
How Stress Can Impact Your Oral Health
The Effects of Stress On Oral Health
The world today is a hectic, complex place, and stress is a common concern for most people. While a certain level of stress can be positive and make you feel more alert and even give you more energy, it can also be negative and make it difficult for you to concentrate or relax. What most people don’t realize is that it can also take a serious toll on your body — even your oral health.
Stress and Teeth Grinding
When you’re stressed, you’re more likely to clench your teeth — especially at night — or slide them back and forth over each other. Also called Bruxism, teeth grinding is a serious condition that shouldn’t be ignored. It can cause serious, chronic conditions if not treated.
Some of the symptoms of teeth grinding include:
- Sleep disorders
- Headaches
- Jaw pain
- Abnormal tooth wear
- Broken or chipped teeth
- TMJ disorder
- Changes in the appearance of your face
The offices of Gole Dental can make you a custom bite guard that you can wear when you sleep to help treat your symptoms and protect you from the damages of teeth grinding.
Stress and Teeth Grinding
When you’re stressed, you’re more likely to clench your teeth — especially at night — or slide them back and forth over each other. Also called Bruxism, teeth grinding is a serious condition that shouldn’t be ignored. It can cause serious, chronic conditions if not treated.
Some of the symptoms of teeth grinding include:
- Sleep disorders
- Headaches
- Jaw pain
- Abnormal tooth wear
- Broken or chipped teeth
- TMJ disorder
- Changes in the appearance of your face
The offices of Gole Dental can make you a custom bite guard that you can wear when you sleep to help treat your symptoms and protect you from the damages of teeth grinding.
Stress and Canker Sores
Canker sores are small ulcers that appear in the mouth and often make eating and talking uncomfortable. While their exact cause has yet to be determined, what is known is that they appear more often during times of high stress and anxiety.
According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, these are also possible causes:
- Minor mouth injuries
- Brushing too hard
- Sports accidents
- Accidental cheek bites
- Oral health products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate
- Sensitivity to certain foods (such as chocolate, strawberries, coffee, cheese,
- nuts, eggs, and/or spicy and acidic foods)
- A deficiency in vitamin B-12, zinc, folate (folic acid) or iron
- Allergic responses to certain mouth bacteria
- Hormonal shifts
- Emotional stress
Stress and Gum Disease
Researchers at Tufts University have found that when the body is experiencing stress, its ability to manufacture immune cells to protect against bacteria is compromised. This means your immune system is compromised, allowing bacteria to thrive and inflammation to increase.
The Academy of General Dentistry backs this up, saying “Stress affects the immune system, which fights against the bacteria that causes periodontal disease, making a person more prone to gum infection.”
Stress and TMJ Disorder
Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) can cause pain in your jaw joint and in the muscles that control jaw movement. During times of stress, the overuse of jaw muscles and cause you to clench or grind your teeth–as was talked about earlier.
Symptoms of TMJ include:
- Tenderness or pain in your jaw
- Pain in one or both of the temporomandibular joints
- Aching pain in and around your ear
- Difficulty chewing or pain while chewing
- Aching facial pain
- Locking of the joint, making it difficult to open or close your mouth
Stress and Oral Hygiene Neglect
When you’re stressed, self-care practices can often go to the wayside. Often sleep is compromised, which means there’s less energy necessary to complete even simple tasks like brushing and flossing.
In addition, nutritional choices are often compromised in times of stress, and we often crave more sugary foods. Unfortunately, those foods can wreak havoc on your oral health, especially if you’re not engaging in proper oral hygiene.
How You Can Reduce Your Stress
Managing stress is easier said than done, but it starts with creating a plan to reduce stressors in your life — or if that’s not possible, a plan on how you can better handle that stress. Find relaxing techniques you can rely on during high-stress periods of time, get plenty of sleep, stay active and exercise, and eat a healthy, balanced diet.
Make sure you keep up with your oral hygiene practices at home, and see your dentist regularly for check-ups and cleanings.
To learn more about how stress affects your teeth and gums — and to find out if your mouth is showing signs of stress-related conditions — call Gole Dental today. A comprehensive examination will tell us if you’re grinding your teeth and if you’re showing any signs of gum disease. We can also talk about healthy ways to reduce the stress you may be currently dealing with in your life. Reach out to us at Gole Dental today!