(no subject)

[dragonlady7]

Fascinating.
The difference between American and British smiles. With some analysis of what it means depending on which smile muscles you use.

Keltner recently released a study of photographs of women in college yearbooks dating back to the 1960s in which he separated the Duchenne smilers from the artfully posed.

Researchers then tracked the women down and found that those who had smiled most happily at college overwhelmingly tended to have had the happiest lives since they had graduated.

I don't know how I smile. I've never really thought of it. I know it reproduces badly in photographs. I also know I often squint my eyes a little, which is part of what looks so awful in photographs. (See my icon, above. Do I even have eyes?) I also know my dimples play quite a large role in how my smile appeals to bar patrons in particular, and they don't get into that in the article at all. And I also tend to tilt my head a bit when I'm trying to portray charm in conversation (particularly when in conversation with multiple people, especially if I don't know them well). And I think, the way my mouth is shaped, it would take some severe contortions for me to have my lower teeth show. They just don't show, even when I'm in the midst of a full laugh. (Which is a shame, as my parents spent hundreds having them straightened and they are absolutely gorgeous, better than my upper teeth.)

The article doesn't mention those whose teeth almost never show. My father, when he smiles, keeps his mouth closed, unless he is extremely amused, in which case just the tops of his upper teeth show, and his eyes crinkle.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful article. Thank you.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I must own up: I saw it in Neil Gaiman's blog (http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2005/02/nook.asp). (I forgot to credit the link.)

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

I think that your kiddo pic upthere is very sweet, and your eyes crinkle when you smile, that means the smile is heartfelt! I think this article while informative is slightly biased...but any way, in my dental experience I think the larger top teeth are much more friendly than the lower teeth which are small and tend to look very "Toothy" when smiling. I am looking at a picture of my irish mother and myself and my german dad, and honestly we all look like we are very happy, eyes smiling and teeth showing in varying degrees. Now my husband has a seriously "Cheese" photo smile. to imitate a British smile try pulling down your bottom lip and say "chosen" instead of cheese and look in the mirror while you do it. Which would you rather smile with?

I've had various chats with English visitors and they all have thought that we Americans are extremely friendly and that we have "Atmosphere" (Seriously eight of the twelve brits I spoke to in Florida who stayed at my hotel, used that word.)

I look at smiles all day long and in the cosmetic journal of dentistry, the perfect smile shows sixteen of thirty two teeth. from the mesial corner of the right first molar to the left one on the top, and the very tips of the lower anterior teeth on the lower from the second bicuspids from right to left. I don't have a perfectly cosmetic smile, But very few people do. Julia Roberts does. Her lip lacks a certain feature but she shows the proper teeth.

ANY WAY I will try to find a picture to show you...

[mother2012.livejournal.com]

Yes, I don't buy the article either. I think the author is simply prejudiced to see the smile he's accostomed to as being the friendlier and more genuine one.

With predominance of English, Irish, and German in our family background, I have long since noticed that people have differing lengths to their upper lip (and probably corresponding shortness in the bottom). My grandmother's smile showed her bottom teeth: her upper lip was so long that it would not have been possible to show the uppers. For myself, to show my bottom teeth while smiling requires a very fake smile, pulling the corners down.

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

There are so many smiles in the world, how can we deem any friendlier than the other! If people feel it you can just tell!

As far as how to show the teeth in the first place, there are some orthodontic things that can change it, but you are right, a lot of the factors are lip length and maxilla prominence, gummy smiles and the like. Some people frown to smile. it's wierd but it happens!