How does smiling affect your dental health?

Smiling is such a simple gesture, but the act of smiling is actually more powerful than you may think. Smiling has an impact on your mood, self-esteem, and overall health which is why it is so important that you love your smile.

What are the benefits ?

When you’re having a bad day, the last thing you want to do is smile. However if you run into someone who smiles at you, it’s your automatic reaction to smile back, and even if you may not notice it, the simple gesture would have had a small positive impact on your day. After all, smiling is contagious. A small smile can change the entire tone of your day, you may not know but smiling has been proven scientifically to make you happy.

How does smiling affect your mood?

As well as showing somebody that you’re happy, smiling can also make you feel happy. When you smile, your facial muscles trigger neurotransmitters into your system that boost your mood. These include endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.  Endorphins are what make you relax and feel happy, they also act as a suppressant for discomfort or stress. Serotonin and dopamine are the natural antidepressant molecules of the brain, and it’s been proved that smiling makes you create more of these.

How does smiling affect stress?

Stress unfortunately is a daily occurrence for most people. But what many people don’t know is that smiling can help relieve a person’s stress due to the release of serotonin. Smiling increases your serotonin levels, decreases your anxiety, and can lower your heart rate. Try smiling or finding something that will make you laugh the next time you feel stressed, it’s sometimes the smallest things that have the biggest impact.

How does smiling affect your immune system?

Smiling is able to leave us feeling less depressed and more positive even if the gesture isn’t sincere. This has been proven through scientific studies and other tests have found that smiling makes your body more resilient to the flu and the common cold. The participants in these studies report that they feel more positive and happier and this seems to have a relationship as it was discovered they were at lower risk of becoming sick. Another research study even suggests that smiling can help you live longer.

Is smiling really contagious?

Smiling at someone feels contagious, you can’t always help but smile sometimes. It’s your natural reaction to smile back at someone when someone smiles at you and this reaction is called facial mimicry. When you see someone smile, our brain registers the expression, and it’s your natural instinct to smile back. The simple act of a smile can boost your mood and help others’ moods as well which is why it’s important to love your smile.

How does smiling affect your self esteem?

Smiling has a massive effect on someone’s self esteem and confidence. It can also change how you look to people too.  A smile makes you look approachable, relaxed, and friendly. It can also make you look younger too and here at Abacus Dental Care, we want you to love your smile so that you can reap the benefits. Smiling makes you seem more open to others, people want to spend time with happy people, having a better social life will increase your confidence and boost your self-confidence.

How does smiling affect your overall health?

At Abacus Dental Care, we understand that having good oral health can improve your general health and that’s why it’s essential that our patients have regular 6 monthly check ups and hygiene appointments to help maintain your overall health, book your appointment online or call us to speak to a member of our team so that you can have the smile you always dreamed of.