The Effects of Stress on your Oral Health

The stress in your life can have a negative effect on your teeth, jaw and your overall health. At Gentle Care Dentistry we particularly focus on your oral health, but we believe that looking after your overall health is just as important.

Effects of stress on your oral health

We understand that stress can lead to particular problems for your oral health including:

• Mouth sores or cold sores are caused mostly from emotional stress

• Increase in teeth grinding including an increase during your sleep

• Increase in constant clenching of your teeth which can cause sore jaw and teeth

• Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is a condition that affects the jaw joint. Stress is a factor of TMD and can aggravate TMD

• Decrease in oral health as may feel overwhelmed and not have enough time to brush or floss regularly

• When stressed, most people have poor diet due to lack of time to eat healthy and accessibility

• Stress can affect your immune system and can cause damage to your gums. Research has found that the severity of gum disease increased with the amount of stress that was experienced by the patient in the previous 12 months.

Tips to help deal with stress

1. Take a 5 minute break and focus on your breathing, and make sure you are taking long deep breathes.

2. Listen to soothing music to help relax

3. Exercising regularly helps you decompress and ease your stress

4. If you notice yourself clenching, try and stop yourself

5. Reach out to friends and family to help reduce your stress levels