Smile, smile and smile some more!

Good news to report this Wednesday afternoon! People with big, happy smiles may actually out-live those who don’t, according to a new study at Wayne State University in Michigan. Dr. Derek Tieken has known for a long time that positive emotion has been linked to both physical and mental health, but researchers at the university did something quite interesting: they used information from the Baseball Register to look at photos of 230 players who began their baseball careers prior to 1950 and studied their smile intensity (wide smile, no smile or partial smile). The players' smile ratings were then compared with data from deaths that occurred from 2006 through last year.

The researchers then took into account other factors associated with longevity, such as body mass index, or BMI, career length and 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 75. Those with big smiles, however, lived on average to be 79.9 years old!

The take-away from the new study? Smile now, smile often and you might just live longer! Have you tried perfecting your smile by visiting Dr. Tieken lately? If not, give our team a call today at (832) 769-4824.