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How having a smile makeover can make you feel more confident

How many times have you looked at yourself in the mirror or at your image on a zoom call and wished your smile could be better? If you’re so self-conscious about your smile you find yourself not smiling at all, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. In this blog we take a look at how having a smile makeover can make you feel more confident.

Physical and psychological advantages of smiling

In his TED Talk, Ron Gutman, founder of HealthTap, calls the smile a ‘superpower’. He revealed that people who smile more are happier, have successful marriages, and live longer. Children smile over 400 times a day, but adults smile a lot less – only a third of adults smile more than 20 times a day. Sadly, nearly 15% of adults smile fewer than five times a day, which is actually bad for your health.

Way back in 1872, Charles Darwin said: “Even the simulation of an emotion tends to arouse it in our minds.” In other words, the simple act of smiling can actually make us feel happier. Studies carried out by modern researchers using fMRI imaging have verified Darwin’s theory, concluding that facial feedback modifies the neural processing of emotions. In his talk Gutman cites one UK study that found that just one smile generated the same level of brain stimulation as you’d get from eating 2,000 bars of chocolate or receiving £16,000 in cash.

Smiling also makes you healthier by reducing the level of stress-enhancing hormones at the same time as increasing the level of mood-enhancing hormones. It can even help reduce your blood pressure.

In social situations, smiling is equally healthy. Smiling makes you likeable and people judge you to be more competent.

Time to get grinning!

If you’re not smiling as much as you’d like to because you’re self-conscious about your teeth, you could be missing out on the above benefits. Keeping your gnashers to yourself is hurting your social life, your happiness and even your health (especially if you’ve eaten 2,000 bars of chocolate in one go to get a ‘smile hit’).

At the Dr Richard Clinics, all our smile makeover patients report increased confidence at the end of their treatment. With straighter, whiter teeth they’re beaming from ear to ear, and as we’ve seen, that in itself makes them much more confident.

What’s more, if you’re more confident, you’ll smile more, and your smile will be mirrored by those around you. People mimic each other’s expressions in order to understand what the other person is feeling and respond to it, which is why it appears that smiling is contagious. So if you want to make an entire room happy, start with a smile!

What’s involved in a smile makeover?

After a free 30-minute consultation, we’ll have a better idea of the treatment or treatments you’ll need to achieve a beautiful, confidence-making smile. You may just need teeth whitening to enhance your appearance. You may also need teeth straightening with Invisalign’s invisible braces, the addition of composite bonding to hide gaps or minor imperfections, veneers or even dental implants. Once we’ve had a chance to examine your teeth, we will have a better idea of the work involved, the time frame, and the costs. We can also talk to you about payment options so you can spread the cost and make it more affordable.

If you want to smile more, get in touch to find out how we can help.