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The Health Benefits of a Smile by Dr. John F. Miller
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.
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!
Facial expression scientists have studied cultures and tribes from Hollywood to Papua New
In addition to improving our insides, it comes as no surprise that smiling will make you more
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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.
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