What's In A Smile?

Guestimates vary on the number of muscles required to smile – 43, 17, 26 – but Dr. Ernest Rex Tan knows that a genuine smile comes from a deeper source where confidence, sincerity and happiness, which can be achieved with professional help – lie.

- Victor Chen

Having practiced dentistry for 28 years, with the last 25 as a prosthodontist, Dr. Ernest Rex Tan has seen his fair share of interesting and complex cases in reconstructive and cosmetic dentistry. Dr. Tan is the founder and director of Smile Inc. Dental Surgeons, one of the leading dental practices in Singapore. “The impact of the completed work on the well-being and personality of our patients never ceases to amaze me.” Among his earliest cosmetic dental patients was a man with a “very stern demeanor”, Dr. Tan remembers. This man happened to be the CFO of a global MNC whose professional duties included speaking in public.

He confided to Dr. Tan that the appearance of his teeth – severely discolored, crooked and irregularly shaped – has prevented him from smiling and has given him a dour expression. A couple of cosmetic dental works later, Dr. Tan was able to restore his smile. “The most significant change was in his personality,” Dr. Tan observes. “Overnight, he became friendlier, more approachable and in touch with his humorous side. It was a remarkable turnaround.”

Some of us think little of the value of a great smile, believing it to be a natural extension of an attractive face, one that a person has to be born with. However, Dr. Tan has proven time and again that besides being fundamental to a positive self-image and a healthy social interaction, a good smile is something that can be improved with specialized dental care.

One of Dr. Tan’s patients, an introvert 27-year-old female with severely broken teeth and smile, reinforced Dr. Tan’s theory. After her teeth were straightened following two sessions of cosmetic dental work, she returned to the clinic with a full makeover. Although Dr. Tan saw her at the waiting room he didn’t recognize her as the same patient.