Social perceptions of individuals missing upper front teeth.

Although it is assumed that there are negative social consequences for individuals missing visible front teeth, no study of the way in which edentulous individuals were perceived in a social context and the potential social repercussions could be located. This initial study concerned college students' perceptions of individuals missing visible upper front teeth. 200 volunteers, 19 to 50 years of age (M = 20.6, SD = 4.4), rated five photographs depicting tooth presence or absence, from a full dentition to missing as many as four upper front teeth, on social traits including attractiveness, health status, educational attainment, satisfaction with life, active social life, aggressiveness, intelligence, trustworthiness, amount of caring, friendship, dating, and likelihood to live as a neighbor. Analysis suggested a person missing visible teeth was more negatively perceived on all social traits than a person with full dentition. Results were strongest when students were proposed to be linked to the edentulous individual in a personal way, i.e., dating or living as neighbor. Men and women agreed on perceptions of social traits and dentition condition. These results suggest the presence of strong Western cultural values, whereby those who are missing teeth may experience significant barriers to personal and social success.

Anterior dental extractions among Dinka and Nuer refugees in the United States: a case series.

Few U.S. adults today experience life without permanent anterior teeth and know little about how an incomplete anterior dentition affects adult well-being. Sudanese refugees, who had resettled in the U.S. and who had six mandibular anterior teeth ritually extracted during youth, provided an opportunity to examine the significance of the effect of this partial edentulism. The authors interviewed five adult refugees whose anterior dentition was restored using dental implants. Factors considered before and after restoration included incisal ability, food item recognition, food consumption patterns and related social factors. Before restoration of the anterior dentition, participants could not incise typical foods eaten in the U.S. and expressed embarrassment about their dental status, which limited smiling, speaking and social interaction. This case series offers insight into the bio-cultural importance of the anterior dentition for all populations living with a visible gap in the lower jaw.