How Stress Can Affect Your Smile

You may be aware that stress is not good for your mind, body, and skin, but did you know that long-term stress can also affect your smile? Researchers have established a link between stress and oral health, with one study revealing that individuals with greater apparent stress also report poorer oral health.

3 Oral Problems (Linked to Stress) That Can Affect Your Smile

There are some oral problems that go hand in hand with stress. Some of which do not affect your smile, while some of them have a negative impact on the way your smile looks and functions. Let’s focus on the three oral problems linked to stress that can affect your beautiful smile:

Teeth Grinding

Teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, is a condition where a person grinds or clenches their teeth unconsciously. Grinding or clenching teeth is one of the common involuntary reactions to fear, anger, and stress.

Prolonged stress can cause constant teeth grinding, resulting in symptoms such as jaw popping, broken/damaged teeth, face pain, consistent headaches, tight jaw muscles, and lower jaw swelling. All of these symptoms have the potential to affect your smile negatively.

Gum Inflammation

Research reveals that individuals who are undergoing a stressful event are at an increased risk of periodontal disease. When your body is under stress, it generates more of the hormone cortisol, which serves as an anti-inflammatory agent.

When this hormone is generated peripherally in the gums, it activates mast cells to create more proteins, increasing inflammation and gum disease development. This oral disease can progress to affect the bone that surrounds and supports your teeth. When this occurs, it not only affects one’s smile, but it causes pain that affects one’s quality of life.

Dry Mouth

During periods of intense stress, your body tends to be more prone to acid reflux symptoms. The acid affects salivary glands and leads to less saliva production, leaving your mouth dry. Being excessively dry in the mouth causes a sticky feeling, bad taste, bad odour, and it can also increase your risk of cavities and tooth decay. All these symptoms can negatively affect your smile.

Let The Dental Room Restore Your Beautiful Smile Today!

At The Dental Room, we understand that finding a trusted, high-quality, and the affordable dental clinic can be difficult. That’s why we combine advanced dental technology with outstanding customer service to provide you and your family the best possible dental care in Calgary (downtown). We’d be happy to talk to you about our Calgary dental services such as Invisalign, teeth whitening, dental implants and more!

Contact us or give us a call at (403) 269-5411 today to book an appointment.