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Boosting Body & Mind: How Smiling Can Benefit Your Health

February 8, 2024

Filed under: Uncategorized — drortiz @ 9:40 am
A smiling young woman sitting in a dentist’s chair

If you just got cosmetic dentistry, you’re likely happy with the results. That’s only natural – your treatment has made your grin gorgeous! However, transformed teeth aren’t the only upside to this dental work. Showing off your revamped smile has various health benefits. The habit will thus improve your quality of life. If you’d like, your Las Cruces dentist is happy to give the details. Read on to learn five ways smiling can benefit your health.

It Relieves Your Pain

In reality, grinning does more than help you bear pain. It actively relieves your aches and discomfort.

You see, smiling triggers your body’s natural painkillers. These chemicals include endorphins, serotonin, and many others. As they build up, they’ll make your body feel good all over. Your prior pain and soreness will then be reduced.

It Lowers Your Stress Levels

When you’re nervous, your best bet may be to smile. Research suggests that doing so lowers your stress levels.

This idea comes from a study done by the University of Kansas. In it, researchers found that smiling could reduce the stress of doing complex tasks. Study participants who smiled during their work tended to have lower heart rates. To that extent, they recovered from their tasks the most quickly.

It Lengthens Your Life

Smiling doesn’t just relieve your body’s burdens. If you keep it up, the habit can also lengthen your life.

Indeed, current research finds that grinning extends your lifespan. The added by it isn’t a small number, either. Smiling may let you live several years longer than you would otherwise. In this way, a positive mindset could be key to a healthy lifestyle.

It Helps Your Immune System

Smiling won’t prevent all sicknesses. Still, it’s been found to help your immune system fight against disease.

Apparently, this improved immunity may stem from your mood. Frequent smiling releases brain chemicals that lower your physical stress. In doing so, it may ease the strain on your immune system. The result is better protection from illnesses.

It Makes You Happy

If you want to feel happy, you needn’t wait for something fun to happen. It seems that smiling itself can elevate your mood.

This reality is likely due to how smiling affects the brain. By grinning, you activate neural pathways that affect your emotions. These pathways then “trick” your mind into feeling happy. In the end, you’re left in a good mood and better able to enjoy yourself.

While cosmetic dentistry can seem vain, remember that smiling benefits your health. Treatment will benefit you both socially and physically.

About the Practice

Pained Skies Dental Center is based in Las Cruces, NM. Led by Drs. Natalie and Ramon Ortiz, our practice strives to give each patient the ideal smile. That means we offer preventive, cosmetic, and restorative services, as well as emergency dental care. These treatments will help you grin ear-to-ear with confidence in your looks! For more details or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (575)-521-8720.