How Stress Could Be Harming Your Dental Health

Stress is an unavoidable part of human life. While it is often thought to be a mental ailment, those who have experienced stress for extended or even shorter periods will know that it can manifest itself in our bodies and affect our physical health.

While there are many ways that stress can affect our bodies, sustained stress can also noticeably affect our dental health. In this blog, we’ll examine the effects of stress on dental health and symptoms of how our mental health can affect our teeth, gums, and mouth.

DISCLAIMER: If you feel the stress is more than you can handle, you may wish to contact your doctor, who can recommend a qualified therapist or counsellor.

Oral hygiene neglect

When we are stressed or suffering from anxiety, our thoughts tend to be more scattered. This can leave us feeling like we have less time as our days become less structured. In turn, we may forget to fulfil our daily responsibilities and habits like brushing our teeth.

When we don’t brush our teeth – even for a single morning or evening – bacteria and plaque can enter the mouth and damage our enamel and gums, as well as cause bad breath and gum inflammation. If caught quickly, these symptoms can be mitigated effectively but can have a lasting effect if occurring frequently. Not only can this lead to poor health through a more significant risk of infection, but it can also be a contributing factor in lowering our self-esteem, creating a vicious cycle of poor mental and physical health.

When we feel this way, it can be harder to maintain our personal hygiene, but making an effort to do so by committing to brushing our teeth at certain times (alongside a consistent bedtime routine) can make a big difference. If you’re struggling to remember to do so, setting reminders on your phone can help you keep on top of things.

Teeth grinding (bruxism)

One of the most common symptoms of dental/physical stress is teeth grinding or bruxism. The act of quite literally grinding one’s teeth against one another, bruxism can occur during our sleeping or waking hours.

Sustained periods of teeth grinding can lead to several uncomfortable symptoms, including headaches, jaw pain and tooth sensitivity, and in more severe cases, can affect the shape of our teeth over time. The sound of teeth grinding can also disrupt those with whom the afflicted person shares their bed.

While stress and anxiety are what grinding is most commonly linked to, other factors such as snoring, sleep apnoea and the abuse of certain illicit drugs can also exacerbate grinding tendencies.

Due to the interconnected nature of our physical and mental state, there is no one guaranteed solution for bruxism. There are, however, several habits you can put in place to minimise its symptoms – the first of which, unsurprisingly, is finding ways to reduce stress in your waking life, which applies to all entries on this list.

This can include implementing easy-to-manage habits, such as getting a longer sleep, less caffeine and other stimulants, less screen time closer to bedtime, relaxing baths and exercising to dissipate excess energy.

Your healthcare professional may also recommend a mouthguard to help reduce the immediate effects of teeth grinding. These come in various forms so please discuss your symptoms with your dentist. They are custom-fitted for retention and comfort.

Gum disease

As previously established, the connection between our physical and mental health is extremely strong, so it should come as no surprise that when we become stressed for extended periods, this can significantly impact the strength of our immune system, which can, in turn, make us more susceptible to illness, including gum disease. This is often due to the release of cortisol, a.k.a. the ‘stress hormone’ that can deregulate our immune system.

Alongside the measures that we’ve mentioned above that help to deal with stress, e.g. focusing on routine and relaxing activities, the symptoms of gum disease can be further reduced in several ways, including:

• Flossing regularly to remove hard-to-reach plaque
• Reducing blockers to oral hygiene, e.g. smoking
• Reduce foods that damage teeth, e.g. sweets and starchy foods
• Increase intake of nutritious foods, e.g. leafy greens and dairy products

Mouth sores and ulcers

While not all of us will experience gum disease or bruxism, few have been lucky enough never to have had a mouth ulcer at one time or another. Often going as quickly as they come, mouth ulcers are nevertheless an unpleasant experience. While not as direct a symptom of stress as other entries on this list, their appearance usually indicates an imbalance exacerbated by stress.

Mouth ulcers, are relatively easy to get through various triggers. Accidentally biting or scratching your mouth’s interior tissue, hormonal changes, mouth infections, and vitamin deficiencies are all reasonably common ways to get them.

As stated, ulcers may present themselves due to other imbalances or stress-related behaviours. For example, bruxism makes it more likely that the mouth’s interior may be damaged, gum disease may be caused by poor dental hygiene due to routine degradation, and vitamin deficiency may be caused by poor diet and a similar lack of habit.

While ulcers tend to disappear relatively quickly, a balanced diet, softer foods, and a toothbrush with softer bristles will give your mouth all it needs to fight them and prevent future occurrences.

Dry mouth (xerostomia)

‘Dry mouth’ may sound like an unusual entry on this list, and it’s common for us to occasionally and temporarily have a dry mouth for a number of reasons. However, you may not know that sustained dry mouth is its own condition, known medically as xerostomia, which relates quite simply to a lack of saliva in the mouth.

While having a dry mouth is common, symptoms such as fissures in the tongue, bad breath, cracked lips, and a general feeling of dryness in the mouth and throat are all common indicators that you’re experiencing xerostomia.

While xerostomia may be a symptom of more serious conditions, such as diabetes, stroke, or Alzheimer’s, it can also be a sign of stress. It indicates a lack of hydration and excess sugar intake—both indicators of upset or poor routine. To fight these issues, try to consume fewer foods high in sugar and drink your recommended daily water intake—roughly 1.9 litres per day, according to the NHS.

Because xerostomia can sometimes indicate something more serious, contacting your doctor is recommended should your symptoms persist.

Next steps

Letting go of stress can be challenging, but it isn’t impossible. Although it can feel like many small problems to fix, it can be reassuring to know that it takes small, manageable solutions to get you feeling like your best self again.

While we can’t directly support mental health issues, if you ever need to speak to one of our dentists about a problem you’re having with your dental health, Clyde Munro is here to help. Find your nearest practice here.