“What’s Behind Her Smile? Health, Looks, and Self-Esteem”, Francisco A. Gallego, Cristian Larroulet Philippi, Andrea Repetto2024-04 (economics, sociology)⁠:

This paper examines how improving dental health affects economic, social, and psychological outcomes. In a randomized experiment, we provide a low-income group free dental care, including prostheses, and find:

statistically-significant and persistent impacts on men’s and women’s dental and self-perceived mental health.

For women, treatment generates improvement in self-esteem, a higher likelihood of smiling when photographed, short-run improvements in employment and earnings, and improvement in partner interactions. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that treatment effects on labor market outcomes are larger for women with more severe visible dental issues at baseline.

We find no impact for men in these dimensions.

See Also:

• The Economic Value of Teeth

• The Effects of Fluoride in Drinking Water

• Career Effects of Mental Health

• Cues to mental health from men’s facial appearance

• Beauty in Mind: The Effects of Physical Attractiveness on Psychological Well-Being and Distress

• Exploring the impact of male and female facial attractiveness on occupational prestige

• Is beauty-based inequality gendered? A systematic review of gender differences in socioeconomic outcomes of physical attractiveness in labor markets

• Wealth, Health, and Child Development: Evidence from Administrative Data on Swedish Lottery Players

• Long-Run Effects of Lottery Wealth on Psychological Well-Being