quantity.
At least I hope so, because I have 33 adult teeth, and was told by my dentist that that is a very uncommonly high number.
Having your teeth out of whack can cause other problems eventually, but they don’t always.
Having a tooth pulled isn’t all that painful. I have a phobia of dentists so when I go I have to have nitrous oxide. That relaxes me quite abit. Then I don’t feel the shots they give me to deaded the gums so much. They can take a tooth out and I won’t even know they’ve done it. Then the dentist usually prescribes something wonderful for pain for the first day or two. It works.
I had braces when I was in my late fifties. Recently I had a veneer placed over a tooth that was a little too dark.
Get your teeth cleaned professionally every six months and brush after every meal – or at least check for food particles. A battery operated toothbrush is not very expensive and does wonders in helping to keep teeth free of food particles.
The importance of good teeth varies from woman to woman. No woman likes teeth that look dirty.
My first husband was missing teeth on one side. My first impression was not good, but eventually I didn’t even think about his teeth. He was a lovely human being.
FWIW, I’m not a very vain person at all, and I socialize well (at least I think so). While I’d never heard any comment from any woman I’d dated, about a year ago two women who are close to me (little sister and former business partner) made, within the space of two weeks, unsolicited (i.e.; out of the blue) comments to the effect that remedial efforts directed towards my long since dead (and black) front tooth might be worth the effort, from their female point of view.
So I got a crown. Now it looks just as (not more so) snaggily as the rest of my teeth. There are plenty of before and after pictures on various dopefest websites. It hasn’t appreciably changed my dating luck, but I am more willing to smile for the cameras.
Crooked doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not opossum-crooked. But even then, I suspect that after a while most people would just not notice. Same thing with stained.
However, as others have mentioned, rotten or dirty is OUT. WAY OUT. Deal-breaker-out.
Here in Hooterville, I see more than a few people with half-decomposed teeth in their mouth. Like, half the tooth is there (perhaps the left half) and it looks like it’s slowly being eaten away, getting thinner and thinner and more brittle—like any day now, they’ll bite into an apple and it’ll be snap! And there goes that tooth. Just like their whole mouth is a snap! waiting to happen. :eek:
Yikes. I simply do not understand that. So anyway, as long as your teeth are clean and relatively healthy (not ready to snap off with the next crisp apple), then as far as I’m concerned, you’re fine.
yosemitebabe, I have that problem with a few of my mollars-and I can’t afford to visit the dentist (no insurance, either), so that’s probably why some of these people have those problems.
My teeth are slightly crooked and maybe a bit stained (I dont’ think), but nothing gross. I just wish I could afford the root canals I need.
Has anyone ever commented on your teeth? If not, then they probably aren’t as bad as you may think. I do like nice teeth but they don’t have to be perfect. I’m not sure that antibiotic stained teeth can be fixed by whitening products so I would check that before wasting your money.
My ex had braces when I first met him in his late 20’s and it didn’t seem odd to me at all, so don’t worry about having braces as an adult.
The dealbreakers for me are teeth with that white gunky stuff it (usually the two front teeth, which also happen to be the most noticeable), or heavily nicotine-stained teeth. It might be shallow, but it’s a visceral reaction with me - I can’t imagine kissing someone with dirty or rotten teeth.
Crooked and slightly stained teeth don’t bother me that much. My bottom teeth are slightly crooked, but I have a slight overbite so nobody has ever noticed. I think you’ll find that very few people have perfect teeth - I remember seeing a contestant on WWTBAM awhile ago who had such stunningly white and even teeth that even the host commented on them! (Turns out, the guy’s sister was a dentist)
I used to have teeth like that. This was the consequence of a combination of factors: lack of affordable dental care, chronic depression, and a family genetic tendency to weak enamel. I brushed religiously through high school, and still lost one tooth to some weird anomaly by the time I was 20, and had to have a root canal when I was still in grade school (and that tooth eventually disintegrated anyway). I stopped brushing because it was too painful.
I finally had to have the ones that were left pulled and scraped together enough money for a cheap pair of dentures (about $800). That was four months of discretionary income and a major strain on my budget. I had a much better pair made last year for $1600, but I make more in a month now than I did in a year back then. I’d get implants if they didn’t cost as much as a decent-sized house.
Just keep in mind that some the people with bad teeth aren’t that way because they simply don’t care about dental hygeine.
Well, Mr. Kal had teeth when we started out, but they were in terrible shape. He’s since had most of them pulled and doesn’t wear dentures (couldn’t get used to them).
He doesn’t smile much because it looks terrible. It is embarrassing for both of us, and consequently, we don’t do much socializing together. His diet is limited to what he can handle with the few teeth he has.
I, on the other hand, have never had a cavity (although I could stand a year in braces).
Bad teeth suck. But I married the whole guy – not just his teeth. It’s still a huge drag.
Mr. Lissar fell face-first while climing one of those spiral metal slides when he was about ten. Took out the whole middle section of his front upper teeth. Filler stuff was put in, but by the time I met him it was badly chipped. I thought it was kind of endearing. It’s been fixed since then.
I don’t notice teeth unless they’re about to fall out or something.
