Smile It Is Good For You

Smile It Is Good For You
By Dr Rachel Hall

"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."

It is so easy to get caught up in the pressures of life, we begin to feel down and negative and forget to smile and have fun. I don't know about you but for me it is obvious when I am out of sorts, because I feel like I have had sense of humour bypass.

Often when times are tough we are told to put on a brave face, turn that frown upside down and wear a smile. Rather than get annoyed, take heart and listen as it is actually very good advice, even if the smile you wear is a phoney one it can benefit your health and change your mood.

Recently studies have shown that the simple, natural act of smiling actually helps our health by lowering our heart rate and relieving our stress levels.

Research shows that smilers have lower heart rates than those who wear neutral expressions. There was a noticeable difference in heart rate when people used a real full smile, involving the eyes, face and mouth. However, even the participants who formed a smile only with their mouths had lower heart rates than those keeping a neutral face. Suggesting that any sort of grin-even a completely fake smile-can be beneficial.

When we are stressed we produce greater quantities of adrenaline and cortisol. This fight or flight response increases the heart rate and affects blood flow to the vital organs. Smiling appears to have a calming effect. In fact, smiling also appears to lower blood pressure in some cases.

Earlier research about smiling has produced mixed results, people who had to be polite while fake smiling ended up in a worse mood. But when the same people were told to smile based on happy thoughts, both their moods and their productivity levels increased.

Lets face it smiling makes us feel good.

When we smile, we release a chemical message in the brain that releases an endorphin. Endorphins travel down our spine sending feel good messages through the body. Endorphins reduce symptoms of physical and emotional pain producing a warm feeling of wellbeing.

Endorphins make us feel happy, and whenever we smile, we release them. So even if you are not happy when you begin to smile, you will be afterwards, and the more often that you smile then the happier you will feel!

It costs us nothing to smile, so why not smile as often as possible? Imagine wearing a big smile when being faced with negative or stressed people - the power of a smile might rattle them to such a degree that it diffuses the stressful event right in its tracks. Now wouldn't that be amazing.

Children laugh 300-400 times a day, adults around 15, perhaps it is time for us to reconnect to the inner-child, smile more and have a right old gut busting belly laugh.

However, and understandably so, you may not feel like wearing a big toothy grin if you are concerned about the appearance of your teeth. People with worn, damaged, missing or discoloured teeth often lack confidence and feel self conscious when it comes to smiling.If you are concerned about the appearance of your teeth or have worn, aged, stained, discoloured or missing teeth that detract from your smile there are many ways in which your dentist can help.

Dentists offer numerous cosmetic dental treatments. From simple recontouring or reshaping of teeth, bleaching and tooth whitening to replacing discoloured fillings with superbly aesthetic modern tooth coloured restorations. And for more extreme cases dentists can provide incredibly natural looking porcelain veneers, crowns and bridges or dentures.

It's worth remembering that smiling is not only good for your health it is also contagious. Let's start spreading smiles, feeling calmer, happier and healthier and let the world know that inside there is someone who cares.

We are willing to work with you to improve the look of your teeth and give you back your confidence to smile again.
If you would like to know more about cosmetic dental treatments or anything related to you teeth and gums then go to http://www.evolvedental.com.au or contact Dr Rachel Hall holistic dentist via the website for more information.

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