The Psychological Advantages of a Healthy Smile

Presenting an attractive, well-kept appearance is important to people. Humans are social creatures, and that drive has given rise to a multibillion-dollar health and beauty industry. What is beautiful is certainly a matter of perspective and varies from one person to the next, but there is one crucial characteristic that, according to statistics, we all seem to agree on: a beautiful smile.

Cosmetic dentistry is a booming business, but that is not simply a matter of vanity. There is growing public awareness about dental health and how it affects overall health. Cosmetic dental treatments often go hand in hand with preventative care and restorative procedures. There is also significant evidence that a beautiful smile can benefit you on a psychological level.

A Beautiful and Healthy Smile:

• Improves your confidence – A person with noticeable dental health issues will tend to hide them and be more introverted. People with gleaming white smiles tend to be more comfortable socializing. A great smile makes you more confident when you introduce yourself or are speaking. Teeth that embarrass you will have you focusing on them, which will make you reticent and your social efforts less effective. People who are self-conscious about their smiles smile less often, which makes them seem less friendly.
• De-ages your appearance – Want to look younger? A gleaming white smile is an effective long-term way to achieve it. Just smiling more often makes you look younger to the average person. But there is more to it than that. Upkeep of your smile helps to preserve the natural shape of your face. It can decrease the aesthetic effects of wrinkles and can make smiling exercises and other elasticity-preserving efforts more effective.
• Makes you more attractive – Numerous behavioral studies have demonstrated that we humans have a proclivity toward teeth that are white, straight, evenly spaced, and so forth. In addition, other research has found that people are deemed more attractive when they are smiling, so let that positive energy flow!
• Makes great first impressions – Other behavioral research has found that a smile is among the first characteristics you notice about a person. Not only does a great smile make you seem more attractive, confident, and sincere, it triggers the reward system in other people’s brains, which increases happiness and starts the bonding process.
• Enhances your mood – You also benefit from the positive energy you create. Studies have shown that smiles trigger brain signals that improve happiness and reduce stress levels. Even faking a smile has this effect and has been shown to reduce stress in people who have just undergone a period of intense multitasking.
• Bolsters your mental health – Fake it until you make it is a generally accepted truth, but that wisdom is much more fundamental than it may seem at first. There is scientific evidence that happiness really is a choice. A smile that makes you proud makes you smile more often, which leads to optimism and easier happiness.
• Helps progress your career – The statistics also show that a great smile can make you more successful at work, and that is likely due to a combination of the effects already mentioned. In a recent American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry survey, 74 percent of people agreed that an unattractive smile impedes a person’s career progress.
• Makes you more sexually appealing – The added attractiveness from a great smile extends to sexual attraction as well. Invisalign, a company best known for innovating the clear aligner system, conducted a study in which it found that women overwhelmingly indicated that a smile is the most important aspect of initial sexual attraction.

Benefit From Your Perfect Smile

A healthy, beautiful smile can benefit you in so many ways, physically and psychologically. You can plan a smile makeover that is uniquely suited to your appearance and oral health, and it all begins with a cleaning and checkup. Jeffrey D. Clark, DDS, is a foremost dentist in the Scottsdale area who provides all the preventative, restorative, and cosmetic dental care you may need. Schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Clark today by calling Scottsdale Cosmetic Dentistry Excellence at 480 585 1853.