How much do you truly value your oral health? Many people often neglect just how much work their teeth and gums do for them. The only time they pay attention is when they experience aches and discomforts that could be symptoms of underlying conditions. When not treated, these may lead to serious diseases like pneumonia and endocarditis.
The good news is that achieving good oral health is easier than you might expect. It will please you to discover that your regular gym attendance benefits it in a lot of surprising ways. Next time, when you feel like skipping your morning run or taking the elevator, you’ll do well to remember that a little bit of effort goes a long way in keeping your mouth healthy.
Prevent Gum Disease
Gum disease or periodontitis, which is characterized by teeth loss, painful chewing, and bad breath is largely attributed to poor brushing habits. Without proper cleaning, plaque covers your teeth and gives rise to a multitude of complications.
However, it isn’t the one and only culprit you have to look out for. Obesity can also trigger this due to the increased number of fat cells in a person’s body. The more fat cells you have, the weaker your immune system and the more susceptible you are to inflammations.
Exercising regularly keeps your weight in check and therefore increases your chances of fighting off bacteria that might give rise or hasten the progress of gum disease.
In case you’re an active person with good oral health but still suffer from periodontitis, it’s worth visiting a dentist. There are reputable clinics you can go to for professional advice.
Improve Your BMI
Preventing gum disease isn’t the only advantage of exercising for better oral health. A recent study discovered that your body mass index impacts your carious lesions, which refers to the breakdown of your tooth’s visible hole.
People with lower BMI tend to cultivate fewer cavities that cause carious lesions. The higher your BMI, however, the more carious lesions you could suffer from. Again, it’s best to seek a professional to determine your BMI and find ways to maintain the right score. You’ll likely be advised to perform isotonic and isometric exercises to achieve a healthy result based on your height and age. The exercises that fall into these categories are intended for weight loss and maintenance.
Avoid Grinding Teeth
Do you grind your teeth whenever you’re stressed or anxious? You’re not the only one. A lot of people suffer from this bad habit, and as a result, end up wearing down their teeth. It’s a gradual process with damages that you won’t notice at once. There comes a point, however, when you’ll just see or feel the aftermath, and there’s no way to fix it other than an expensive dental treatment.
Since exercising helps reduce your stress levels, it’s a cheap and practical way to avoid grinding your teeth. Even just thirty minutes to an hour of mild exercise daily has tremendous effects on your mood, which prevents you from getting overly stressed or anxious. Moreover, it also discourages stress eating. Consuming food based on your emotions makes you reach for sweet and salty things, and you don’t need further explanation as to how badly these foods can damage your teeth.
Boost Digestive Health
Your teeth and gums need a lot of nutrients to stay in top shape. Poor digestive health, however, can easily get in the way of that. This is where exercise steps in to make a huge difference.
Exercising forces the blood to flow better along with your digestive system’s muscles. This then leads to the quicker and more efficient movement of food through your digestive tract. There is also scientific evidence to prove that regular physical activity has a positive impact on your gut’s bacteria. Any imbalance in these bacteria can cause gut dysbiosis, which is also called “leaky” gut. The oral health conditions it triggers range from gingivitis to tooth decay.
Good Oral Hygiene and Exercising
Good oral hygiene and exercising must go hand-in-hand if you want to achieve healthier teeth and gums. If you think you’re not reaping the aforementioned benefits, then it’s worth re-assessing your habits. Are you using the correct mouth products? Do you tend to offset every workout with fast food binges? It could also be that you need to step up your exercise routine to start seeing a difference.
Finally, these aren’t excuses to miss out on a dentist appointment. No matter how much your brush your teeth and work out, only a professional can truly tell whether you’re going a good job or not.
