As you might imagine, most folks tend to see exercise as purely beneficial. It’s only natural – concerned parents, local communities, and even the U.S. government emphasize the good of physical activity. However, the truth is that exercise can harm oral health in some cases. To ensure your workouts don’t harm your teeth and gums, you’ll need to take good and proper measures. As for the specifics, learn more in this summary from your local Parsippany dentist.
Ways Exercise Can Harm Oral Health
While exercise typically benefits your body, it can hurt your smile if you aren’t careful enough. Such damage comes from the following elements:
Open Mouth Breathing
Many people breathe through their mouths while exercising, but this practice isn’t good for you. Research shows it dries out your oral cavity and reduces saliva flow. Given these effects, open-mouth breathing attracts harmful bacteria that elevate your risk of tooth decay, gum disease, and similar issues. This danger is even worse for athletes, who often have more opportunities to breathe through their mouths.
Too Many Sports Drinks
Even though sports drinks can hydrate you, they don’t do your smile any favors. A 2012 study from General Dentistry found that these beverages erode tooth enamel. It turns out they’re so acidic that drinking them for days “rots” your teeth, wearing down your smile’s defenses. Sipping them during workouts also exposes your grin to more sugar than they’d get from downing a whole drink.
Oral Injuries & Accidents
Injuries and accidents involving your mouth are a major risk of physical activity. If you take a wrong step, trip, or collide with someone, you could chip or even knock out a tooth. You could also cut your lips, tongue, inner cheeks, or gums in some scenarios. Should those sorts of injuries occur, you may develop secondary infections.
How Should You Respond?
As you exercise in the future, protect your smile by following these helpful tips:
- Keep Your Mouth Clean – Don’t forget to brush and floss daily and to see your dentist for regular checkups.
- Hydrate with Water – As tasty as sports drinks are, have bottled water to rehydrate from your workouts instead. It isn’t acidic or sugary, so it won’t erode your enamel.
- Practice Nose Breathing – Make it a habit to breathe through your nose when exercising. That way, you won’t dry out your mouth and attract harmful bacteria.
- Wear a Mouthguard – By wearing a mouthguard, you’d prevent many oral injuries and accidents.
If you don’t want exercise to harm oral health, you need to be proactive. Make sure to practice the tricks above and keep your smile safe!
About the Practice
Rauchberg Dental Group is based in Parsippany, NJ. Led by Dr. Alan Rauchberg and his associates, our practice offers smile care for every stage of life. Kids, young adults, and even seniors can benefit from the preventive, cosmetic, and restorative services we provide. That means you and your family will get thriving grins with every visit to our office! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (973)-718-9887.