Stress can affect your life in several ways, but did you know it has the most impact on your mouth and the health of your teeth? With an increase in the number of people searching help from a local North Finchley dentist service or another service up and down the country due to a stress-related problems with their teeth, it is more important than ever to notice the signs and put a stop to them. In this article, we are giving you an insight into the effect that stress can have on your teeth and how you can prevent it.
Teeth Grinding
One of the biggest ways that stress can affect your oral health is through the grinding of your teeth. This is particularly harmful to your overall health as this can lead to cracking of the teeth and pain in the jaw. This is often combatted with the use of a retainer when sleeping in order to avoid grinding the teeth together. By grinding the teeth together, this also presents the risk of an increase in headaches and other side effects. By implementing relaxation techniques before you sleep, this can help lessen the impact and help to keep the mouth healthy.
Poor Diet
If you are feeling stressed, often there are subtle changes in your diet such as eating more sugary food and less of the nutrients and vitamins that are needed to keep the teeth and gums healthy. Although this is not the case for everyone, there are several reasons why your diet should be maintained even through stressful times as this will help to keep teeth healthy and remove plaque from the surface of the tooth. This is then a benefit to overall oral health as it helps to remove plaque build up over time and strengthen the tooth from within.
Gum Disease
If you are experiencing stress, this can also have an effect on your immune system. Often when someone is stressed, the immune system is weakened and can cause an acceleration in diseases such as gum disease. Though this is not always the case, this can cause bleeding gums and teeth falling out and should be treated as quickly as possible. This can be treated by a medical practitioner with mouthwash and medication that is given to help the deterioration of the gums and strengthen the teeth. If you find blood when you spit or you have overly sensitive gums, be sure to contact your dentist.
Dry Mouth
The final impact of stress on overall oral health is through a dry mouth. Often dry mouth is present before a major event or something that causes a vast amount of nervous energy. This presents an issue to the overall health of your mouth as this can lead to the development of harmful bacteria in the mouth as there is no saliva to wash it away. This can be a problem when it comes to combatting the health of your mouth as this could then lead to bad breath or other oral health issues. In order to combat this, carrying a packet of chewing gum in your pocket can help to generate saliva and help prevent dry mouth when you need it most, whilst removing food and plaque from the teeth.
Regardless of the reason for the stress, it is important to pay attention to the effects it is having on your body and how this could affect you over time when it comes to all-round oral health.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.