With recession affecting economies the world over, stress has found another reason to bother people. Stress affects each and everyone of us, and it can hit us anytime. Most of us know of how stress affects our mental and physical well being. Among other things, stress is responsible for affecting our dental health as well. In today’s post, we will look at how exactly stress and dental health are related.

• Stress is directly responsible for conditions like dry mouth, canker sores, burning mouth, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), and myofacial pain dysfunction (MPD).

• Prolonged stress makes it difficult for the body to fight infections, making you prone to the gum diseases – gingivitis and periodontitis.
• Stress causes people to ignore oral care. This makes the mouth susceptible to various dental problems and gum diseases.
• There is one habit that many develop while they are in stress. They start grinding their teeth. This habit causes their teeth to chip or break.
• Some anti-depressants and stress-relieving medicine can cause dental problems such as dry mouth. Also, one of the side effects of such medication is vomiting which can cause erosion of the teeth enamel.
• People who are stressed look at different ways of de-stressing themselves. However, some tend to smoke and drink more in order to de-stress. This increases the chances of being affected by gum diseases and other dental problems.

It is important that you do not miss your appointments with the dentist. Try to pay attention to your smile, irrespective of what is going on in your life. Your smile can help recover not only you from stress but also several others.

Happy smiling!

Tags: Dental Health, stress