On one of the walls in Gronberg Orthodontics is a bulletin board covered in photos of the beaming faces of Gronberg patients, all with shiny new smiles. Adults, teenagers, young adults and kids alike, all show a perfectly stunning, toothy smile. On the top of the board are printed black letters reading “Congrats on your new smile!” Across the hall is a shelf littered with prizes such as basketballs, nail polish, remote control monster trucks, and stuffed animals, the sign reads “20 Smile Points”. Dr. Kimberly Gronberg DDS, MS of Groberg Orthodontics beams her own smile on all the patients, parents, and visitors that walk through the office doors or meet her in the hall. What makes these smiles so special is that they accomplish countless goals.
Functionally
Several factors are considered when working to perfect someone's smile, says Gronberg, but the top priority is functionality, aesthetics come later. Functionality focuses on making sure that the teeth will wear and tear well throughout time. Perfecting the placement of your bite will keep you from having more serious problems with your jaw and grinding down your teeth in the future.
Socially
Beyond the physicality of a smile, smiles work wonders in the world in an idealistic way. Smiles mean more than straight teeth but are integral to communicating in everyday life. Their presence, or lack thereof, is constantly sending us signals throughout the day, whether we realize it or not. From grocery shopping to dating relationships to passing a stranger on the street, smiles and our perception of them affect our daily social interactions.
A study published by the International College of Prosthodontists concluded that attractive smiles are closely related to personality traits such as warmth, calmness, extroversion, and low anxiety.
Researchers at Penn State University found that smiling not only makes you appear more likable and courteous but also more competent. Whether you like it or not, people read into your smile, whether it’s there or not. Your smile affects how people perceive you, friend or foe.
Mentally
Research seems to pile up in the name of smiling and its benefits on our mental health and overall wellbeing. Researchers at London Metropolitan University write that smiling improves one's health in more ways than a temporary mood but helps to improve stress recovery and even reduce illness over time.
A 2010 Wayne State University 2010 study found that baseball players that smiled in their 1950’s Major League player card lived an average of almost 80 years, those that didn't lived an average of 72.9. Whether or not they smiled in their card predicted their life span.
Smiling isn’t only a result of happiness but also spurs on the feeling of happiness. When we smile, our body releases hormones like dopamine, endorphins and serotonin. These hormones are the signals in your body that make you feel happy.
One British study found that one smile is as stimulating as eating 2,000 bars of chocolate or receiving up to $20,000.
In his talk titled “The Hidden Power of the Smile”, author and researcher Ron Gutman said, "Children smile as often as 400 times per day. What happens to us [as] we grow up, we go from smiling 400 times per day to smiling maybe 20 or 25 times per day.” Smiling is not merely a concept of happiness, something to flash as we pass by a stranger, but affects us deeply, physically and mentally. Perhaps we could bring back the joy we had as children and do what we used to, smile 400 times a day and find joy in every moment.