How Chronic Stress Can Impact Your Smile

Written By Dr. Jason Cellars

Stress is a part of our daily life. In fact, stress episodes are normal, natural, and needed in nature for survival. In dangerous or emergency situations, acute stress allows us to focus and react more efficiently for our safety. However, when these stress signals become commonplace and we experience stress for extended periods throughout each day, it begins to have a negative effect on our well-being. When people are chronically stressed they can experience a variety of physical and mental health problems; from hypertension and heart disease to physiological disorders and physical ailments. Managing your stress in the over-stimulating, over-active world that we live in is a worthy task and essential for maintaining your highest and best self physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As a practicing cosmetic and general dentist, I see the signs of stress in people’s teeth on a daily basis. Clenching and grinding are usually indicative of stress and can be seen as wear on a patient’s teeth or cracks and chips on the patient’s teeth. These patients will often also have TMJ disease and pain and soreness in their jaw, shoulders, temples, and ears. Stress and TMJ often work together where there is an underlying issue with the joint or bite, but it is the stress that the patient is constantly under that is the underlying trigger. It is as if you had one leg slightly shorter than the other; if you are only walking about your day this slight deviation may never cause a problem, but if you were to start running several miles a day, the difference in length would cause all sorts of pain in your back and knees because you are putting stress on the uneven system. 

When we see these symptoms in our patients, the first thing we always want to do is to try and fix the underlying stress issue. Lifestyle changes, such as getting more sleep, meditating, exercising daily, drinking enough water, and limiting caffeine and alcohol intake, can all drastically help lower your stress levels. If these changes are implemented and yet, they are still experiencing too much stress, we often will next recommend that the patient look into therapy or consult a psychologist. While we would prefer to manage stress holistically, without medication, it is sometimes a very viable method that often isn’t explored enough because of the stigma behind it. We are strong believers that everyone could benefit from therapy and that psychiatry is a very good option for certain individuals. 

Along with managing the patients’ stress levels, we want to protect our patients’ teeth and jaw by balancing the bite. Our first step is to make our patients a custom orthotic appliance and give them physical therapy exercises to help mitigate the TMJ symptoms. This is analogous to giving the runner a shoe that is slightly taller than the other so that when they run they are running on legs that are the same length. This is a very non-invasive first step that can provide the patient with a lot of relief. They will often experience much more relaxation in their jaw and shoulders which, by itself will help the patient experience less stress.

Whether through your dentist, another health professional, or other home remedies, it is important to take the first step towards lowering your stress levels and protecting your body and teeth from the effects of stress. Chronic stress is too often ignored and normalized when it should be managed to improve your overall health and quality of life. Kick the stress and find your smile again.

Jason B. Cellars, D.D.S., Seacliff Dental: Dr. Cellars is dedicated to serving his patients and caring for all their individual needs. He is committed to providing excellent and comprehensive dentistry and takes pride in getting to know each of his patients individually to tailor his treatment to their specific needs. He believes in minimally invasive dentistry and emphasizes preventative care to minimize the amount of treatment that his patients need.