October is National Dental Hygiene Month! Be the Reason Someone Smiles!
Oral Health is not just about brushing, flossing and visiting your dentist!
Your Smile is a key component to your overall health.
Smiling is one of the simplest yet most powerful things you can do to brighten your day and the days of those around you.
Oral health isn’t just connected to your body’s physical health; it’s also connected to your mental health as well.
This is the time of the year where we raise awareness on the importance of good oral health.
We encourage our patients to focus on daily routines to maintain a healthy smile: Breathe through your nose, eat a healthy balanced diet, control the pH of your mouth, Brush Twice a Day, Floss Daily, and Chew Sugar-Free Gum or candy with the first active ingredient of xylitol if you can’t brush.
Habits become a part of your life. Bad habits can be changed.
Everything that we do in life is as a result of what we have been taught, what we have experienced and what we expect from life.
You have a choice in the kind of life you will experience with the power of your thoughts and actions.
It is hard to imagine that you are truly in control with what you think, especially when times are tough.
If you know what you think happens, good or bad. What kinds of thoughts would you have? Would you change what you are thinking?
Try it…try thinking only about the good things you want for a week to see if anything changes in your life.
Changes in habits take a little while to become automatic, but all of your bad habits have now become automatic. Good habits can also become the norm, so that your attitude toward life changes, as well as your attitude toward others.
By taking action now, you can improve your life and find that the path that lies ahead is one that will be a happier place than the place you find yourself in right now. Bad thoughts are easier to believe and sometimes it is hard to have happy thoughts.
Change your Thoughts, change your habits, change your life!
Besides your thoughts, your smile has healthing power!
The Magic of Smiling
Happy and healthy: Research has linked happiness to both physical and mental well-being. Smiling plays a role in your health. When you smile, it releases endorphins which in turn, affects your mental and physical state, lowering your blood pressure and heart rate as well as boosting your immune system.
When we smile, we extend warmth and connection to others. Smiling is a universally welcoming language understood across the world. Dale Carnegie, a famous creator of courses on how to develop interpersonal skills, tells his students, “The expression one wears on one’s face is far more important than the clothes one wears on one’s back.”
Smiling is a simple but powerful way to improve our lives and the lives of others. This unassuming superpower has been shown to be effective in reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and triggering positive emotions. A smile is the goodwill ambassador of our body language.
Smiling releases dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical in the brain that makes us feel happier. So don’t be stingy with smiles. It costs nothing to share one. But there are many benefits when you do.
The Science Behind That Smile
Smiling is an evolutionary reflex programmed in our genes. Science tells us that it takes 37 muscles to frown but only 22 to smile.
Smiling has therapeutic effects. It has been associated with reducing stress hormones levels like cortisol and adrenaline. The act of smiling triggers pleasure sensors in the brain, which causes a release of endorphins (feel-good chemicals). So, if you think about it, smiling creates a self-perpetuating cycle of joy. Smiling releases those feel-good chemicals that make us feel even happier, which can result in smiling more!
There are countless reasons that motivate each of us to smile. It’s been observed that children smile more than 400 times per day. This can drop to less than 20 smiles per day by the time we reach adulthood.
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” – Mother Teresa
Smile More, Be Happier and Live Longer
Both men and women benefit from smiling. A UC Berkeley 30 year longitudinal study examined the yearbook smiles of women students and measured their well-being and success throughout their lives. They found that women who had smiled the most in their college yearbook photos had happier lives and marriages and fewer personal setbacks in the following 30 years.
In another study conducted at Wayne University, researchers found that Baseball players that had the biggest smiles in their photo on the baseball cards lived, on average, seven years longer than those who smiled the least.
Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins and serotonin that act as natural painkillers. Together, these brain chemicals when you genuinely smile, they help to lower stress, heart rate, and blood pressure, while also lifting your mood and your body feels better from head to toe. Not only do they elevate your mood, but they also relax your body and reduce physical pain. Smiling is a natural drug,
It’s science! Your smile is your superpower.
When used properly, your superpower will also make a big difference when it comes to closing a sale, mediating a disagreement, or asking for a favor.
“I find that smiles are bringing me dollars, many dollars every day,” wrote Dale Carnegie in How To Win Friends and Influence People. Through the use of his smile, Mr. Carnegie was able to smooth any rough waters he encountered, allowing him to foster stronger relationships and focus on productivity, rather than a sour mood. In fact, smiling was so important to him that Dale Carnegie listed it as his 5th Human Relations Principle.
The True Smile vs. Fake Smile
When we smile, we engage facial muscles. One is called the zygomaticus major. Which is the muscle connected from the mouth to the cheekbone. When this muscle is activated, the corners of the mouth are pulled up. If only this muscle is activated it results in what scientists refer to as a “polite smile” (aka, fake smile). The second muscle is called the orbicularis oculi. It encircles the eye socket and when activated along with the other muscle, is responsible for a sincere or a “true smile.”
A smile is a welcoming, infectious expression of happiness and the willingness to share it makes us more attractive in the eyes of others. A study conducted at Penn State University showed that a smiling employee increased customer satisfaction and increased repeat business. Smiling employees were perceived as likable, courteous and competent.
Smiling is a simple act that has the power to foster connection. Whether it is a delighted smile, a teary smile, a shy smile, a smile accompanied by a giggle or loud laughter, all smiles invite us to participate more deeply with one another.
Smiles are free! They have the power to increase both the well-being of the one who offers the smile as well as the one who receives it. Smiles are easy to give, and an efficient and proactive way to improve your day and the day of those around you. They are an excellent means for spreading the contagion of positive vibes.
Spreading cheer: “Smiling’s my favorite.” Will Ferrell said in the movie Elf.
Smiling is contagious, just like laughing. You’ve probably exchanged smiles with strangers without even knowing. It’s just the natural thing to do – a smile for a smile. The simple gesture of a smile can go a long way. Someone could be having a bad day and by sharing a smile, you brighten the day. If you smile at someone they have to make a conscious effort to not smile back.
Smiling the stress away: If you’re always smiling it does not mean you won’t ever be stressed because well, stress is a part of life no matter how good things are. Stress can be a great thing when it encourages us to be productive and reach our goals. If you learn not to sweat the small stuff and choose to see the glass half full, then you will find it easier to let stress roll off your back, which means more smiles for you and your loved ones!
Smiling is very important for our well being, people who smile live longer, are less stressed and more successful in life
Smiling is nature’s miracle medicine.
Smiles are a universal greeting. They make you look more approachable, trustworthy, and pleasant.
Whether your smile shows off every single one of your teeth, is accompanied by a boisterous laugh, or is shy and reserved, its existence is doing good for your mind and body.
What have you noticed about the power of a smile?
When was the last time you made someone smile?
Making someone smile not only makes the other person feel good, but it also makes you feel good too!
Think about how great it would feel if you were the reason someone – a different person each day – smiled every single day. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Imagine if everyone strived to make at least one other person smile every day.
Just think about how happy the world would be!
By making an effort to put a smile on somebody else’s face, you may find that you’re able to make your own day a little bit better. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
So the next time you’re having a bad day, struggling with a specific task, or looking to lift someone else spirits, use your super power! SMILE!!!
Be The Reason Someone Smiles Today!
Resources
https://dalecarnegiewaynj.com/2019/08/06/your-smile-is-your-superpower/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597804000743
