Stress And The Negative Affect On Your Oral Health

At Seven Star Dental, we are passionate about our patients’ oral and overall health. There is one condition that can cause great harm to your oral and overall health — stress. There are a variety of challenges we may face on any given day, including financial worries, family issues, too much work, or road traffic. Any of these issues can lead to higher stress. You may be surprised to learn that your mouth will tell us if you are under stress. When we check your mouth and teeth during an oral hygiene examination, we may notice certain telltale signs in your mouth, including:

Signs of Clenching and Grinding
It is common for your body to become tense when you are stressed. This can also cause your mouth to clench, which can lead to bruxism, a common condition in which you clench and grind your teeth. Unfortunately, this often happens during sleep, so you may not be aware of it. If not treated, it can lead to cracked teeth and uneven wear of the tooth enamel.

Canker Sores
One side effect of stress is biting the side of your mouth or chewing on your lips. This type of trauma to your mouth can cause painful canker sores to develop, which take days to heal and can make it difficult to eat and drink.

Dry Mouth
Increased stress can raise your heart rate and your breathing rate, similar to when you are exercising. This often leads to mouth breathing, which causes the saliva in your mouth to dry up, also commonly known as dry mouth. When you don’t have enough saliva in your mouth, it promotes harmful bacteria, which cause decay or gum disease.

If you notice that you are experiencing any issues with your mouth, please contact our office located in Cincinnati, OH as soon as possible. Dental issues that remain untreated can progress into something more serious over time and lead to extreme discomfort and costly repairs. We also recommend scheduling an appointment if you have not had a routine hygiene examination in some time. We hope to see you soon!