Stress and anxiety are a virtual constant in today’s hectic society. Demanding bosses, stressful home life, and many other daily-life factors can increasingly weigh you down, both physically and emotionally. The health risks associated with excessive stress are well-known and well-documented, but what about the effects stress can have on your smile’s health and integrity? Your Astoria dentist, Dr. Leibowitz, explores how your mouth reacts to stress, and how these reactions can prove detrimental to the integrity of your teeth and gums.
What is Stress, Anyway?
Most people are familiar with the feeling of stress and can recognize it fairly easily. Fewer people, however, understand what stress is, or the physiological implications of prolonged stress. The heightened awareness, increased heartbeat, and greater amount of adrenaline that comes with stress (also known as the fight-or-flight response) was meant to be a survival mechanism to help you better defend yourself or escape from danger. These days, you’re less likely to run into a predatory wild animal then your ancestors were, but as the world changed, our survival instincts haven’t much. Little things that put you on a defensive can also be considered a threat to your wellbeing, triggering the fight-or-flight response and leading to excessive and dangerous levels of daily stress.
The Dental Signs of Unrest
Have you ever noticed that you clench your teeth when you’re angry, frustrated, or upset? As your muscles tense up from stress, your jaw can involuntarily flex and clench your teeth together. If you’re under continuous stress, then teeth-grinding can become habitual and a danger to your teeth. The constant pressure and friction can lead to severely worn teeth, as well as functional problems with your jaw’s joints and muscles, such as TMJ disorder.
Protect Your Smile from Stressful Influences with Help from Astoria Dentist
You may do well at managing and hiding your stress from those you encounter every day, but the damage to your smile will be obvious when Dr. Leibowitz inspects your oral health. To learn more about protecting your smile from daily life, schedule a dental consultation with your Astoria dentist by calling our office today at (718) 728-8320. Located in the 11106 area, we proudly serve patients from Astoria, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the surrounding communities.
