The benefits of smiling, from Dr. Stevens

Great news to report this Monday! People with big, happy smiles may actually out-live those who don’t. That, according to a recent study conducted at Michigan’s Wayne State University.

Dr. Stevens knows that positive emotion has been linked to both physical and mental health, but researchers at the university did something interesting: they used information from the Baseball Register to look at close-up smiles of 230 players who began their baseball careers prior to 1950 by studying their smile intensity (wide smile, no smile or partial smile).

The researchers then took into account other factors associated with life longevity, such as body mass index, career length and, interestingly, college attendance. They found that players who weren't smiling died at the average age of 72.9 years. Players with partial smiles lived to be at least 75. Those with big, wide smiles, however, lived on average to be 79.9 years old!

Our take-away from the new study? Smile now, smile often and you might just live longer! Have you perfected your smile by visiting Stevens Orthodontics lately? If not, give us a call at 850-385-2822 and have a great week!