You've probably heard that exercise is good for your health. But did you know that it's good for the hard covering on your teeth as well? The crystalline enamel that covers each tooth can wear away from acidic foods, plaque, or friction and stress.
Keeping your enamel healthy is often the key to preventing tooth decay. Learn how overall exercise plays nice with your tooth enamel.
1. Helps Control Blood Sugar
Blood sugar problems can develop into diabetes, which can be problematic for your dental health. One common oral health issue diabetes can cause is dry mouth.
Dry mouth reduces mineral transport to your enamel via saliva, so your enamel can't stay healthy as efficiently. Dry mouth also means you have less saliva to fight off cavity-causing bacteria. Fortunately, exercise can help you keep your blood sugar diabetes under control. Talk to your doctor about how to use exercise as a part of your treatment plan.
2. Boosts Immune System
Your immune system is the system that creates defensive cells throughout your body, circulates lymph, and destroys contaminants and bacteria or viruses. You may mainly think of your immune system as fighting off overall illnesses such as the flu, but, in reality, it's critical to fighting off localized issues such as cavities as well.
Although they don't always win the battle, your teeth do have immune cells that help them fight off plaque-forming bacteria. Logically, anything that boosts your immune system as a whole (such as regular moderate exercise) can help it support immune cells in your mouth, which help reduce the number of bad bacteria that plaque and tartar on your enamel.
3. Helps Dentinal Flow
Your teeth have dentinal tubules (tiny tubes) in them. These tubules help transfer nutrients and immune cells from the center of the tooth to the outer layers such as the dentin and the enamel.
The dentinal flow doesn't just help protect your enamel with immune cells, though; it also provides a thin covering of liquid that flows gently outwards to physically flush bacteria and other contaminants out and away from your enamel surface.
One of the factors that may affect the dentinal fluid flow is exercise versus sedentary living. A sedentary lifestyle is more likely to allow the dentinal fluid to stagnate, while regular exercise may prevent this problem.
4. May Improve Mental Health
For many people struggling with anxiety and depression or other mental illnesses, finding the energy and motivation to exercise can be a struggle. But if you can make a habit of it, exercise may offer benefits for your mood and mental health as well as other health benefits.
Mental health may sound unrelated to enamel health, but in fact, many aspects of mental health conditions can affect your oral health. For instance, the added stress may lead to bruxism, which can wear away enamel over time. So if you find that exercise helps your mental health, don't forget you could help your dental health at the same time.
These benefits show how regular exercise can benefit your enamel as well as your overall health. You should never substitute exercise for medication or professional treatment for any physical or mental health issue. Instead, talk to your doctor about the possibility of adding a regular exercise regimen to existing treatment plans.
So whether you prefer organized sports, dance classes, gym sessions, or yoga in the comfort of your own home, make sure you get plenty of exercise each week for both your overall health and your dental health. Treasured Smiles Adult and Cosmetic Dentistry can provide professional dental care to complement your home dental care efforts. Give us a call today.