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OPERATION SMILE |
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Fear of smiling
is spoiling life for a vast number of adults in Britain. |
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Almost a million adults have
been prevented from asking someone they fancy to go on a date
or have failed to turn up for a job interview because they’re
embarrassed by their smile. |
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An Ipsos-MORI
survey has found that as many as 19-million people feel their
self-confidence could be boosted by dental work to improve
their smile, nearly one in three adults (30%) say attractive
teeth helps overcome embarrassment about personal appearance
and just under half the entire British adult population (46%)
believes an attractive smile could improve their appearance. |
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The survey was
commissioned by the country’s leading orthodontist, Dr. Andrew
McCance, who has invested half a million pounds in research at
University College London to create a three-dimensional
surgical technique to aid surgeons treating facial
abnormality. |
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“Anxiety about
their appearance means people quite literally can’t grin and
bear it,” says Dr. McCance. “My clinics treat 5,000 patients
a year from all walks of life and many say the same thing.
Their embarrassment with their facial appearance has hampered
their careers or stopped them forming relationships. To put it
at its simplest, they’ve been too embarrassed by crooked teeth
or misshapen jaws to risk a smile and people shouldn’t live
like that.” |
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The survey which
comprised a nationally-representative sample of people aged
15+ throughout Great Britain, found that 1.25-million adults
feel generally less attractive because they have not had
corrective orthodontic treatment. The same number say their
unattractive smile has prevented them from laughing and
smiling as much as they would like. Almost a million adults
believe their unattractive smile has lowered their self-esteem
and a similar number say it causes them difficulty in meeting
people face-to-face. |
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“The tragedy is that the survey
exposed the great ignorance in this country of the significant
health benefits of orthodontic treatment as well as the
psychological benefit of boosting self-belief. Also, many
mistakenly believe that treatment is beyond the pockets of low
earners,” says Dr. McCance. |
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“Severe pain and
life-threatening conditions such as sleep apnoea as well as
facial disfigurement can be treated successfully by qualified
orthodontists at reasonable cost. Shop around as you do when
buying a fridge or a bed. People are quite happy to pay out
monthly sums for a new cooker or carpet to improve their
lifestyle but when it comes to serious dental needs which
affect heath and life prospects, they’re unaware of the fact
that facial aesthetic treatment is affordable.” |
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Notes: |
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1. Case studies of patients desperate for treatment because of
their anxiety over their smile can be provided along with
stills of before and after images
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2. The Ipsos-MORI survey results are based on 1,034
face-to-face, in-house interviews conducted with adults aged
15+ in Great Britain |
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3. Fieldwork was conducted from 6-13 September 2007, in 173
sampling points |
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4. Data is weighted to the known adult (15+) profile of Great
Britain |
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5. Population
figures are based on the detailed survey results, extrapolated
onto the national GB adult (15+) population of 48 million
people |
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see also Dr.
McCance quoted in: |
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The
Dentist |
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Preventive Dentistry |
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Private Dentistry |
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British Dental Journal |
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Contact:
Selfridge Communications |
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Office: 01277
372797 |
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443156 |
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Email:
office@selfridgecommunications.com
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Web:
www.selfridgecommunications.com
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