The Health Benefits of a Smile
All humans are born with innate abilities and skills. Meaning we are born with these instinctual behaviors that are not learned, they are coded in our DNA. One of those innate behaviors is to smile. In fact, with the advances in 3D ultrasound technology we can see that developing babies smile while still in the womb. After birth babies continue to smile, especially in their sleep, and even blind babies will smile to the sound of a familiar voice. Smiling is one of the most basic, biologically uniform expressions across all humanity.
Facial expression scientists have studied cultures and tribes from Hollywood to Papua New Guinea, and the conclusion is always the same. People use smiling as an expression of joy and satisfaction. They have also discovered that children smile over 400 times a day while adults tend to smile far less. Also, smiles are evolutionarily contagious, meaning being around someone who smiles a lot makes us smile. In other words, Smiles are radical!
But I'm not done, researchers have gone on to discover that a genuine smile will generate brain stimulation equal to 2,000 chocolate bars. The same study also found that a genuine smile is as stimulating as receiving $25K. Smiling doesn't just stimulate your brain; it also makes your entire self healthier. Smiling will reduce harmful stress-induced hormones such as cortisol, increase the amount of mood boosting endorphins, and reduce blood pressure.
In addition to improving our insides, it comes as no surprise that smiling will make you more attractive to others. People who smile appear younger, more likeable, courteous and competent. Who wouldn't want that?
On March 15th I received a text message from one of my Dental Hygienists with a link to a New York Times article titled: The Workers Who Face the Greatest Coronavirus Risk. I opened the link and didn't even have to read the body of the article because a large infographic told me all I needed to know, Dental Hygienists and Dentists are the two most at risk occupations respectively. This didn't come as a surprise but was a little unnerving as someone was reporting what we all suspected. We were at risk, and we knew very little about this novel illness.
The next few days saw dental offices all over the country shutting their doors with some closing fully while some only handled dental emergencies. Everything happened so fast with different agencies coming at us from every direction with what actions need to be taken, and dentists at odds with each other on what constitutes a dental emergency. No one gave us any hard set of rules, only "recommendations." It was as if no one wanted to be holding the bag when the smoke cleared.
At Smile Montana, we went from 32 full time staff to 3 on March 20th. Initially we were all told that this was a 2-week shutdown, but I think we all knew that was very optimistic. We started returning to full operation around the 1st of May. Here we are over 7 months later, and the Flathead Valley is seeing its most cases yet. And during that seven month span we've seen political and social unrest across the country leading up to where we are at now, on the eve of the most divisive and contentious presidential election most of us have ever been a part of.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is we're all worn a little thin and approaching the end of our ropes. Forgive me if I'm misspeaking on your behalf but I'm making a sweeping generalization. As we learned earlier, Smiling offers us so many psychological and biological benefits. And since smiling is contagious, the more we smile the more others around us will smile too...making us all happier, sexier, and healthier.
Read The Health Benefits of a Smile by Dr. John F. Miller, DDS in 406 Woman magazine.