How Smiling Affects Health

Seeing your dentist is about more than preventing cavities and ensuring you get a professional cleaning every six months. While these concerns are central to your visit, they’re also part of ensuring that you’re proud to share your smile and that you share it often. Smiling has some astounding effects on the overall health of the body, and can enhance the mental health of both the one doing the smiling and those who observe them smile. While this may sound far-fetched, there’s solid science that describes what smiling does to your brain, and how other people react to a bright unfettered smile.

The Effects Of Smiling On The Brain

Smiling has an immediate effect that results in your brain releasing a flood of serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins throughout your body. This trifecta of chemicals are what make you feel good and happy, and can actually serve as a sort of low-grade pain killer as well. In addition these substances can reduce blood pressure and your heart rate. Serotonin is the substance that helps to elevate your mood, which is why most anti-depressants manipulate its level within your body. A smile can do the same thing without the pharmaceuticals!

The Effects Of Smiling On Your Body

Smiling makes other people react to you as if you were more attractive, and this is due in part to the fact that observing a smile releases the same chemicals as smiling yourself! The reason for this is that seeing someone smile triggers the part of your brain that recognizes rewards. Research has revealed that men and women who see someone smiling tend to rate that person as more attractive, especially if their eyes met.

The Effect Of Smiling On Those Around You

Smiling is literally contagious, those around you will find themselves prone to smiling for no other reason than that you yourself are smiling. In fact, research has revealed that it’s actually difficult for people to frown when they’re looking at someone else smiling, and that the tendency of an individual observing someone smiling is to smile themselves. So not only will smiling make you feel better and healthier, it will actually do the same for those around you, causing them to smile and the whole process self-perpetuating!

If you’re looking for more information about your smile and how it can help you and those around you, then pick up the phone and call your dentist. Smiling is a very important part of your social interactions, so you want to make sure you have the best smile possible. This is where picking up the phone and contacting Dr. Deborah Tabb at Bethesda Family Dentistry is a great step. Their team of experts in Bethesda RI has been helping patients like you take steps to improve their dental health through education and excellent oral hygiene practices. Smiling is a great way to not only improve your own well-being, but can be an important part of enhancing your social experience, so make the call to get an appointment today!