when you smile

A mother who pampers her child never lets him get his teeth into anything. Consider the Eskimos, said Dr. Martin. They "use their teeth for everything, including softening frozen leather," and Eskimos rarely suffer from tooth decay. 

- Time Magazine, 'Emotions and Teeth', Monday, Apr. 17, 1939.

'Expression of emotions' - Darwin goes into all sorts of comparisons between man & animal. Revealing teeth in anger, snarling, clenching from anxiety, grinding in stressed sleep, or laughing and bearing your cake hole for good reason.

Teeth say a lot about us as people, our status in the world and our own standards. It's not something you automatically think about regualarly, its something we take for granted (with the exception of a very green salad). Look at someone who has a beautiful set of fangs, natural or braced, and compare them to someone who has absolutely no consideration for mouth disease, thus losing teeth left, right & centre. Who would you rather talk to? Gleam or Gappy? 

Your whole face changes when you smile. your cheeks are rosier, fuller, even your eyes become a discotheque of their own and there is a tingle, when genuinely happy, that wraps around the back of your neck making the hairs stand on end. The guard is down and you reveal something more real about yourself. Babies' first smile (not gas related) is amazing. People achieving whatever little victory in their day and smile achingly all the way home. Nothing makes me happier than your duckie face grinning wildly.