The Power of Smiling More

It’s always great to see a smile from other people. It makes you feel welcome and perhaps feeling more like smiling yourself. Turns out, there is now scientific evidence to show that smiling is not only pleasant to see, but also good for you on several levels. Ron Gutman gave a recent talk at a TED conference on the effects of a smile, both on the giver and receiver. Smiling more is great for you and there’s now proof. Watch the TED Talk Below.

A natural reflection

• Babies are born smiling, and there seems to be evidence of babies smiling in the womb before they are born.
• Smiling is a reflection of a feeling of well being or joy or even happiness.
• Children smile 400 times a day, but adults do so only about 30 times a day.

Predicting success

A long term study was done that predicted future success based on smiling. Scientists studied yearbook photos, as well as pictures on baseball cards. Based on the smiles researchers were able to predict future success. One of the smiling faces in that study was high school student Barak Obama.

People who smile more are a predictor of things like:

• How long, or how successful, marriages will be
• How students will do on standardized tests
• How successful they will be in the future in general.
• Even length of life. Players smiling in pictures on baseball cards lived longer than those who did not have a smile. A smaller smile ended up somewhere in between.

There were some other interesting findings about smiling from various studies.

• It is hard to frown while looking at someone who is smiling.
• Smiling is contagious
• It is hard to tell if a smile is real or fake if you cannot smile yourself
• Smiles make you feel better, reinforcing the good feeling that made you smile to start with.
• Since you feel better, you will think more clearly too.
• Reduces stress and blood pressure.
• You are perceived as more likable and confident by others.

The results are overwhelming that smiling is a good thing. It is good for you and it has a good effect on those around you. It has the same benefits as eating chocolate, scientists say. Smiling has the edge because it has no calories or sugar content.  It increases the level of the feel good chemical dopamine, as well as other chemicals that increase one’s sense of well being. Smiling also reduces stress and can reduce blood pressure.

There are a lot of benefits to this special facial expression, but sometimes you may not feel like it. There are a lot of good reasons to smile though if you think about it. If you are alive, that is better than being dead, so there is just one reason to smile.Signing up for a Dentalsave plan can also be a reason to smile because you save a lot of money that way, knowing the price before you go to the dentist.

Smiling is natural with Dentalsave. Simply show your card and smile in savings bliss.