Importance of a Healthy Smile
What difference does it make if you smile?
According to dozens of research studies, your smile makes a huge difference. It can affect your mood, health, and everyone around you in a positive way. Whether you smile at work or during times of stress, it’s proven that your smile has substantial benefits – benefits that are available to you at any time. Discover more about the hidden power of your smile, and why keeping it healthy is well worth the investment.
Want to Improve Productivity? Show Off Your Smile!
Do you smile a lot at work? In a study that entrepreneurs and employees will find interesting, it’s been found that smiling at work provides benefits that make you more productive. Highlighting a fact that many have suspected over the years – that emotion has a key effect on performance – smiling is shown to encourage happiness and help you endure the rigors of your job, whether it happens to be in an office, job site, or other location.
The researchers explained the impact of their findings that proved a link between happiness and increases in productivity:
“If happiness in the workplace brings increased returns to productivity, then human resource departments, business managers and the architects of promotion policies will want to consider the implications.”
Boost Your Pain Tolerance By Smiling and Laughing
How do you handle painful situations? In a compelling study that involved participants putting their arm in a cold wine cooler sleeve, in addition to other creative pain-causing methods, researchers concluded that those who smiled were able to endure the pain longer. The reason for this boils down to one word: Endorphins.
When we smile, endorphins are released, and they have massive stress-decreasing properties. These endorphins are also excellent for blocking out pain and helping you to endure difficult situations for a longer period of time. This research shows that no matter the source of your pain, smiling will have a positive effect in helping you suspend its threshold.
Flashing Your Smile Makes You More Approachable
Are you more likely to approach someone with a neutral look on their face, or someone who’s showing off a genuine smile? If you’re like most people, then you’re more likely to approach the person who’s smiling. A study that compared customer interactions from service employees who smile and those who didn’t, found that the ones who had genuine smiles were approached far more often by customers.
Published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, this study observed 255 customers of 64 restaurant servers and showed that display authenticity is a major factor in customer satisfaction. In short, the more you smile, the more likely people will perceive you as friendly and come up to you.
A Healthy Smile is a Worthy Investment
From increases in productivity to boosting your pain tolerance, smiling comes with undeniably powerful benefits for those who do it often. Whether you smile more at work or smile when in the midst of your most painful or stressful situations, your smile makes a major impact on your mood as well as the people around you. If you’re ready for your next dental appointment to ensure that your smile stays healthy, contact Dr. Crawford today at Implant Dentistry of Greater Lansing. We can’t wait to meet you!