Seven Ways A Smile Can Lead To A More Fulfilling Life

Taking care of the health of your teeth and gums is of course an important part of your health, but did you know it can also be a crucial component of a fulfilling life? Read the reasons why taking care of your smile and showing it off can contribute to a high quality of life.

You’ll Be Scientifically Happier

You might not even need to read the rest of the list after reading this point, but multiple studies have been conducted and the results are conclusive: People with great smiles are happier and have a better overall quality of life by-far. Additionally, those with prosthetic dental devices such as dentures or dental implants were happier than those without teeth, and those who had never lost teeth were happiest overall. The reasons for happiness are widespread and many of them follow below in the rest of this list.

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is an important part of the well-being of any person. At the risk of sounding like a self-help book, it’s crucial to love yourself before anybody else can love you. One aspect strongly linked to self-esteem is personal appearance, and a strong aspect of that is having a great smile. On the whole, when people are proud of their smiles their own opinions of themselves and their self-confidence increases.

Attraction

Whether you’re searching for that right guy or that right girl, a great smile is certainly a sign of attraction in our society. Scientifically speaking, people who frequently smile and have good, healthy smiles are perceived as more attractive than those with poor quality of teeth. If you’re looking to get that woman or man into your life, smiling more and keeping your teeth in great shape.

Might Help You Land That Job

That’s right, a great smile might help you land that dream job you’ve been working towards for all this time. In a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, people were given photos of people with either smiling expressions or neutral expressions and asked to describe them. Those who were smiling were described as more conscientious, confident and stable – great qualities you’d want to give off in any interview.

Among those in the study, people were also given a list of qualifications of each person and asked to decide who they would hire. Between applicants with very similar qualifications, the person with the smiling photo was 45% more likely to be chosen than the other photo. Likewise, we imagine if you came in with a nice, complete, straight set of teeth you’d be a much more appealing as an applicant than someone with a negative expression who is missing a tooth. Likewise, someone who has taken good care of their teeth is seen as more responsible as someone with several tooth issues or missing teeth – again, responsibility being a quality employers love to have.

Appear More Friendly

Let’s be honest here, if you were to run into two people off the street trying to have a conversation with you and one was missing a couple teeth and the other had straight teeth and a great smile who would you be more likely to talk to? If you’re like most people, you’d probably talk to the person with the great smile. The truth of the matter is that a great smile makes you much more appealing to speak with to random strangers. Likewise, people who smile frequently are perceived as more friendly and welcoming than someone who doesn’t smile or has an unappealing smile.

Reduce Stress

We really love studies to help prove our point, and we’re not quite done yet. One study performed indicated that people who had full or removable dentures suffered from mildly heightened levels of stress when compared to patients who still had a full mouth of teeth. If you’re already prone to anxiety, ensuring that you keep all your teeth may help prevent further anxiety problems – just don’t worry yourself too much about your teeth!

You’re More Likely to Be (Perceived as) Successful

Regardless of how you personally define success in your life, the vast majority of people in the world want to be seen as “successful.” Well, whether you’ve actually reached that high, high standard or are still “faking it ‘til you make it,” studies have shown that a quality smile is perceived by people as a sign of success. When compared against people with crooked or yellowing teeth, those with white smiles were seen as 58% more likely to be successful by respondents in scientific studies.

Dr. Arzegar is the founder of and practicing dentist at Lifetime Smiles Adult & Pediatric Dentistry an Austin, Texas based dental practice. A committed dentist, Dr. Arzegar knows that a healthy smile is a key to having a healthy, happy life.

Images: Be yourself, take a smile