Why a Confident Smile Empowers Women in Career, Love, and Everyday Life

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As Sarah entered the conference room, she had her head held high and shoulders back. While she was presenting her quarter projections to the executive team, this time felt different for her. She no longer had the habit of covering her mouth while speaking or tilting her head down during key moments. Her co-workers immediately noticed this change, not because her presentation skills had improved, but rather because her confidence was evident in her smile, so much so that Sarah saw opportunities she never knew existed before.

A smile represents much more than a positive expression on a person’s face; it is a means of communicating with someone that goes beyond just saying “hi” or “thanks”. The smile serves as a connection between two people sharing similar experiences and feelings; it can also provide many women with a sense of empowerment in an ever-evolving society. When women can exhibit self-confidence because they have a healthful smile, then they begin to reveal their own inner strength and desire to be visible, speak up and take their rightful place without having to apologize.

1. The Career Advantage of a Confident Smile

Women encounter different challenges in the professional world. Women are taught to be assertive but not aggressive, confident but not arrogant, friendly but not too familiar. It is a very difficult tightrope to walk, and studies show that one of the most valuable assets a Professional Woman has is often overlooked: her smile.

A candid, confident smile indicates approachability and a signal of respect. It reflects an individual's ability to connect emotionally with others, as well as the level of self-confidence required of an individual by a Leadership Team before they can make any professional advancement. Women who show confident smiles during Networking and Negotiations will create an immediate positive impression that opens doors. Remember that feeling of hesitation when you were about to speak up at a meeting?

A lot of women experience this feeling due to a lack of confidence in how they will be perceived. A woman who is self-conscious about her teeth (whether they are Stained or Crooked) is less likely to express herself, regardless of the quality of her idea. She may avoid an important Networking opportunity or turn down an opportunity for Public Speaking that would provide access to the next level of her Career.

Statistics paint an incredible picture. Research indicates that people who have white, straight teeth are viewed as more capable, intelligent and trustworthy than those who have some type of dental imperfection. This is obviously not a fair statement; however, it is unfortunately a true statement. In today's society, we only have milliseconds to create a first impression. Your smile, very often, is the first thing someone will see when they read your professional resume.

This is why knowing that you have power over your smile is empowering rather than discouraging; in contrast to other areas of workplace discrimination/bias, women have an area in which they can make tangible efforts to lessen any potential discrimination against themselves based on the appearance of their smile.

2. Love and Relationships: Smiling Through Vulnerability

In the world of business, the quality of being self-confident is essential; whereas, in the world of love and romance, the quality of being vulnerable is paramount. Smiling without fear of judgment from the other person, as a sign of interest, may be the ultimate act of vulnerability in dating. For women who do not feel confident in their smiles, dating can become a daunting and overwhelming experience because of the difficulty in dealing with the insecurities concerning their teeth.

I have spoken to numerous women who do not want to smile in their dating profiles, who choose to end second-date opportunities before engaging in a conversation at a dinner table, and who maintain a significant physical distance from a potential partner due to the overwhelming fear of being perceived in a negative light.

One woman I spoke to said that it took her six months of dating her partner before she was comfortable enough to share her laughter openly with him. That is a loss of six months of happiness and joy, and it is ironic because what we may believe to be a flaw with our smile does not generally register on anyone else's radar, or at the very least, is far less significant to them than it is to us. However, our belief that our smile is a flaw causes us to become guarded and develop distance from our partner. We lose the opportunity to connect with one another authentically.

The concept that a "confident" romantic smile denotes perfection is inaccurate; rather, a confident smile denotes authenticity. An example of this would be the joy of hearing a laugh when something truly impresses you. A confident smile could also be the smile you see on someone's face when you send them a message that makes their heart skip a beat. The spontaneous nature of this type of smile is when the receiver is taken by surprise and their entire face breaks into a complete smile.

The level of intimacy between men and women increases dramatically when women have the ability to smile confidently. When a woman smiles with confidence it allows her greater ability to be present and playful with the man in her life, as well as being more willing to allow him to see her vulnerable side. When women are able to smile confidently, they waste less of their emotional energy worrying about what they appear and instead expend the majority of their emotional energy making genuine connections with others.

3. The Everyday Ripple Effect

The way we carry ourselves daily and move about our lives, through interactions with such things as the barista, our neighbour, or simply the person who holds the door open for us can help create an opportunity to connect with them or turn the other way. Women who may feel self-conscious about their smile develop a coping mechanism to hide this from others; these women develop techniques that are done so regularly that they do not even realise they are doing them any more.

Women who are self-conscious about their smile tend to:

• Cover their mouth while they laugh
• Smile with their mouth closed in pictures
• Avoid any kind of eye contact when they speak to someone
• Decline invitations, which may enrich their lives

All of these actions may create a "smaller" life for themselves; however, when compared to women who are confident in their smiling. These same women are much more likely to start conversations with strangers, which creates the opportunity for unexpected friendships and connections. Women who smile with confidence are photographed often, creating visual representations of their happiness that they can hold onto for the rest of their lives. 

In addition, because they are not concerned about how people view them while they are laughing, they are able to experience more joy and share it with those around them. As part of this feedback loop, when people see you smile with confidence, they are more likely to behave warmly toward you. You benefit from their reactions, your smiles create more confidence in you to smile again, thus creating more positive reactions. This feedback system grows exponentially, literally reshaping the people around you and their response to you over time.

4. The Role of Modern Solutions

For women who have insecurity about their smile because of a legitimate dental reason, whether due to staining, gaps, misalignment, or other issues, there are now many affordable choices of cosmetic dentistry available to help restore lost confidence.

In recent years, the overall quality and affordability of cosmetic dental procedures available to the general public have improved tremendously. As an example, within one visit of a dental office, professional whitening can improve your overall smile by several shades. Clear aligners allow you to straighten your teeth without the feeling of awkwardness that you may have from braces. Porcelain veneers can improve your entire smile at the same time, providing corrective solutions to multiple problems.

The choice to seek out cosmetic dental procedures is a very personal choice for each patient and will not be suitable or needed for every patient, but many women that have concealed their smile for years will tell you that they have experienced an incredible change for the better due to the benefits of cosmetic dental procedures. By obtaining this level of treatment, patients are not only investing in their teeth, but also their self-esteem, options and overall quality of their life.

Another point to keep in mind about cosmetic dentistry is that it is at its best when it enhances the beauty of one's natural features, rather than trying to attain an unrealistic level of perfection or look like anyone else. In essence, the objective of cosmetic dentistry is to help patients look their absolute best and not necessarily to fit into today's social standards of beauty or trend.

5. Breaking Free from Self-Limitation

The hidden impact of smile insecurity may be one of its most damaging aspects. The lack of the opportunities not pursued, the conversations not initiated, the photographs not taken, and the laughter withheld, all of which can be easily overlooked, will accumulate over time to cause a significant emotional impact as you reflect back on the years and think about how much you were held back based on your lack of confidence. Confidence in your smile also means that you can enjoy the chance to live your life on a daily basis without any regret about the accomplishments, fame, or fortune you may have failed to obtain or reach.

Conclusion

While the confidence that one gets from a smile will not guarantee a lifetime of opportunities for the recipient, nor will it guarantee any success in one’s choices of careers, friendships, happiness or partnerships; this view is far too simplistic. A confident smile will however, allow you to have the freedom to work toward, act on, and pursue the enjoyment of your own interests without the burden of always having doubts about yourself.

Women often utilize a supportive smile to exhibit their interior strength by defying initiatives that state women must act in a manner which is considered attractive, easy-going and/or likeable. As a result, the supportive smile represents a type of authority and assertiveness through non-verbal means. The confident smile states, "I am human and I exist; I will not apologize about who I am".