Five Benefits of Flashing Your Pearly Whites

Have you ever noticed how when someone tells you to smile you just can’t help but feel happier, even if the smile was forced? There is a reason for this! In addition to making you look fabulous, smiling brings many benefits to your physical and mental health. It might seem like such an insignificant thing, but it’s one of the easiest ways to improve your mood, enhance your relationships, and even help to advance your professional life!

How Can Smiling Benefit You?

Maybe you’ve just had cosmetic dentistry done and you’re feeling extra confident about your teeth, or perhaps you have been told you don’t smile enough. Here are five main benefits that smiling can bring that will give you all the motivation you need to keep it up:

Projection of Confidence

You might have noticed that you gravitate towards people who are confident and self-assured. It’s only natural, and a winning smile is one of the physical characteristics about someone that projects self-confidence. Not ironically, confident people also often find themselves in leadership roles. Go ahead and flash that smile with all you’ve got and show your professional peers that you’re built for success.

Increased Serotonin Levels

Scientific studies have shown that when a person smiles, even if it is forced, the physical act of doing so releases the chemical in your brain called serotonin, which is responsible for making you feel happy. Having a rough week and needing a pick me up? The healthiest and most affordable way to get an instant mood booster is to smile!

Reduced Stress

Now that you know smiling makes you feel happier, it shouldn’t be surprising that research has proven that smiling throughout a stressful task helps put less negative pressure on the body. The next time you have a last-minute project thrown at you or get stuck in a traffic jam, try smiling throughout the experience and see if you don’t feel much better in the end.

Younger Appearance

In a study conducted with university students by scientists, photographs of people who were smiling were thought to be younger than those who were not. Oddly enough, some of the smiling people were older! That’s proof right there that smiling is a natural way to turn back the clock on your physical appearance.

Improved Health

The Loma Linda University School of Medicine’s Department of Clinical Immunology discovered that laughter and smiling actually increase the number of white blood cells in the human body. These are the soldiers responsible for fighting off illnesses. In a nutshell, an apple and a smile a day should help to keep the doctor away!

From psychological health to physical well-being, to an improved quality of life, you really can’t undercut the importance and necessity of smiling. If you find yourself hiding your teeth because you don’t feel confident in them, make sure to talk to your dentist about cosmetic dentistry so that you can have the smile of your dreams.

About the Author

For nearly two decades, Dr. Travis A. Markle has been helping his patients obtain the smiles they’ve always wanted to have. He believes that your smile is one of the most important parts of your makeup and that it can make a huge impact on your overall quality of life. He is committed to providing the highest level of care, which is why he continually seeks to advance his education even after so many years of practicing in dentistry. Are you ready to schedule your next dental checkup? You can do so online or call (903) 597-7902.