Understood, and thanks for the clarification.
I do think that many of these peoples’ problems are due to lack of care, though. I never noticed that many people (especially young people) with teeth looking like they’re ready to snap—until I moved to Hooterville. That leads me to believe that much of this is a regional/cultural problem.
I asked my dentist here about it and he concedes that yes, there is a bigger problem here, and part of that is due to the lax dental care habits.
I dislike my teeth alot, I am getting 3 pulled (yes, an odd number) in a month or so, and am getting braces. My teeth are worse in my mind, because I am a critical teenager. I’ve asked all my friends, and family what they think of my teeth. ‘Whats wrong with your teeth?’, ‘I never notice.’, ‘Your getting braces?!’ ‘It’s not a big deal.’
It bothers me because my biggest concern is my 2 front teeth that are a bit too big, and when I talk and open my mouth they hang there for everyone to see, my upper lip does not fold down to meet my bottom lip relaxed, so I have to force it down. It’s a step away from being a buck tooth mouth. Then, theres my bottom row, which is offcenter, the middle is pushed to the right and then one tooth is pushed upwards so it sticks up above the rest, so if you look you can see something wrong. My biggest regret is not getting braces in my younger years and being so naive to not realising I had a problem. And I think that even after they are off, my teeth will not be perfect! At least, I think my massive over bite will be fixed. (Which people NEVER noticed)
Listen Soapbox if it makes you feel better, lots of celebrities have bad teeth too. For example, Tom cruise. They may be together and shiny, but if you look at his face straight on, you can see the upper row is FAR off center.
I don’t know what your teeth look like, but there is a fair chance that people haven’t noticed. There are very few people who look at teeth when they judge someone, unless your self concious of your own. (ahem)
Seriously, if you look, your not alone. You are never too old for braces.
Ahhh. There is nothing I like more that a set of slightly imperfect teeth on a man. A gap here…or a chip there…or crooked…I absolutely love it. Dunno why. Maybe because in a way it is somewhat boyish, and I am attracted by that.
A big reason I watch The Office is the fact that I am madly in love with Ricky Gervais’ teeth.
Maybe that is strange…seeing it on “paper” and all.
Perfect teeth are a turnoff for me. Of course my teeth are straight from wearing braces for years in Jr High…I almost wish I hadn’t done that.
I think it’s not so much a matter of perfect teeth as clean teeth. It’s a hygiene issue as much as anything else. Teeth that are crooked and stained but clean are one thing, but even if they’re straight teeth green or scummy are just plain disgusting.
Yeah, it’s kind of shallow and all, but crooked teeth are somewhat of a turn-off to me. I don’t really know why, but it probably has to do with the fact that I have nice teeth (2 years of braces to thank for that) and people compliment me on my teeth often. I don’t think that I would choose not to date someone simply because of their teeth…but I’ve never had a potential love interest that didn’t have good teeth so its hard to say. The boyfriend had braces when he was younger and now he has nice teeth.
Teeth are also one of the very first things I notice about people. I have a habit of looking at people’s teeth and mouths, even people I’ve known for years. I like to see how teeth and mouths move when people talk. Its weird but strangely fascinating to me.
I absolutely agree. Real teeth aren’t blindingly white nor are they perfect little rectangles. As for the OP, I don’t like extremes - neither the bizarre unnatural chiclets, or Gollum-like snaggled fangs. I have to admit I prefer nice, mostly straight teeth, but I can’t imagine rejecting a man outright just for his teeth.
My current s.o. and my last ex are both smokers. Every now and again I’ll notice the colour, but it doesn’t bother me. Teeth don’t have to be perfect, but I probably would be icked out if they were really unclean looking and pointing in odd directions.
My ex hadn’t gone to the dentist in years. I made an appointment for the both of us (he had been having wisdom tooth issues). He had years of calcium build up chipped off. Drove him nuts for weeks because he’d keep wearing spots on his tongue. Before the appointment he couldn’t get floss between his teeth. No cavities though. Healthiest hippie I’ve ever met.
I once was best friends with a girl who never stopped sucking her fingers (index and middle finger, HUGE calluses, looked like a fourth knuckle). Her front teeth were nearly horizontal. My current loathing for her is entirely due to her being a lying, backstabbing ho and nothing to do with her teeth.
Mine are good. No cavities, white enough, near-perfect bite. Dentists love me. Only work I had done was sealants as a child (they’ve since worn off).
I used to work with a single, straight, very nice guy… whose teeth were rotting out of his head. It clearly ran in the family, since I also worked with his mom and had met his sister a number of times and this guy had the best teeth in the family. I couldn’t understand it, because we worked at the same place, had the same benefit plan and both had dental insurance available to us at reasonable, affordable rates. He could have afforded a little dental work.
To me, stained or crooked are no big whoop. It’s the rotten, bad breath, full of cavities and decay that can be a dealbreaker.
I also have tetracycline stains from that antibiotic I was given as a kid. There’s not a damn thing you can do about them, short of veneers. I’ve done the dentist bleaching thing, and the at-home kits and have tried about everything. While the cigarette stains have been removed… the gray tetracycline stains remain. It’s highly costly to really get rid of them. Having learned to live with it, I would probably not even notice if someone else had the same thing. Same goes with the crooked thing. But if your gums are puss-filled and oozing, your teef are breaking off with each bite of apple and no one can talk to you without being at least four feet away… you need to get some dental work done. (I also think that goes back to men taking responsibility for their own health care – see The Pit for that thread.)