We all know that sport and fitness have an effect on our body’s health, and this can be either positive or negative. We need to stay fit and do exercise, but, of course, it can put a strain on certain parts of the body or even cause injury. A lot of us don’t realize that sport and fitness can also impact your oral health. In this guide, we explain more.
Positive Effects of Sports on your Oral Health
Exercise is good for us. We all know that, but you might not have drawn the link between exercise and gum disease. Studies have shown that those who get regular exercise are much less likely to develop gum disease.
Generally, being in better health tends to be good for your teeth and gums, so there are many benefits of taking part in sports. Of course, it isn’t all good news – there are some ways in which sports and fitness can cause a risk to your dental health and oral health.
How Exercise Impacts Oral Health Negatively
Let’s look into how exercise can impact your oral health negatively, and how you can avoid this becoming a serious issue.
Injury Risk
Some sports are far worse than others when it comes to the risk that can be caused by coming into contact with other players, for instance. If you’re looking to play a sport like football, where you may well come into contact with some big, burly players, your teeth and gums might be at risk of injury on collision.
Sugary Drinks
Sports drinks can play a key role in your performance, bringing your sugar levels up and providing energy for the match you are participating in, but they can also cause a lot of complications with your teeth. Most of us know that sugar can interact with your teeth, producing acid and causing cavities.
Decrease in saliva
Saliva plays a crucial role in moderating the mouth, gums, and teeth, and not having as much of it when you are exercising can cause issues such as gum disease. Making sure you drink plenty of water to compensate can help.
Mouth Breathing
As you are more likely to use your mouth to breathe while you are exercising and out of breath, mouth breathing is one of the crucial ways in which you can get all that oxygen you need into your body. However, it isn’t so good for your teeth. Bacteria can build up in your mouth and you might even notice bad breath as a result.
The dryness that mouth breathing can cause increases your tooth decay risk, but mouth breathing might be essential at times, meaning athletes may suffer the effects.
How to Avoid the Harmful Effects of Fitness on Dental Health
There are oral health and hygiene tips you can take on board to help you to reduce or avoid those harmful effects.
To compensate against mouth breathing causing problems, you can practice nasal breathing techniques, as this is a good way to get oxygen into your system. It isn’t always possible if you are exerting yourself.
After you exercise is a good time to use mouthwash and brush your teeth as this reduces the chance of bacteria building up in your mouth, which can cause gum disease and other oral concerns.
Intense exercise causes shortness of breath, which leads to a decrease in saliva production in the mouth. Staying hydrated might assist you in resolving the issue. Water helps wipe away the acidic content of soft drinks that have settled on your teeth.
Coconut water is helpful because it is hydrating and has an anti-inflammatory impact, which keeps the gums healthy.
Final Takeaway
Exercise is great for your overall health. It is a solution to the majority of our health issues. Fitness offers more benefits than cons, which is one of the reasons we don’t discuss the potential harm that exercise might do.
Yes you are right sports is really good for health and who cant take a part in sports must try gym workout that take less time than sports.