March 30, 2007

Is your Smile Really That Big a Deal?

People sometimes wonder if having a great smile is really such a big deal.  Research done in non-dental fields such as psychology reveal the importance of a confident smile

People are social creatures that depend on interrelations with each other.  Dale Carnegie discussed relevance of smiling nearly seventy years ago in his famous books, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.  His first chapter discussed using a smile to create a positive first impression and even referred to it as the big secret of dealing with people.  The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of Oxford did a study that supported the fact that smiles can make strangers cooperate in one short interaction.  Smiles have been proven to win friends and influence people.

Additional research over the years shows that smiling makes us appear more cooperative and pleasant, thus making us more attractive to other people.   Hietanen and Surakka did research in 1997 that showed a smile could induce a feeling of pleasure.  Their research showed that even a smile in a photo could induce pleasurable feelings if the smile seemed genuine.

A ready smile makes you and others feel better.  A great smile can even help you to be more attractive to others personally and professionally.  A super smile really is a big deal!

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[…] Our smiles are the first things others notice about us. This is equally true if you are meeting someone for the first time or getting together with an old friend for dinner. A smile that shows crooked, uneven or missing teeth presents an unflattering and untrue impression to others. You are the beautiful person behind that smile, but your smile needs to be as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside. […]

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