The Psychological Impact of a Whiter Smile

Did you know that nearly one-third of Americans say that your smile is one of the first things they notice about a person, and one-quarter say a smile is what they remember most? With that in mind, picture the smile you want that makes a great first impression — and a lasting one. Odds are this smile contains rows of beautifully white teeth.

If you’re avoiding smiling because of discolored teeth, Dr. Hannah Baek and our team of dental experts here at Healthy Smile Dental can help with our Zoom! professional-grade teeth whitening system.

Let’s explore how whiter teeth can help you better make your way through the world, and how we can help you quickly and easily achieve this goal.

Your smile sets the tone

There are several ways in which your smile influences your emotional health, and the first is an inside job. When you smile, this small gesture causes a release of endorphins and serotonin, which are chemicals in the brain that influence, among other things, your mood. In other words, when you smile, you’re not only expressing happiness, you’re feeling it as well.

While smiling can influence your mood, it also influences how the world around you perceives you. To explain further, there are six emotions in humans that transcend verbal communication. 

They include:

• Happiness
• Anger
• Sadness
• Fear
• Disgust
• Surprise

Each of these emotions is portrayed through facial expressions, including your smile, which certainly applies to the first emotion on our list — happiness.

So, if you want to tell the world that you’re happy, the first indication of this is a smile. In turn, the world greets you back accordingly, which is why there are many sayings about how a smile is contagious.

What we’re trying to point out is that your smile is incredibly important in how you fit in with the world around you, which plays no small role in your psychological health.

What a smile full of white teeth tells the world

Now let’s break down your smile even further by reviewing the role that the color of your teeth play. First, a smile full of white teeth sends critical messages about your health and age. There’s a good reason why animals bare their teeth at one another, and one of the main ones is to indicate their strength.

White teeth are a sign of youth, vitality, and good health, while yellow or stained teeth can deliver quite the opposite message.

Whitening your teeth is quick and easy

Now that we better understand the impacts that a smile backed by white teeth can have, let’s take a look at how we can quickly and easily get you there.

At our practice, we offer the Zoom! Whitening system, which allows us to brighten and whiten your teeth by several shades in just one visit using a special gel and light.

We can also supply you with a Zoom! at-home whitening kit, which allows you to whiten your teeth more gradually.

With both approaches, we also provide you with at-home touch-up trays that allow you to maintain your pearly whites and your great smile.

To achieve the smile of your dreams, contact our office in Woodridge, Illinois, to set up an appointment.