Health

National Smile Month

SAY CHEESE! How a smile a day keeps the dentist away 

We’ve all heard the phrase “laughter is the best medicine,” but did you know that smiling for a few minutes each day is more likely to land you with a healthy mouth?

For National Smile Month, Dr Khaled Kasem, Chief Orthodontist of leading European orthodontics clinic Impress, has revealed the benefits of smiling and why we should try to smile for at least seven minutes a day as part of our daily oral health care routine.

“The main benefit of smiling is that it reduces stress. Our mouths are more damaged by stress than we might realise, as the added tension it puts on your muscles can lead to involuntary teeth clenching or grinding, leaving you susceptible to jaw issues and a whole host of other problems.

Smiling also helps our bodies to reduce cortisol levels and increase endorphins, so next time you feel stressed, try to relax your mouth into a smile and you might just feel better all round.

Your emotional state and immune function are also deeply connected. Smiling triggers the release of dopamine which helps to regulate your immune system. As the level of dopamine rises, the number of antibodies in the body increases, which is crucial to keeping your mouth healthy, and also to staying fit and well in general.

Finally, smiling, more specifically laughing, can decrease your heart and respiratory rates and your blood pressure. There have been previous studies that link those with bad oral health to those with high blood pressure, so smiling can be a way to kill two birds with one stone!

Smiling for just seven minutes every day should be enough to give your oral health a boost – just make sure to keep brushing and flossing too, as smiling alone won’t do the trick!

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