Dates Are Judging Your Teeth More Than Any Other Facial Feature

Your eyes are supposed to be the thing that draws people in. Poets said so. Every romantic comedy ever made said so. A survey of 1,500 people just said otherwise.

The June 2026 survey by Zental Dental, conducted across the US and UK, found that teeth are the facial feature people fixate on most when sizing someone up for attraction—edging out eyes by a single percentage point. One in five respondents named teeth as the feature with the biggest effect on whether they find someone attractive. Women rated them even higher than men did, at 24% versus 20 percent. Eyes came in second overall, though men put them first at 24%, apparently still loyal to the poets.

This finding has been building for a while. A Kelton Research study found that nearly a third of Americans say teeth are the first thing they notice about someone’s face—and 24% say it’s what they remember most after meeting that person. People with straight teeth are perceived as 57% more likely to get a date based on a photo alone. Nearly two in five Americans said they’d consider skipping a second date with someone who has “bad” teeth. That’s a higher rejection rate than for someone who still lives with their parents, which is a wild data point to sit with.

Biology Has a Reason Dates Pay Such Close Attention to Your Teeth

Biology, as usual, has a less poetic explanation. Research from the University of Leeds found that people consistently chose images of individuals with whiter, straighter, evenly spaced teeth over pictures of those same people with yellower or crooked ones. Healthy teeth signal genetic quality and immune function. Humans have been making that assessment in potential partners since before language existed, let alone whitening trays. What feels like electricity across a dinner table is, underneath it, a very old program running exactly as designed.

The Zental survey’s open-text responses filled in the details. Straightness, whiteness, and alignment came up over and over, especially from women. Biting during kissing was flagged as a significant red flag by a notable number of respondents. The specificity of that grievance suggests a firsthand account. Several firsthand accounts, actually.

Skin came in third at 14 percent. The open-text responses left nothing to interpretation — clear skin was a draw, breakouts were a dealbreaker. Jawline followed at 8%, with men valuing it nearly twice as much as women—11% versus 5%—a gap that research on masculine facial features and perceived dominance has been documenting for years.

Arif Al-Suwaidi, CEO and co-founder of Zental Dental, offered a reality check on all the surface-level data. “More people commented about kind eyes, friendly and bright smiles, and the emotions being genuine,” he told VICE. “While cosmetics, dental procedures, and skincare can increase your chances, at the end of the day, people are looking for sincere connection.”

The teeth still have to look decent, though.