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Does Stress Affect Your Teeth?

As time goes on we learn more and more about our health and how to maintain a healthy, happy lifestyle. The problem is, the more we learn about the affects of fat, sugar and salt in our diet, the problems associated with alcohol and a lack of exercise, the more stressed we become when we realise we struggle with the time and motivation to make all the changes we need to!

Increased stress means your GP might be concerned about your blood pressure, your physio might be monitoring your neck and back pain, but why should it worry your Reading dentist ?

You might be surprised to learn that your stress has a direct (and negative) impact on your teeth.

5 ways stress can affect your oral health

1. Grind Your Teeth
   Also called bruxism, teeth grinding while you sleep is something you may not even be aware you’re doing, yet can have serious knock-on effects, such as jaw and neck pain, headaches, tooth wear and even cracked or broken teeth.
2. Develop TMJD
   Teeth clenching and grinding because of stress can lead to Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD), which may require you to wear a mouth guard or even undergo further dental treatment.
3. Increased Risk Of Gum Disease
   Stress compromises your immune system, which means your body’s ability to fight bacteria is weakened. This opens the floodgates for gingivitis and its more serious cousin, periodontitis.
4. Mouth Ulcers
   There are many possible causes of mouth ulcers, but stress is at the top of the list. Apart from being unpleasant, the ulcers are an invitation for bacterial infection.
5. Neglect Your Dental Hygiene
   From lack of sleep causing us to be too tired to tend to our daily oral hygiene as assiduously as we should, to stress-eating and an increased craving for sugar, stress is just bad news for oral health.

De-Stress & help your oral health

Just trying to find time in a busy day to de-stress can be stressful in itself. There are, however, lots of little ways to beat stress on a regular basis that won’t carve too much time out of your day.

1. Breathe
   Taking a series of deep breaths, where you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, can take less than a minute but has surprisingly calming effect.
2. Relax
   Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique where you tense then relax every muscle in your body, one at a time. You might not realise which ones were tense until you focus on them.
3. Drink Water
   Staying hydrated helps prevents headaches, which contribute to the ‘stressed-out’ feeling, and also forces you to take frequent toilet breaks when at work.
4. Smile
   The physical act of smiling forces your facial muscles into a position that triggers the release of endorphins – your body’s natural ‘happy’ chemical. And who knows, your smile might be catching and help the people you work with too.
5. Take 5 Minutes
   Just close your eyes for five minutes and visualise where you’d go if you could. Try to really ‘be’ there, imagining the sights and sounds.

If you have any concerns about the effects of stress on your dental health, contact us today. We’ll check you over and give you lots of great advice!