Good And Bad Teeth Research Paper

Teeth are unique to each person, and no two people will have identical sets of teeth. Forensic investigators will use a person’s teeth in heinous crimes, where a person’s DNA and fingerprints are destroyed, to identify a body. Our teeth are made up of primarily Calcium and are similar in structure to our bones, therefore they are much more permanent than most of our fleshy bodies. Since our teeth are so variable, permanent, and unique you might expect that people would be more embracing of their individualistic teeth; instead a large majority of people will correct their teeth to obtain the image of perfect teeth. Why do people make extreme efforts to have perfect looking teeth? It is because we live in a society where our teeth communicate …show more content…
There are two separate aspects to having good teeth: you must both routinely maintain your teeth and you typically must also correct the alignment of your teeth at some point. Routine teeth maintenance falls under dentistry, while overall teeth alignment is orthodontics. Our routine teeth maintenance effects the color and the overall health of our gums, teeth and roots. Recommended tooth maintenance consists of brush and flossing daily, in addition to repetitive dentists practice visits. Alignment correction typically is comprised of a one-time use of some sort of equipment to move your teeth. Common equipment to correct alignment includes braces and Invisalign©. After the prolonged use of one-time equipment nearly all orthodontists recommend that the patient wear a retainer routinely to prevent teeth from moving back to their original positions. Now that we have a basis of typical practices I want to discuss what we view as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ teeth. In America we view perfect teeth as being pristinely white, properly shaped, proportional, and properly aligned. Alignment consist of teeth being straight relative to each other and also the top and bottom rows being properly inline. I will discuss later why our perception of perfect teeth exists as this …show more content…
I mentioned previously that brushing our teeth leads to our teeth being whiter in color, which is desirable. This is because brushing teeth removed the layer of plaque that continually builds up. Bacteria builds up and lives inside the plaque on our teeth. Failing to remove the plaque from teeth can lead to build up of plaque and bacteria that can cause other serious health effects. Some health effects include an increase in bacterial lung infections such as bronchitis and atherosclerosis, a disease caused by the presentation of plaque in our blood stream. A buildup of plaque also will lead to foul smelling breath as a result of the gases from the bacteria. In this aspect, having healthy teeth suggest an absence of bacteria and a better overall health. Another way in which our teeth will suggest our health derives from the foods we eat and our habits. Chemically, our teeth respond poorly to foods that are high in sugar, and sugar can cause our teeth to decay. Our teeth also respond poorly to smoking and alcohol, these habits are also both considered unhealthy. Logically people may associate poor teeth with eating poor foods or smoking. I once sat in on a job interview for a possible assistant candidate. The candidate had yellow teeth and noticeable smelly breath. After the interview was over my boss, who I much more experienced than I, told me that it was obvious that this person was a smoker. My