Everyone knows that regular exercise is necessary for a healthy body, but it can take a toll on your teeth if you don’t take the proper precautions. Certain workout habits present real risks to your dental health, and no one wants to lose their pretty smile while working on their physical fitness. Here are some tips from your dentist to keep your workout free of tooth decay and traumatic dental injuries!
Open-Mouth Breathing Can Leave Your Enamel Reeling
Your mouth performs a lot of its own hygiene through a continuous natural cleaning process that uses a constant flow of saliva to wash away debris and bacteria. Saliva also protects teeth from injury by keeping them lubricated. Unfortunately, exercise can disrupt this system in two key ways. Firstly, continuous sweating leads to dehydration which hinders the body’s ability to produce saliva. Secondly, many people begin to breathe through their mouths during strenuous exercise. While this increases the body’s intake of oxygen, it also leads to evaporation of much of the saliva in the mouth.
This reduced flow of saliva disrupts the mouth’s natural cleaning process, allowing bacteria to multiply and acid to erode enamel uninhibited. Solutions to these issues include practicing breathing through your nose during strenuous exercise and drinking plenty of water. Like saliva flow, drinking water will help wash your teeth of bacteria and food debris.
Rethink Sports Drinks
Sports drinks are formulated to replenish the nutrients that are lost during continuous exercise such as carbs, electrolytes, and water. While they succeed in doing this, they are also comparable to colas in terms of sugar and acid content. Sugar feeds the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease while the acid goes straight to work at eating away your enamel. To make matters worse, you might already be dehydrated and breathing through your mouth while working out, and this disruption of saliva flow can leave a sports drink’s sugary residue on your teeth for an extended period.
Sports drinks aren’t going to destroy your teeth if you consume them on occasion, but they’ll eat away at your enamel if you drink them regularly. Water is the best workout beverage for your dental health.
Going Hard? Wear a Mouthguard!
Football, baseball, basketball, and other sports are great ways to get a solid workout and have fun while doing it. Unfortunately, they come with the risk of dental injury. You can avoid chipped, cracked, fractured, and dislodged teeth by wearing a mouthguard. You can buy one at the store, but the best way to get one is from your dentist. They can supply you with a professional-grade mouthguard customized to fit your mouth, providing you with the best athletic dental protection available.
Exercise is a necessary part of a long and happy life, so you shouldn’t let fears of dental injuries get in the way of your workout. By keeping these risks in mind and taking measures to mitigate them, you can exercise confidently with a safe smile.
About the Author
Dr. Arthur Volker earned his doctorate from Columbia University’s School of Dental and Oral Surgery before completing a General Practice Residency at the New York Hospital of Queens. He is a proud member of the American Dental Association, the New York State Dental Association, and the Academy of General Dentistry. Areas of expertise include general, pediatric, restorative, cosmetic, and emergency dentistry. For more information on keeping your teeth safe while exercising, contact his office in Sunnyside, NY online or dial (718) 937-6750.