At Bedford Dental Group, we really like to drive home the fact that having a great smile can open doors for our patients. We speak much on the fact that great oral health is linked to great overall health as medical studies have continued to support over the years. But today we’d like to take the opportunity to highlight the fact that having a great smile also comes with added psychological benefits.
Beyond health and aesthetic benefits that a great smile can grant a person, there are also several pronounced ways that a great smile can affect your brain and increase your overall happiness on a daily basis. We all know that popular saying about a smile being contagious. This saying is familiar to most because it’s actually true. A great smile can make a person more attractive. It makes for a brighter disposition and lifts the spirits of others in the process. It takes more energy to frown than it does to smile. Not only that, but smiling will put you in a better overall mood.
Smiling inherently sends messages to the brain that you are happy. This happens through our neuropeptides, which are microscopic molecules that allow our neurons to communicate. Messages are then transmitted throughout the entire body when we’re happy, sad, angry, or feeling any of the spectrum of human emotions. In addition, these neuropeptides help fight off stress. When we smile, neurotransmitters are basically sending love letters throughout our bodies.
Good neurotransmitters like dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin are all released when a smile flashes across your face as well. Your body becomes more relaxed as a result, and you might even experience lower heart rate and blood pressure. Endorphins are also an effective and 100% all-natural pain reliever. No pain reliever on the market is more organic than our own endorphins, which also have the added benefit of having none of the negative side effects that synthetic formulations can often come attached with.
The serotonin released by your own smile has antidepressant qualities as well. Think of your smile as an organic mood lifter. A lot of pharmaceutical grade antidepressants will manipulate the levels of serotonin in the brain, basically attempting to recreate the benefits that a wonderful smile already brings you. Relying on your smile to do some heavy psychological lifting makes it so you won’t have to worry about the negative side effects that come along with prescription medication, which can be highly addictive.
Your brain is 100% aware of when you smile. If you think nobody else is watching, just know that your brain is always paying attention. Your brain keeps its own complex log of smile occurrences. The more a person smiles, the happier they will become. Like any other skill, smiling can be learned. Every time you smile, you are conditioning your brain, saturating it with positivity and happy feelings. It’s a great and healthy way to break the cycle of negative thinking and anxiety loops, improving your overall outlook on a daily basis. This will, in turn, increase your productivity, energy, focus, and make you a positive force in this world.
To learn more about what Bedford Dental Group can do to help you achieve the smile you’ve always dreamed of, call today. We’ll schedule your initial consultation and decide what the best course of treatment is for you. Together, we’re about to make you a whole lot more comfortable wearing a dazzling smile.
