It is estimated that 1.94tn photographs were taken in 2024, 78bn of which were selfies. Fourteen billion images are shared online every day for multiple purposes, but people often share pictures of themselves online to widen their social and professional networks, to personalise content, and to help build a personal brand that can attract various opportunities, or align with their chosen career.
Not only are more individuals sharing their own image via social media platforms, they are consuming more content provided by celebrities and influencers. A recent survey indicated that 62 per cent of women interested in beauty follow influencers on social media. Over 1,000 beauty influencers operate across various platforms, with an average number of followers ranging between 417,134 and 767,65, depending on the platform.
For all these reasons, social media has been found to be a strong motivator for many patients to invest in cosmetic dental procedures. The UK accounted for 5.3 per cent of the global cosmetic dentistry market in 2022, generating a total revenue of about £1,458.10 million. This is expected to increase to £3,480.15 million by 2030. The most popular cosmetic dental treatment by far is tooth whitening, followed by veneers, composite bonding and clear aligner treatment. The Oral Health Foundation has reported that 66 per cent of UK adults have considered having their teeth brightened.
Lines are sometimes blurred between influence and sponsored content online, and many beauty influencers can be very persuasive. Listening to patients, taking the time to understand their motivations can help engage them, building trust to more effectively educate them on the relative risks and benefits of different tooth whitening treatments.
The advantages of a confident smile
Patients want to look their best for a number of reasons. Many seeking cosmetic treatment believe their psychosocial wellbeing will improve, and the primary driver tends to be internal rather than a desire to please others. Improved dental aesthetics has been shown to support patients’ psychological wellbeing and quality of life.
While some physical traits, like facial symmetry, tend to be consistently identified as attractive, many factors are down to personal grooming, appealing personality traits, individual tastes or cultural ideals. Attractiveness is multifaceted, but when people are deemed to be more physically appealing, they are perceived to be more intelligent, healthy, trustworthy, and sociable. Physical attractiveness, especially when combined with personal grooming and personability, vastly improves a host of life experiences, including reproductive success and criminal justice outcomes.
Social media has given rise to a desire among many patients to represent themselves consistently and positively across various online media platforms. A strong personal brand is thought to enhance an individual’s credibility, conveying their personality, ethos, credentials, social skills and life experiences relevant to desired opportunities.
As part of this, a well-tailored brand leverages appealing visuals, including a well-lit, close-up, high-resolution profile picture, with the individual looking well-groomed, confident and comfortable. A study based on 800 profile pictures found that a smile leads to a perception that the person is more likable, competent, and influential. When people smile with their teeth showing in photos, they are twice as likely to be rated as likable than if they smile with their mouths closed.
A safe, bright smile
While cosmetic enhancements to improve patients’ smiles are very much on the rise, dazzling, BL1 white teeth are falling out of favour. Risks associated with aggressive bleaching, and negative news stories about dental tourism may partly be responsible, but trends also reflect a renewed interest in natural beauty popularised by key influencers. For example, celebrities like Rylan Clark and Simon Cowell have had their distinctively bright veneers replaced with more natural-looking ones in recent years.
Aggressive tooth bleaching with hydrogen or carbamide peroxide-based products can lead to tooth sensitivity, irritation to the gingiva and changes in the microhardness of enamel. Regulations on the sale of over-the-counter, peroxide-based whitening kits came into force in 2012. However, products are available with ingredients that pose a serious risk to patients’ dental tissue, and in 2019 illegal whitening procedures reportedly rose by 26 per cent.
By recommending safe tooth-brightening products, like Brilliant Lumina from Coltene, clinicians can safeguard their patients’ oral health while also offering a bright, natural look. Briliant Lumina is based on the active ingredient PAP (phthalimido peroxy caproic acid), which – unlike hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide – has no erosive effect on the tooth structure.
Patients seek tooth whitening treatment for a number of reasons, but an increasingly important driver is the need to present themselves well across all their social and professional networks. Beauty might be skin-deep, but being able to present a confident, well-looked-after smile does improve the wellbeing of patients, and may well offer them an advantage in a competitive world. Supporting patients in achieving this safely will provide them with a natural, healthy smile, fit for a selfie.
References available on request.
For more information visit https://colteneuk.com/BRILLIANTLumina