In the tapestry of human expression, no gesture is quite as powerful, or as revealing, as the smile. Yet, grins were notably absent in historic oil paintings. Today's camera-ready, gleaming-toothed, confident smiles result from a centuries-long transformation driven by artistic styles, social expectations and significant developments in photography and dental care. What began as a rare, closed-lipped expression of civility in portraiture has evolved into the joyful and ever-present, tooth-baring symbol of health, happiness, and self-assurance we recognize today.

Reserved Faces in Painted Portraiture

In Western portraiture from the Renaissance through the 18th century, smiles were uncommon, especially those revealing teeth. A closed mouth conveyed dignity, intelligence, and self-control, whereas an open-mouthed grin was considered inappropriate, if not outright vulgar. The absence of toothy smiles, however, was not only a matter of decorum; it was also practical.

With tooth decay, gum disease, and tooth loss widespread in early modern Europe, it wasn’t uncommon to see toothless adults, even among the royalty and the elite. Before the widespread adoption of effective oral hygiene practices or professional dentistry, very few people had teeth worth showing. As historian Colin Jones explains in The Smile Revolution in Eighteenth Century Paris, the cultural shift toward smiling in public only became possible as dental care improved and good teeth became signs of vitality and social status.¹

The Mona Lisa, Leonardo DaVinci

Following an era of very faint and subtle, almost mysterious, half-grinning portraits such as DaVinci’s, The Mona Lisa, smiles in artistic portraiture began subtly changing. One of the earliest painted portraits reflecting a significant shift is Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s Self-Portrait (1790). It features the artist with a subtle, warm smile with just a hint of teeth showing, which was an esthetic highly unconventional for the time.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée 1790 painting, Self-Portrait; Image credit: National Trust Images

Art historians have noted that this departure from traditional, stoic portraiture reflected a growing acceptance of emotional expression and the growing influence of Enlightenment ideals.² Vigée Le Brun’s depiction subtly signaled the emergence of the smile as a socially acceptable form of self-presentation, aided by an era of improving dental care.

Dentistry's Role in Liberating the Smile

Before the 18th century, barbers and blacksmiths primarily took care of all dental procedures for their clients with little training. Dental procedures were painful, crude, and often ineffective.³ That changed in 1728 when French physician Pierre Fauchard published Le Chirurgien Dentiste, a comprehensive manual that laid the foundation for modern dentistry. Fauchard introduced groundbreaking innovations such as dental fillings, prosthetics, and rudimentary orthodontics.⁴

French physician Pierre Fauchard; Image credit: British Dental Journal

As dentistry improved, people gradually felt more comfortable smiling, first in private life, then in public, and finally in portraiture. The development of porcelain dentures, gold fillings, and oral hygiene tools helped reduce the shame and discomfort associated with tooth exposure, and over time, the smile transitioned from a gesture of folly to a mark of confidence.

A Country Tooth Drawer by Irish painter S. Cox. Oil on Canvas, circa mid-1800s;

Image credit: The Wellcome Collection

Photography and the Democratization of the Smile

It was not until the advent of photography in the 19th century, and particularly the snapshot culture of the 20th century, that smiling became a common visual norm. Early photographs, like paintings before them, featured serious expressions, partly due to long exposure times but also because of inherited formal traditions.⁵

That began to shift in the early 20th century, thanks in part to Kodak's marketing campaigns encouraging consumers to smile for the camera. As photography became more casual and democratic, so did its subjects.5 However, widespread reluctance to display teeth remained, because many people still experienced poor dental health. As historian Angus Trumble observes, "people had lousy teeth, if they had teeth at all, which militated against opening your mouth in social settings."⁶

Modern Dentistry and the Confident Smile

The 20th century saw dentistry expand from pain management to esthetic enhancement. The invention of fluoride toothpaste, standardized dental hygiene practices, and orthodontic braces made straight, healthy teeth more achievable. In 1989, Opalescence™ whitening launched its first carbamide peroxide-based professional tooth whitening system, offering a new op on to whiten teeth. These innovations transformed not just oral health, but also cultural norms. Today, a toothy grin in a photo is almost obligatory. The smile has evolved into a global symbol of approachability, friendliness, wellness, and confidence. This transformation is supported by data. In a 2015 study, researchers at UC Berkeley analyzed over 37,000 American high school yearbook photos from 1905 to 2005. By measuring the curvature of lips in each portrait, they quantified a dramatic increase in smile intensity across the century.⁷

^{Composite images from the UC Berkeley study illustrate how high school senior portraits evolved from tight-lipped solemnity to expressive, toothy smiles.}

The study suggests people became more comfortable smiling broadly in official portraits in the la er half of the 20th century as cosmetic dentistry became more accessible.⁷ Cultural expectations, camera technology, and confidence in one’s smile converged to normalize the beaming expressions we now associate with modern portraiture and photography.

The Smile Today

Throughout history, the smile has represented an ever-evolving social, artistic, and esthetic gesture. It has shifted shape and meaning alongside innovations in science, art, and culture. Once hidden or suppressed due to dental dysfunction or decorum, the smile is now celebrated throughout multiple cultures around the world both in human interaction and in paintings and photography. Thanks to modern dentistry, advancements in photography, and shifting norms, we live in an age where the smile is more visible and more valued than ever.

References

1. Jones C. The Smile Revolution in Eighteenth Century Paris. Oxford University Press; 2014.
2. Bochicchio S. Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun scandalized the 18th-century Paris art world with her smile. Artsy. Published September 26, 2017. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-elisabeth-louise-vigee-le-brun-scandalized18th-century-paris-art-smile
3. Lloyd E. Ancient history of dentistry. Ancient Pages. Published June 22, 2018. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.ancientpages.com/2018/06/22/ancient-history-of-dentistry/
4. Lynch CD, O'Sullivan VR, McGillycuddy CT. Pierre Fauchard: the 'father of modern dentistry'. Br Dent J. 2006;201(12):779-781. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4814350

5. Fabry M. Now you know: why do people always look so serious in old photos? Time. Published November 7, 2016. Accessed April 11,  Accessed April 11, 2025. https://time.com/4568032/smileserious-old-photos/

6. Trumble A. A Brief History of the Smile. Basic Books; 2003.
7. Ginosar S, Rakelly K, Sachs S, Yin B, Efros AA. A century of portraits: A visual historical record of american high school yearbooks. arXiv preprint. Published November 9, 2015. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.02575