The Connection between Oral Health and Happiness

When we talk about better quality of life, we usually denote with a mile and overall happiness in life. This notion was put to test with the help of a study which is called “Smile Intensity in Photographs Predicts Longevity”. This report states that healthy adults who would be happy and satisfied in their life happened to smile in their year book photographs. But the same couldn’t be said about the students who appeared sad in those photographs. The result of this study further strengthened the old idea that smiling can reinforce the feelings of happiness. And when it comes to smiling, a confident smile essentially involves whiter and healthy teeth.

The link

The recent study involving 200 students suggest a strong connection between gum health and participants’ reports of overall life satisfaction. While the students with healthy gums and white teeth were reported to be happier in their lives, the ones with poor dental health had sadness in their behaviors. The study went a little deeper by observing the brushing and dental cleaning habits of the students. The students with better gum health and white teeth used to take care of their oral health more than the ones who had bad smile.

GI tract, oral health and emotional balance

When it comes to role of bacteria in the gut, people usually think of those bacteria as bad germs only. Nevertheless, it’s not the case. There are some types of bacteria which are actually beneficial, in fact crucial, for the health of the gut.

The new researches today suggest that happiness is fairly connected with the balanced bacterial existence in the GI tract. As a matter of fact, the existence of bacteria and its connection with happiness is often referred to as ‘Gut-Brain Axis’.

Apart from being major contributor in triggering happiness, Gut-Brain Axis also plays huge role in improving and maintaining overall health. And the study also suggests that better health of GI cannot be ensured without better dental health. Hence, mouth can be considered major gateway for the health of human body.

So, what you need to do?

• The first thing you need to make sure is that you brush and floss on daily basis. Doing it three times a day can help you to not only keep your mouth but also your GI tract in healthy state.
• Then you can directly take care of your GI tract by eating foods which encourage the production of gut flora. Such foods are also called probiotics.
• If you want to keep your health in good state, you will need to reduce the level of your stress. Stress can badly disturb the balance of bacteria in gut. As a result, it can adversely affect the oral health too.