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
Contraindications for Laughter
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 :)
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