ChildSavers

Simply smiling can improve your mood

Put a pencil between your teeth. Do you feel happier? Whether you are in a good mood or a bad mood, the pure act of smiling can make you happier. The facial feedback theory of emotion describes this finding, and furthermore, research studies have shown that facial expressions, such as smiling, can have an effect on your feelings. So let’s smile our way to happiness. It might not be that easy, but smiling can help.

…and that’s where we come in…

In orthodontics, we have the unique opportunity to straighten your teeth, correct your bite, improve your smile, increase your confidence, and have a significant and lasting impact on your life by giving you a healthy, beautiful smile…and as science shows…more happiness.

What makes you happy?

Smiling can make you happier, but there are many other things that can bring you happiness as well.

Every night I ask my 3-year-old, “what makes you happy?” I get some of the best answers:

• Cammie (our golden retriever)
• Twirling around and dancing
• Putting hearts everywhere
• Going to the river
• Picking flowers with Daddy (sometimes these include flowers that aren’t supposed to be picked, but how can I complain when she is making a bouquet for me?)
• Picking weeds
• Having a picnic

It is so important to regularly check in with ourselves to answer that question and even more important to incorporate those answers into our daily lives. Sometimes that’s possible and sometimes it feels impossible because of the demands of our daily lives, but just like we need to take care of our bodies physically, we need to take care of our bodies mentally and emotionally and that means doing things that make you smile and make you happy.

Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health has become a widely talked about topic in recent years with individuals experiencing significantly more stress and anxiety due to life changes and job changes, many of which have been and are related to COVID. Mental health has also been talked about in the media recently in regards to professional athletes and the pressures of performing on a national and international level. You don’t have to compete in the Olympics to understand life’s pressures and mental health challenges.

Some of the goals of Mental Health Awareness Month are to raise awareness about mental health and its impacts on individuals of all ages, educate the public on such an important topic, and eliminate any stigma associated with mental health. One in five individuals experience mental illness during their lifetime, but everyone experiences stress and faces challenges in life that have an impact on their mental health. Despite having extremely skilled and dedicated mental health providers in our community and country, less than half of those struggling with mental health in our country receive the care, therapy, and treatment they need, which is where organizations like ChildSavers come in…

Our Doswell Orthodontics SMILE campaign and partnership with ChildSavers

Because we are so passionate about happiness, orthodontics, and mental health, we have made the commitment to partner with an amazing local non-profit called ChildSavers. ChildSavers’ mission is to guide our community’s children through life’s critical moments with trauma-informed mental health and child development services. ChildSavers was one of the first ten child guidance clinics in the United States and the first located in the South. For more information on ChildSavers and how you can help, please visit their awesome website: https://www.childsavers.org/.

For each patient that starts treatment with us, we will make a donation to ChildSavers. Our SMILE mural in our office is our constant reminder of our SMILE campaign and why we do what we do—to make a positive impact on those around us, spread happiness through smiling, and remember to live, laugh, love, and smile!

Live. Laugh. Love. SMILE.

Dr. Doswell

 

Resources

• https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20190411/science-says-smiling-helps-you-get-happy
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-willpower/201208/smile-your-way-out-stress
• https://www.happierhuman.com/smile-quotes/
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/04/29/a-proclamation-on-national-mental-health-awareness-month-2022/
• https://www.childsavers.org/