Smile – It’s Good for You!

One of the benefits of great oral health is that you’ll smile more. Smiling can accomplish more than you might realize.

Did you know that smiling is beneficial to your overall health? Smiling makes the body produce T-cells (white blood cells) and antibodies in  larger quantities. This means your immune system’s efficiency increases. Think of smiling like taking a daily vitamin! High blood pressure, a common problem, can also be reduced by cracking a smile more often. Research has suggested that those who beam more often have a longer life expectancy of nearly a decade! If you go a step above the smile and laugh, you can burn calories, tighten your abs, and condition your heart.

You may not feel like smiling when you’re feeling blue, but it can turn your mood around by releasing endorphins, which are the hormones that make you feel happy. Smiling also reduce stress by releasing serotonin. If you’re having a bad day, try making yourself smile. Watch a clip of your favorite show, call someone you love or ask a young child to tell you a story to help your pearly whites show themselves. And, smiling can be contagious, so you’re really doing everyone around you a favor.

Infants are born with the natural phenomenon of being able to smile. They may not smile in a reaction to outside stimulus until they’re between four and six weeks of age, but they can smile as soon as two hours after being born. We humans are hardwired to smile as a way of showing pleasure and love. Babies will smile in their sleep from the second they’re born.

Smiling can also make you seem more successful and can increase your success. When you smile consistently, studies have shown that people will assume you are doing well. Research indicates that people who smile appear to be extra confident, capable, and they may be more likely to receive a promotion. When you smile, you will appear more approachable and self-assured as well, which is a great help in the workplace. This is why those in customer service are directed to smile. Interestingly, those who do smile, often show better results in their sales.

In some studies, subjects were more likely to select a person who was smiling as being attractive over a person who did not smile. In one study, most people surveyed said that women look younger and more beautiful when they are smiling. A confident smile will attract people to you.

Many people say they are less likely to smile when they don’t feel confident in their oral health. Remember to keep good care of your teeth and visit the dentist often—it does more than just help your teeth. It helps you to smile more, and with all these benefits, why would you not want to?