A Closer Look at How Dental Health Impacts Your Well-Being

Dental health is a universal human need and because of that, there has been a lot of research into what causes poor dental health and how it affects human beings as a whole. Read below to get a closer look at how dental health impacts not only your mouth but also your well-being.

Physical Health

Most people do not think about the rest of their body when they think about their oral health, but the mouth can cause more problems than you may think. Toothaches can lead to migraines, fever, and even infections. If you get an infection in your tooth and you ignore it, the infection can spread to other parts of your body, even traveling down to your heart and possibly causing a heart attack.

Poor dental health can also cause long-term issues like Alzheimer’s. When a person does not take care of their mouth, their gums become inflamed and possibly infected. That can travel up to the brain, which is not far away, and kill brain cells slowly, possibly causing degenerative brain diseases later in life. 

These are just a few reasons why it is so important to stay up-to-date with your dental care and if you feel like something is wrong in your mouth, book a dental appointment as soon as possible. Having dental pain is something that is hard to ignore because it is right in your face, but there are still many people who put off getting their teeth checked because they are afraid of the dentist or don’t have the time for it. You should always make time for your teeth because they are the only ones you have.

Preventative Care

Preventative care is one of the best things you can do for the well-being of your teeth and yourself. If you are worried about the future of your teeth and want to make sure you are doing as much preventative dental care as you can, then visit a dental clinic and talk to a dentist about certain measures you can take to keep your teeth strong and healthy for as long as possible. In a regular check-up, dentists can usually tell if your mouth is doing anything weird to cause problems to your teeth. 

One of the big issues that many people have is that they grind their teeth in their sleep. To prevent serious damage to your molars because of this, your dentist will probably make you a custom preventative mouth guard that you can wear when you go to sleep to keep your jaw from grinding your teeth to dust. Another preventative measure is purchasing specific medicated toothpaste that can work to help you keep your enamel and help people who have very sensitive teeth.

Quality of Life

Poor dental health can severely affect your quality of life in many ways. People who have constant tooth pain because of dead or rotting teeth have trouble eating which can lead to malnutrition if untreated. They can also suffer from chronic pain and thus can fall into taking painkillers too often. This can cause liver and kidney failure as well as loss of appetite and stomach ulcers. 

A person’s quality of life can also be affected by poor dental hygiene because people may not interact with them the same way they would with people who have good oral health. Oftentimes rotting teeth cause horrible breath that cannot be solved unless a tooth is pulled. This can be very offputting for many people and may cause those affected to become socially isolated. This can make their quality of life decrease and even shorten their lifespan because loneliness is known to cut lives shorter than those who are not lonely. 

These issues with teeth may also prevent a person from getting jobs, getting promotions, or even finding a life partner. Upward social mobility is hard if you are missing teeth or have teeth that are clearly unhealthy. On top of the outward appearance, those who have delta health issues are likely sick a lot with toothaches or infections, so they may not be able to hold down jobs or be social very often. 

Having a good smile makes all the difference when a person looks in the mirror. People who are missing teeth or have teeth that appear to be decaying are known to have low self-esteem. They do not often smile and when they laugh, they put their hand in front of their mouth. This is not living life to the fullest because there is too much self-consciousness about the way their teeth look. A lack of self-esteem can lead to other health issues, especially mental health problems.

A lot of times, the best solution for people who have had a hard time with their dental health is to get implants or have all of their bad teeth pulled so that they can wear dentures. These sparkly white solutions can significantly boost the self-esteem of someone who has suffered from shame of their teeth for most of their life.

Self Esteem

Risk Management

We are only given one set of teeth in our adult lives, so making sure that we are not participating in activities that could harm them can have a big impact on our well-being. The best way to practice risk management with your teeth is to avoid things like opening bottles with your teeth, biting into hard candies, and munching on ice to prevent breaking or cracking of teeth. To avoid long-term enamel loss, cut down on acidic foods, drink less alcohol, reduce coffee intake, and even be aware of how hard you are brushing your teeth. Another way to cut down the risk of tooth loss or tooth decay is to avoid smoking or chewing tobacco. This is one of the riskiest habits you can pick up when it comes to dental health. 

The human experience of having teeth in our mouth is a strange one, but it is a fact we all have to live with. Think about how the points above have an impact on your dental health and remember the advice the next time you are about to bite into a hard food or drink some black coffee.