April is National Stress Awareness Month. Not that we need more reminders of our stress lately! As much as we might feel aware of the problem of excess stress in our lives, many of us don’t actually recognize some of the most common signs and symptoms of stress. Most of us could use some guidance when it comes to learning coping strategies and ways to decompress. That’s why healthcare professionals across the country recognize this month as a chance to increase public awareness of stress.
How Bad Is Stress for Us, Really?
In short: stress can make you extremely sick. Stress can drive up our blood pressure, strain our relationships, and even tax our immune systems. We all know that familiar feeling when stress creeps up on us, but most of us experience it completely differently. It might feel like tightness in your back, a sick stomach, or racing pulse. For others, you may feel numb, foggy, or fatigued. No matter how your body responds to stress, it can disrupt your life and make it hard to get through your day.
Types of Stress
There are two main types of stress: acute and chronic. Acute stress is usually a reaction to a stressful event. Maybe you’re stuck in traffic or got into an argument. Acute stress is short-term and usually diminishes once the problem is solved.
Chronic stress, on the other hand, is long-term and can have much more negative impact on your health. That once-in-a-while traffic jam might be easy to shake off later in your day unless you’re a long-distance driver whose tight schedule has been constantly disrupted by traffic. A one-off argument might come to an end. But if you have a boss or coworker or spouse who constantly starts fights, it can wear on you.
Chronic stress is the type that can cause sleep disorders, headaches, muscle pain, stomach ulcers, heart problems, and so on. Amazingly, stress can also weaken your immune system and even lead to strokes. The problem comes when the hormones produced during stress, meant to give your body a boost to escape danger, don’t fall back to normal levels. With world events piling up, many of us have been living with chronic stress for at least the past two years now and the strain is starting to show.
How Stress Affects Your Oral Health
Beyond the strain on your body and organs, prolonged stress can really take a toll on your oral health. Most stress-related oral health issues come from grinding and clenching and may include nail biting and other habits of that kind. Our bodies frequently respond to stress by trying to work off the extra energy those stress hormones give us. When we’re not running from a tiger as our stress hormones have prepared us to do, our muscles may start to work on their own. That tension in your shoulders, stiff neck, and tight jaw are all very common outlets for energy from stress.
Symptoms of Grinding and Clenching
Over time, grinding and clenching can cause other symptoms of stress which you might not realize are related to your oral health. Many people experience headaches as a symptom of stress. But did you know that many chronic headaches actually relate to grinding your teeth?
The muscles we use to close our jaw and bite down cover a lot of real estate on our heads. There are the big, strong closers on the sides of our jaws, of course. There are also wide fans of muscle that cover the sides of our heads, all the way up to the temples, as well as small muscles that are deeply woven into the muscles at the base of our skull. Overusing those strong chewing muscles can cause headaches, neck pain, stiff shoulders, and even pain and muscle spasms down into the upper back!
Stress May Damage Your Teeth
All that extra pressure can cause some serious wear and tear on your teeth. Nail biting, for example, can wear down and flatten the biting edges of your front teeth. Over time, they may appear shorter, discolored, and may chip frequently.
Similarly, your back teeth can become worn and damaged from clenching and grinding. Cracks, fractures and chips are all common signs of grinding. This constant pressure on your teeth can also decrease the lifespan of your crowns and fillings, meaning they will need to be re-done more often. Grinding can end up being a very expensive problem!
Stress-Related Soft Tissue Damage
Perhaps most surprising to many people, stress can actually cause gum recession! Grinding and clenching habits that put extra pressure on your teeth can compromise how your gums attach to your teeth. Because your teeth flex a little bit under pressure (which they’re supposed to!), grinding creates abnormal motion in your teeth. Your gums may retreat down the side of your tooth over time, revealing some of the root of your tooth. That is called gum recession and it can be a major problem in the long term.
In addition, may people take to chewing the insides of their cheeks when they’re stressed. Most of us aren’t even aware we are chewing our cheeks. Over time, this habit can cause calluses to form in the soft tissue, leading to an uncomfortable buildup of dead skin.
How to Protect Your Teeth from Stress
Okay, so we’re stressed. We know it’s affecting us and damaging our teeth. So what do we do? Fortunately, your team here at Lake Baldwin Dental has tons of solutions for nearly every stress-related oral health problem.
Try to Decompress
For some of us, grinding and clenching may lessen if our stress levels drop. This isn’t true for everyone, but destressing is still good for all of us!
Since stress does the most damage when we don’t work off those energy-boosting stress hormones, getting more exercise is a great way to cope. Burning off extra energy can help balance your body, correct the strain on your heart, boost your immune system, and also give you a nice rush of endorphins to help you feel happier. Meditation works for many people, and who doesn’t love a good relaxation massage? We also recommend talking out your problems. Talking about it can help you feel less isolated and connecting with others naturally relieves stress. Professional counseling is a great idea, especially if your stress has you feeling depressed or hopeless.
Tooth-Specific Stress Protection
Even with the best coping strategies, some of us will still find ourselves grinding. In these cases, your dental team can jump to the rescue!
For people whose grinding or clenching has come on suddenly and has not been a long-term problem, warm compresses, massaging the chewing muscles, ibuprofen and a soft diet usually does the trick. We may be able to add on other medications as well to help those muscles un-clench.
If your grinding appears to be ongoing (and many of us won’t even realize we have a grinding problem!), an acrylic guard worn at night can be a real lifesaver. It not only protects your teeth but can also help align your jaw to help your muscles relax. Many patients report less frequent headaches and relief of neck and back pain when using a guard! In addition, we can also recommend Botox therapy to help deprogram your chewing muscles and relieve pain and stiffness.
Some grinding is not related by stress. If your bite is uneven, orthodontic treatment may help resolve the issue. Many patients grind at night due to breathing trouble, so we may recommend seeing your doctor about a sleep apnea consultation. Every case is different, so don’t hesitate to ask!
As always, Dr. Dunn and the entire LBD team is here to help you achieve great oral health. Sometimes, that means going beyond just cleanings and fillings! If you think stress is causing your teeth trouble, schedule a consultation or ask at your next oral health check. Relax and keep smiling, Orlando!
