“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Depending on what stage you are in of orthodontic treatment, smiling may be the last thing you want to do. Whether you’re just starting with braces or [dcl=123668 or near the very end, your confidence may have taken a tumble. With a new year comes a new mindset and we’ve got 8 reasons to expose your beautiful smile to the world in 2023:

1. Smiles are contagious. Studies have shown that people have a difficult time frowning when someone else is smiling at them. In fact, they couldn’t help but smile themselves. Make a habit throughout the year to compliment the people you meet with a smile and watch them pay it forward.

2. Smiles relieve stress. When you smile, the body releases endorphins that help quickly change your mood. This makes you feel better, thus relieving your body of stress. Try smiling even when you don’t feel like it and notice the difference.

3. It is easier to smile than frown. Did you know the body uses more muscles to frown than it does to smile? That means you have to put forth more effort to look sad than to simply appear happy. Turn that frown upside down in 2023 and give your muscles a break.

4. It boosts your immune system. Scientists have found that smiling relaxes the body, allowing it to build a stronger immune system and contributing to overall good health. Smile more this year. You could be helping your body fight sickness.

5. Helps you get promoted. People who smile often appear to be more attractive, social and confident. These people are also most likely to get promoted at work. Smile more at work this year. It could lead to your next promotion.

6. Smiles are more attractive than makeup. A recent study shows that women who do not wear makeup but are smiling appear to be more attractive to men. Save yourself the extra time in the morning and put on a smile instead of a full face. You just might get a date.

7. Smiles are the most recognizable facial expression. Did you know that a smile can be recognized from up to 300 feet away? Flash your beautiful smile when out in public or in big groups and help people find you easier.

8. People who smile live longer. Previously, we mentioned that smiling boosts your immune system. One large benefit of that is a longer lifespan. Science says that people who smile often live an average of 7 years longer than those who do not. Lengthen your time on this earth by smiling more in 2023.

Do you have questions about your smile?

Greater Houston Orthodontics has years of proven experience creating healthy, beautiful smiles for patients of all ages. If you have not yet started Invisalign or have questions, contact our office for a complimentary evaluation. Start the new year feeling confident with your Invisalign and the benefits that come with a gorgeous smile.

Maybe you like to scour flea markets for portraits of strangers or even  do it yourself pieces to save some cash— but then how to hang a picture  when you have it? Yes, we‘ve all taken a hammer and nail to the wall without  determining or worrying  excessive in a pinch (sometimes that’s the only  method to get it done), but there are tricks amp underpinner of the trade to make the  job of  showing your art on the wall a  little bit more inviting, and the results more  interesting.  Stopped  overlooking that stack of frames on the floor beside your bed and have at it. Here are our best  suggestions for how to hang a picture like a pro.
 
 How to Hang a Picture
 Modern  Bed Room and Stamberg Aferiat in Shelter Island  New York City
Even high-end art– like this trio of Ellsworth Kelly works– benefits from leaning, which adds a textural touch when other works (like Kenneth Noland’s lithograph Quartet, here) hang nearby picture framing hardware. Paul Warchol
 
 1.  Choose a  method. The weight, size, and shape of the item you’re hanging and the  product of your walls both need to be  thought about before you  even get near a hammer. Can I drill into brick? What about tile? Will my plaster walls hold anything and what the heck is a stud? We‘ve got you covered with these four common wall-hanging myths, busted.
 
 2. Gather supplies. Besides a hammer,  determining tape, and pencil, you’ll need the following  materials to hang art on plaster or drywall hangers (essentially more weight-bearing  materials for  much heavier  art work):.
 
For light-weight pieces: small nails For medium-weight pieces: picture-hangersFor  much heavier pieces: a big nail and a stud-finder or wall-plug anchors, screws that fit them, and a screwdriver.
 
If you’re  holding on tile or glass, you’ll need good-quality, low-profile adhesive hooks rather than nails and screws, and if you’re  holding on brick, use brick clamps. (More on mounting on those surfaces, here.).
 
 3. Hang the thing. Yes, there is a semi-science to the art of getting the height of a piece  perfect— it’s called measuring (!). To be exact, the center of a framed piece of  art work  ought to be 57 inches above the ground (that being the average human eye level, and the height galleries and museums use to  choose where to hang pieces). Mark that height  utilizing a pencil, then  determine to find the middle of the wall (from side to side), and mark where the two points  satisfy. That’s where the middle of your  art work  ought to go! Now,  determine the distance between the middle of the piece and where it will catch the nail (either where the wire  strikes when bent to bear weight, or where the saw tooth  wall mount is.
 
 Step that  distinction from your mid-point mark on the wall– that’s where the nail (or picture  wall mount, or wall anchor, or brick clamp) goes. If you’re hanging a super-heavy piece,  initially use a stud-finder to locate a stud and see if it  remains in a  sensible  place for your nail to go. If it is, hammer a big nail in and be done. If the stud is in a  odd  place, use the anchor-and-screw  approach  rather: Drill a pilot-hole, tap the plastic anchor into it, then screw a screw into that, leaving it to protrude  simply enough that you can loop the wire or saw tooth right over it the same way you would with a nail.
 
How to Get Creative With Your Display.
 
If you’re not up for hammers and nails, just lean it. The laziest  method to  show art is also best for  anybody who is afraid of putting nail holes in the wall: lean the frame against the back of a chair, or the wall, or on a  rack  someplace. (Even homes with  great deals of art hung up on the walls take well to a  couple of casually leaned pieces– it  in fact looks very  deliberate!).
 
If you’re always re-arranging, consider a picture  rack. If you‘re into the whole leaning thing and want to formalize a place for such activity, consider adding a shallow picture  rack in one of your rooms. It’s a perfect  service for those with constantly changing styles (or the rearrangement bug).
 
… Or a  image rail. If you‘re into the  concept of sparing your  valuable walls from holes but  desire a more formal  appearance than leaning, consider a picture rail: a sliver of molding that goes up near the ceiling, from which you can hang your art on hooks and strings– and then change it out whenever you feel like it.
 
Leave some pieces unframed.  Possibly you‘ve collected some of those paintings on boards from the flea market— lovely peeling edges and all— and want to preserve some of that  appeal without paying for a  expensive  drifting frame. Or  perhaps you  simply want to hang up wispy paper  illustrations and  stop? Leaving  specific artworks unframed is completely fine, even encouraged. Just follow these  suggestions and  collect these  materials to tack them up without fanfare.
 
Break some  guidelines. When considering scale and placement and whether to lean or frame or, or … take a deep breath. Here are our  preferred art-hanging rules that we  like to break. Now go put all your art on display!