journal entry # 4..teeth matter

Which mouth do you like better?

While at work today, I was reminded of something Professor Schuster had told us about the connection between teeth and social status in America. When she said it I actually was really interested for her to talk a bit more on it, but I actually forgot to ask her. Yet today at work I pretty much got a “real life” answer of what my interests on the subject wanted to inquire further about.

While working with two of my co-workers a male customer walked in. The customer was a handsome man, and I commented on that to the other female who I was working with…then she disagreed. As the man left, I asked her why she did not think he was handsome, and her response was “ he had crack head teeth”, and I immediately thought of our class. 

Prior to this course, and our learning’s of social status factors, I would have never thought of the ever apparent relationship between socio-economic status and dental hygiene. Then, I thought about the issue a little further. Evidently, good teeth are a vain sign of wealth, and how well a person has the ability to take care f themselves. Things like normal biannual cleanings are covered by health insurance (which so many people today are without), but further procedures that go above and beyond (getting braces from an orthodontist, or a root canal from a surgeon) are probably not be covered in health insurance. Consequently if a person is without health insurance or cannot get braces because they cannot afford them, it is actually a very sad reality that this will predict .how they will be treated in their life….Sometimes when your eyes are opened to these sad realities it makes you embarrassed to be part of such a vain culture. It truthfully just feels bizarre that point was proven to me today. So bizarre that a person’s teeth can be such a huge social setback in their everyday lives with something important such as receiving a job, or as miniscule as being viewed as handsome or not by s couple of pizza shop girls.