Your Smile and Your Self-Confidence

Brush and floss. Visit your dentist regularly. Take good care of your teeth. You’ve probably heard these things since you were little. When you were young, these words were probably said as a way to prevent you from having cavities. As you aged, you may have heard about how your dental health is an indicator of your overall health and continued to take good care of your teeth. But, have you ever thought about how your smile affects your self-confidence?

Connie Stevens said, “Nothing you wear is more important than your smile.” After all, it is one of the first things that people may notice about you. When someone meets you they look at your smile. When you post a picture on a dating website that smile can act as an attraction magnet. In an interview, your smile may be the thing that makes your standout over another candidate.

But what if your smile is not all you want it to be? Perhaps your teeth are stained. Maybe you have receding gums. You might be missing some teeth. Whatever the case may be, if your teeth make you uncomfortable, embarrassed or self-conscious, your self-confidence and self-esteem may be reduced. This may be an even more important reason to take care of your teeth.

Researchers have found that smiling can boost your self-confidence and self-esteem due to several things:

Smiling Makes You Appear Younger

While smiling makes you look happier studies have found that smiling makes you look younger. In fact, in one study, when participants were smiling, and people were asked to guess their age, most underestimated the age of the participants on average by two years.

Smiling Boosts Your Mood

When you smile you activate parts of the brain that release “feel good” chemicals (serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine) in your brain. These chemicals make you feel happy when they are released. Additionally, endorphins can act as a natural pain reliever.

Smiling Can Reduce Stress

Those same endorphins that boost your mood can also reduce your stress when you smile. When you are stressed your body releases more of the stress hormone known as cortisol but smiling can reduce the amount of cortisol in your body by releasing endorphins.

You can see that if you were self-conscious or uncomfortable with your smile how your self-confidence might be affected.

What Can You Do?

Obviously, taking care of your teeth is a vital part of your health and that begins at home. Be sure to take proper care of your teeth by creating an at-home dental care routine that includes regular brushing and daily flossing. Be sure to choose dental products that are appropriate for your dental care.

Additionally, make sure you see your dentist for regular checkups. He/she will be able to help you address issues that can’t be corrected with at-home dental care.

Take care of your smile so that you have the self-confidence you deserve.