When you walk by someone on the street who has a big, happy smile, it makes you smile too. Smiles are contagious, but if you have chipped, stained or crooked teeth you may feel shy to show your smile.
Through cosmetic dentistry, you can regain a white, straight smile that will not only make you feel better, but also benefit you in other ways.
1. Smiles Build Trust
If you give others a genuine smile, it helps them believe they can trust you. In one study, participants were more likely to trust another person if they were smiling. A smile increased people’s willingness to trust by about 10 percent.
2. Smiles Ease Embarrassment
We all have social-slip-ups that make us groan and say, “I can’t believe I did/said that!” A study shows that when you display an embarrassed smile, you often look down and sometimes let out a silly, little laugh. This reaction is designed to elicit empathy from others, so they think less of the mess-up and forgive you more quickly.
3. Smiles Help Ladies Get a Date
For women, giving a genuine smile to a man you are attracted to will draw him to you even more than making eye contact. In one study, when a woman only established eye contact with a man, she was approached 20 percent of the time. Yet, when the same woman added a smile, she was approached 60 percent of the time. The same doesn’t go for men though because smiling less makes a man look more masculine to a woman.
4. Smiles Lead to Longer Lives
If you show your smile more often, you could live longer. A study of pictures taken of baseball players in 1952 suggests those smiling outlived those that were not smiling by seven years. Start smiling now and start adding on those extra years to your life!