Stress can make you smile a lot less. But did you know that it’s something that can actually have a considerable impact on your oral health? So if you are considering your pearly whites as some of your best physical attributes and you are stressed most of the time, keep on reading this article.

Below you will come across some of the reasons why stress can put your smile in grave danger.

Make sure that you share this article on your various social media sites most especially if you have family members and friends who have phenomenal smiles but are leading very stressful lives — you can help keep their chompers out of harm’s way by introducing them to the ill effects of stress to the mouth.

Stress Can Cause the Teeth to Crack or Chip

Have you heard about bruxism? This is the fancy term that dentists use in order to refer to the involuntary grinding of the teeth usually during sleep. It’s not only annoying to the ears of anyone who is sleeping right next to the person who is suffering from it, but it can actually damage the pearly whites of someone who has it.

According to dental experts, bruxism is usually a result of stress. Aside from effectively managing stress, the use of a custom-made mouth guard during sleep is recommended.

Stress Can Trigger Acid Reflux

Everyone who suffers from acid reflux knows that it’s something that can cause pain or discomfort in the chest area. Did you know that having acid reflux is also bad for your chompers? It’s for the fact stomach acids can actually reach your mouth especially when you are lying down or sleeping, thus eroding the enamel of your tooth.

You don’t want to have the enamel of your teeth to become eroded because it can cause painful tooth sensitivity, plus it can make your teeth discolored. And by the way, acid reflux can also cause bad breath!

Stress Can Bring About Jaw Problems

Each time you are stressed, various muscles in the body become tensed, and it includes those that support your jaws. As a result, you may hear a clicking sound in your jaw area each time you open your mouth to speak or eat. According to dentists, treatment options include the use of a special splint and botox injections.

The effect of stress on your jaw muscles not only causes you to perceive a clicking sound, but may also leave you experiencing headaches as well as painful and frozen shoulders.

Stress Can Cause Bleeding Gums

Medical doctors say that your immune system can be considerably weakened by high levels of stress. One of the many problems that you may encounter is bleeding gums often due to gingivitis. If the problem is not addressed properly, such can lead to periodontitis whose damage to your teeth and gums are irreversible.

Bleeding gums can also cause you to lose your pearly whites — it is your gums that hold the teeth in place as well as protect the bones to which every single one of your tooth is attached.

Stress Can Increase Your Risk of Tooth Decay

Have you heard about stress eating? It’s that inability to steer clear of consuming foods each time that you are feeling stressed. More often than not, the foods craved by those who are stress eating are sugary ones. Everyone knows that a diet that’s high in sugar can cause cavities, among so many other health problems.

Dealing with stress helps save you from becoming a stress eater, thus allowing you to protect your smile against getting damaged and your waistline from expanding.