Why You & Your Dentist Need a Sense of Humor
This is not a joke. It's deadly serious.
There are many documented benefits of smiling. It makes us feel good, it makes people around us feel good and it has a physiologic health benefit. But what about laughter?
Sitting in the dental chair is stressful. Even if your dentist is excellent, it’s nerve-racking to get through treatment. Stress increases cortisol levels which can lead to weight gain, sleep and mood problems and can set the stage for increased blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Increased cortisol can also interfere with brain functions like memory and predispose one to infections including periodontal (gum) disease
Stress can also lead to a dry mouth (a major risk factor for tooth decay) as well as tooth grinding or clenching - which can cause teeth to break or wear away - creating more need to be in the dentist chair.
You’ve heard the phrase, “Laughter is the best medicine”. Allow me to show you how it helps the dental patient. Medical research has demonstrated laughter lowers cortisol (a hormone that rises with stress) in addition to reducing epinephrine (think suppressing fight or flight reactions) meanwhile stimulating systems that make us feel good.
Take an anxious dental patient about to sit for a filling, crown or surgery. A moment taken to laugh can greatly diffuse anxiety related to the imminent procedure. And it’s been proven - pre-surgical induction of laughter reduced pre-op anxiety and post-op pain
Laughter can also improve pain tolerance. Laughter helps us recover from a stressful event It improves the health of the immune system to better help us fight infections like gum disease. It’s as if laughter is there to specifically to help us get through dental visits.
Have you ever felt an endorphin rush after a workout? If not, stop reading now this and go work out, hard. Seriously, go. Similar to exercise, laughter can act as a physical work out, releasing some of the same hormones that make us feel really good.
Another similarity is that laughter burns calories - although not as quickly as running or swimming, but the more you laugh, the more you will lose weight.
As we laugh, our organs and systems get more oxygen and become healthier - reducing the need for medications like antidepressants and blood pressure.
Laughing improves our ability to heal from illness and also to heal faster from most surgical procedures.
The list of advantages to laughter is seemingly endless. We created a partial list below. By contrast, there are very few reasons not to laugh - and even those are subject to debate.
Indications for Laughter
- Stress PLUMMETS
- Stimulates breathing
- Energizes lungs, brain & muscles
- Improves memory
- Boosts immune system
- Releases endorphins
- Helps regulate blood pressure
- Improves cardiac health
- Can lessen the need for medication like anti-depressants and blood pressure meds
- Burns calories
- Improves sleep
- Contagious
- Improves mood of others
- Promotes Creativity
- We don’t embarrass as easily
- Reduces anxiety before procedures
- Boosts pain tolerance
- Improves surgical outcomes
- Helps us heal from illness
- Better resistance to infection
- Dental visits are more manageable
- Less likely to avoid the dentist in the future
Contraindications for Laughter
- Recent abdominal surgery
- Quiet places like a library or funeral
- Laughing at others’ expense (debatable)
There you have it - all the reasons you and your dentist need to have a sense of humor. Your dentist doesn't have one? Call Port Smiles, we'll put a smile on your face :)
©Copyright. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.