3 Dental Diagnoses That Reveal Your Current Stress Level
Are you currently dealing with heavy amounts of stress in your life? Did you know that stress is so prevalent, your dentist can tell whether or not you're stressing out? What does your oral health have to do with your stress level? Read on to learn how stress is affecting your oral health and specifically your teeth and jaws.
Stress Makes You Grind Your Teeth
You might not realize this, but if you're enduring high levels of stress, then there's a very good chance that you're performing involuntary behaviors, such as grinding your teeth. Your dentist will easily be able to tell if you're grinding your teeth because the edges of your teeth will look worn down.
When this happens, fractures can develop, and eventually, the tips of your teeth will break off. Even if your teeth don't decay, uneven tooth edges cause your jaws and your health teeth to work harder than they should. This is when you might start to experience jaw pain.
Your Jaws Are Constantly Sore
If you leave your stress levels and your teeth untreated, then you'll start to notice pain in your jaws. This comes from jaw clenching, and unfortunately, you often won't notice that you're clenching. If you're at this stage with your stress and your oral health, then you'll probably require a consultation with a neuromuscular specialist.
In addition to experiencing pain in your jaws during times of extreme mental stress, you'll probably also experience symptoms such as jaw popping or jaw clicking. If so, then you should inform your general dentist or your specialist of these symptoms immediately.
You've Developed Migraines
As if the jaw pain weren't bothersome enough to deal with, don't be surprised if migraines have developed. Unfortunately, experiencing a migraine episode will also cause you to clench your jaws. You'll also experience symptoms such as dizziness, tremors, natural light sensitivity, nausea, and disorientation. If you're experiencing this along with a combination of other symptoms, then you'll probably be diagnosed with TMD.
What Can You Do?
Fortunately, you don't have to suffer through these ailments on your own. It goes without saying that you'll need to find healthy ways to cope with your stress levels. Try to identify what's causing you stress in your life. But, in the meantime, ask your family dental specialist to diagnose you, so that you can receive dental appliances that are designed to stop the jaw clenching and the tooth grinding.
Recovery from oral ailments related to stress might take a while, but in due time, you'll be restored back to a good bill of oral health. For more advice, speak with experts like Hurst Family Dental.
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