Reasons to be cheerful
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 27th October 2023
Did you know smiling is good for oral health?
It comes to something when you’ve got to be taught to smile again… But that’s what the people of Japan feel they need following the pandemic and three years of enforced mask wearing. According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and reported by Sky News[i] recently, since the lifting of mask rules in May, many people have struggled to adjust to life without face coverings and smiling lessons have now been made available. Participants say they have forgotten how to smile and feel the need to rehearse the facial expression, the paper reports.
There’s no denying the feel-good factor of a smile,[ii] though the old adage of ‘smile and the world smiles with you’ isn’t actually true. A study by Hinsz and Tomhave[iii] suggests only around 50% of people will reciprocate your smile if you smile at them.
But smiling can get you a lot more than happiness. Some of the lesser-known benefits include living a longer life.[iv] A study of pictures taken of baseball players in 1952 suggests those smiling outlived their non-smiling counterpart by seven years! Interestingly, research has also found that the number of teeth we have is strongly linked to how long we will live. Those with 20 teeth or more at the age of 70 had a considerably higher chance of living longer than those with less than 20 teeth.[v]
Smiling also helps to lower your blood pressure.[vi] When you smile, your heart rate goes down and your blood pressure drops. Think about the difference in your heart rate next time you watch a scary movie, over spending time relaxing in the bath!
Smiling can also boost the immune system.[vii] So, with cough and cold season fast approaching, that’s something to bear in mind. It has been shown that smiling can help to reduce pain too[viii]as the act of smiling releases endorphins and serotonin which help to relax the body and therefore reduce physical pain. A fact you may find handy next time you have a nervous patient in the surgery.
Bizarrely, smiling can make you feel positive, even if your smile isn’t genuine.[ix] Whether you truly feel on top of the world or not, smiling still sends the message that ‘life is good’ to your brain, and ultimately, the rest of your body.
When it comes to oral health, smiling really gives dental professionals something to smile about too. Why? Because the act of smiling generates the production of saliva which in turn helps wash away bacteria and plaque.[x] Saliva also decreases the acidity of the mouth[xi] which can otherwise lead to tooth decay. Smiling has also been linked with improved gingival health.[xii]
Of course, everyone smiles more when they are confident in their smile and these days the whiter the teeth the better.
Tooth whitening is one of the largest growing cosmetic procedures in the UK, with the industry now estimated to be worth over £40m annually, as more and more people endeavour to emulate their celebrity idols.[xiii] And according to a survey[xiv] carried out in February 2022, 22% of Brits said that they probably would get their teeth professionally whitened, with a further 10% reporting that they definitely would or that they already had. In the youngest age group (18-24-year-olds), 40% of respondents said they probably would whiten their teeth.
To help your patients’ pearly whites stay that way, or perhaps before they book in for professional whitening, you can recommend Arm & Hammer™ Advance White™ Pro Toothpaste for them to use at home. This solution uses MicroPolisher™ technology to whiten teeth by up to three shades in six weeks, with twice daily brushing. Containing 1450ppm of fluoride, the product promotes a comprehensive clean and provides long lasting whitening and freshness.
The benefits of smiling are huge. They’re not just psychological but physical too. And given the oral care advantages, it’s surely a reason for all dental professionals to break into a smile.
For more information about the carefully formulated Arm & Hammer™ toothpaste range, please visit https://www.armandhammer.co.uk/ or email: ukenquiries@churchdwight.com
Arm & Hammer™ oral healthcare products can now be purchased from Boots, Amazon, Superdrug, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Waitrose & Partners and Ocado.
Anne Symons
Anne Symons is a Dental Hygienist currently working in a Specialist Periodontal/implant practice and also a busy NHS surgery. She has previously worked in a Max Fax unit, and also taught Oral Health care to staff in Nursing and Residential homes. Anne is also a Professional Educator for Waterpik.
[i] Saqib F ‘People in Japan are taking lessons to relearn how to smile’ 16 May 2023 https://news.sky.com/story/people-in-japan-are-taking-lessons-to-relearn-how-to-smile-12881956
[ii] Coles, N.A., March, D.S., Marmolejo-Ramos, F. et al. A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration. Nat Hum Behav 6, 1731–1742 (2022).
[iii] Hinsz, V. B., & Tomhave, J. A. (1991). Smile and (Half) the World Smiles with You, Frown and You Frown Alone. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17(5), 586–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167291175014
[iv] Abel, E. L., & Kruger, M. L. (2010). Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Longevity. Psychological Science, 21(4), 542–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610363775
[v] Friedman PK, Lamster IB. Tooth loss as a predictor of shortened longevity: exploring the hypothesis. Periodontol 2000. 2016 Oct;72(1):142-52. doi: 10.1111/prd.12128. PMID: 27501497.
[vi] Kraft, T. L., & Pressman, S. D. (2012). Grin and Bear It: The Influence of Manipulated Facial Expression on the Stress Response. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1372–1378. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23484540
[vii] D’Acquisto F, Rattazzi L, Piras G. Smile—It’s in your blood! Biochem Pharmacol. 2014;91(3):287-292. doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2014.07.016
[viii] Pressman SD, Acevedo AM, Hammond KV, Kraft-Feil TL. Smile (Or grimace) through the pain? The effects of experimentally manipulated facial expressions on needle-injection responses. Emotion. Published online November 23, 2020. doi:10.1037/emo0000913
[ix] Coles NA, Larsen JT, Lench HC. A meta-analysis of the facial feedback literature: Effects of facial feedback on emotional experience are small and variable. Psychol Bull. 2019;145(6):610-651. doi:10.1037/bul0000194
[x] Alhajj M, Babos M Physiology, Salivation 25 July 2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542251/
[xi] Buzalaf MA, Hannas AR, Kato MT. Saliva and dental erosion. J Appl Oral Sci. 2012 Sep-Oct;20(5):493-502. doi: 10.1590/s1678-77572012000500001. PMID: 23138733; PMCID: PMC3881791.
[xii] Patel R, Richards P, Inglehart M, Periodontal Health, Quality of Life, and Smiling Patterns – An Exploration https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/142236/jper0224.pdf?sequence=1
[xiii] https://www.dentalhealth.org/news/single-adults-leading-growth-in-uks-illegal-tooth-whitening-industry-study-finds
[xiv] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1132103/opinion-on-teeth-whitening-in-great-britain-by-age/
