The Power of a Great Smile – Our Manchester Dentist Explains

01 April 2019

The Power of a Great Smile – Our Manchester Dentist Explains

While many people seek out a smile dentist in Manchester or undergo dental implants in Manchester to improve the functionality and aesthetics of their teeth, the fact remains that a bi-product of that is an improved smile. Yet surprisingly, something as simple as a great smile can have a bigger impact on you and on others than you might think.

Here’s a question…Do you remember the last time you walked into a shop, a bar or even a doctors surgery and was greeted by a person wearing a big smile – How did it make you feel? Uplifted, kind of warm and fuzzy perhaps? Or just a general feeling of ‘everything’s alright with the world’?

This isn’t just a coincidence, in actual fact, when someone does something as simple as  smile, Manchester dentists suggest that it triggers endorphins (those feel good chemicals released by our brain) that can actually give you an instant, feel good boost.

If you don’t believe it, try standing in front of the mirror and crack out a big beaming grin. Pretty much immediately, if your smile is genuine, you’ll feel more relaxed, happier and generally more cheerful. Of course, we’d recommend that you try this at home and not when at work, otherwise you’ll get some pretty strange looks off your colleagues 

However you dress it up, smiling is a pretty powerful thing. It’s no wonder then that Mona Lisa’s beguiling smile has been attracting admirers since it was first painted way back in 1503. But despite a smile being great for uplifting your spirits and those around you, just what else can a great looking smile do for you? Let’s take a look…

Smiling may help you to look younger

According to some, it takes around 26 muscles to smile and 62 to frown – although these figures vary. The cold hard truth is that any regular movement of the face will precipitate some form of ageing. What’s more, it just isn’t possible to keep a straight, expressionless face forever. For that reason you may as well prolong it by smiling more and using less muscles.

Even if that isn’t entirely true, you could always argue that if you are going to get wrinkles anyway, then laughter lines around the eyes and cheeks always look better than those deep brow lines you get from frowning. If that isn’t a reason to smile more, we don’t know what is 

Smiling makes you look more attractive

It’s true! Ask anyone who has ever been on a popular dating app. A great smile is often the first indicator of whether you’re going to ‘swipe right’ or ‘swipe left’, To back this up, in a case study carried out by dating App Coffee Meets Bagel it suggested that only 17% of all the most-liked women on the site weren’t smiling in their photo. So whether you’re a ‘tilt your head and smile’ kind of person, a ‘show your teeth’ kind of person, or a ‘smile with your mouth closed’ kind of person, smiling it seems, does appear to make you more attractive.

Smiling can enhance your career prospects

It may seem crazy to think that something as simple as a smile can affect something as big as a career. However, we’ve all noticed how laughter from a child can make your day, or a smile across a packed room can be the start of something pretty special. Well, in many instances, this phenomenon can extend to business. But can a great smile really be your ticket to success? There are some findings to suggest that’s the case, so yes.

Studies show how having a winning smile can help to land you that dream job, close an important sale, or even motivate others to perform better.

In fact way back in 1920, Edward Thorndike a researcher came up with the phrase ‘the halo effect’ to describe the idea of when a person attributes one positive quality to you, there’s a strong chance that many more will follow, even though they mightn’t always be true.

The Halo effect and it’s outcomes have been closely researched over the years with physical attributes being the main avenue of focus. And, guess which attribute has been singled out as being important when making these judgements? Yep, you’ve guessed it, a great smile of course.

Let’s face it, there’s no mistaking a deep, broad, ear-to-ear smile. A sincere smile not only makes you appear more trustworthy, but it gives others the impression that you’re confident – a safe pair of hands. What’s more, straight teeth also play their part. A Kelton global study found that those with straighter teeth are more likely to have positive attributes bestowed upon them such as happiness, good health and intelligence, all of which are great traits employers look for. So, while it’s true that a smile can make you feel a million dollars, a visit to your local smile dentist in Manchester for speedy orthodontic treatment, might just make you a million dollars when you land your dream job – You can always dream right?

Smiling has a positive impact on your health

Believe it or not, there’s even evidence to support that fact that smiling can strengthen our immune system. While laughter may not be the best medicine – in the physical sense at least – research shows that cracking a smile does have certain medical benefits.

In a recent study for example, 350 volunteers were exposed to a cold virus. However two weeks before exposure, the participant’s positive emotions were monitored closely. It was found that those with the less frequent positive emotions were 3 times more likely to develop a full blown cold.

So why is this?

It’s thought that smiling not only lifts the mood, but also increases the white blood cell count. Having sufficient white blood cells is important for protection and fight against illness.

These findings mirrored another study – this time on hospitalised children. Some were treated to stories and puppets during their recovery while a control group weren’t. The conclusion to the study was that after being exposed to multiple visits from story-tellers, handicraft artists and puppeteers, the immune systems of the children spiked. Whereas, the immune systems in the control group, remained pretty much the same.

When you consider the average male only smiles 11 times a day, if we want to remain healthy, the answer might not be a daily workout or jog round the park. Instead we simply need to smile more. If only it were that easy 

A great smile boosts confidence

As we get older our smile diminishes. This may be because of missing teeth, yellowing teeth or ill-fitting dentures. As a result, people often choose to hide their smile by withdrawing or refraining from social events, meeting new people, or even being in an environment where other people are present. As a result, confidence levels can drop along with aspects of self-esteem.

The good news is that advances in cosmetic dentistry means that treatments like porcelain veneers, implant-based restorations and full smile makeovers have the ability to recreate a great smile, so much so in fact that in most cases other’s won’t even know that you’ve had any dental work done.

Take dental implants in Manchester, for example. Modern day implants are quick, easy, and recovery time can be short with some people returning to work within a few days. Here at Church Road Dental and Cosmetics for instance, we also fit all-on-4 implants to those patients missing multiple teeth. The feedback we get is that the vast majority of treated patients say that they have a new lease of life. They can eat what they want and live the life they used to live.

In addition, as a smile dentist, Manchester patients often ask us about what else we can do to enhance their smile? We have a number of ways including;

• State-of-the-art orthodontic treatments to straighten teeth

• Porcelain veneers to disguise badly stained, chipped, cracked or gappy teeth

• Teeth whitening to put the dazzle back into a smile and,

• Non-surgical facial rejuvenation including Botox and dermal fillers

In fact, we can even carry out a full smile makeover, where we use two or more coordinated treatments to give you the smile you really want.

Usually after this type of treatment people feel rejuvenated and they generally want to smile more – Wouldn’t you want to show off your perfect smile? When they do, much of their confidence and self-esteem which was once lost, is now restored. That’s before we even mention the more youthful appearance!

So there you have it, the power of a great smile knows no bounds. No one should be denied the right to a great looking or beautiful smile. Manchester residents who, for whatever reason, don’t have the smile they really want should know that we’re here to help.

If you want the restored confidence to be able to smile more, then contact us for a consultation. Call today on 0161 486 0743 and let us show you just what we can do to help you unleash the full power of your smile.