How Stress Can Affect Your Teeth?

 

Stress has a heavy impact on the body and mind. If the stress is not dealt with, it can lead to many health problems, especially psychological, physiological, and biological. Many factors can be termed as stressors, like environmental stressors, postural stress, and nutritional stress.

Nutritional stress generally occurs from the things consumed or the dietary habits affecting oral health. According to research, there has been evidence, that stress can also suppress the immune system in the human body. Similarly, it can also affect your teeth and jaw health. Let us understand the effect of short-term and chronic stress on your teeth.

How Does Stress Make Your Teeth Hurt?

Tooth decay

Stress can affect your teeth by causing your body to throw away the minerals and increase the acid affecting your tooth surface, thereby leading to a cavity-prone environment in your mouth.

 Moreover, it can lead to the chances of tooth decay when poor diet choices are made out of stress. There is a common phenomenon of eating comfort food during stress, which can help you feel better, hence, you might end up eating sugary items like chocolates, sweets, or stimulants like caffeine or nicotine. These comfort foods are not good for dental health. These comfort foods may lead to decay discoloration and plaque formation on teeth.

 

Teeth Grinding

Typically there are many reasons for grinding of teeth also known as bruxism. What is Bruxism?

 It is a term that means a person Gnash or Clench or Grind the jaws one over the other. Stress has been determined as one of the coherent factors in the incidences of Bruxism. This phenomenon is often seen happening when you are asleep or sometimes when you are awake.

 As a result of Bruxism, you can face health issues like the sourness of jaw muscles, increased tooth sensitivity, deterioration of enamel, and headache related to bruxism. In severe cases, it has been observed that due to clenching of the jaw dental problems such as loosening of teeth or falling out of teeth.

 

Gum Disease

Teeth are anchored in the gums, hence, healthy gums are equal to healthy teeth. Here we are referring to gum diseases in connection to negative emotions. The severity of negative emotions can lead to gum diseases.

 You may ignore the daily oral hygiene routine due to stress like forgetting to brush or skipping the dental checkup sessions. As a result, it may lead to gum and teeth problems. Chronic stress can lead to immune suppression. The immune system when suppressed affects the body in many ways.

 One of which is chronically inflamed gums. This inflammation can lead to loose teeth, reduced teeth bone density, and eventually teeth loss. If gum diseases are not treated, it can lead to many minor or major health issues like cold and cough, cardiac disease, cancer, and many more.

 

Dry Mouth 

Ever noticed your mouth getting dried up when you are stressed?

It has been observed that during stress, dry mouth, and its symptoms are common. A dry mouth can lead to improper chewing and inability to swallow food, decreased taste, and decreased saliva production.

Saliva plays a key role in keeping your oral health optimum. It can avoid the demineralization of teeth and fight the bad bacteria that may lead to cavities or tooth decay if ignored. Thereby, a dry mouth can result in gum diseases, cavities, tooth decay, and an overall negative impact on your dental health.

 

Final Word

 Burton Advance Dental has a team of expert and experienced dentists to guide you to your optimum dental health. There can be incidents where unaddressed dental health problems may lead to severe situations where you might have to look for an emergency dentist. If you are a resident of Mi you can find skilled dentists at our dental clinics. We have state-of-the-art facilities to provide you with the best dental check-up and treatment experience.

Disclaimer- The information provided in this content is just for educational purposes and is written by a professional writer. Consult us to learn more about dental health.