How Yoga Improves Dental Health

dental health

Published by Dr. Charles Gemmi

A Board Certified Orthodontist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics, Dr. Charles Gemmi has been a practicing orthodontist with Orthodontics Limited since 2000 and is a member of the teaching staff at Einstein Medical Center. Orthodontics Limited is a Diamond+ Provider of Invisalign in Philadelphia and Hatboro, PA.

Did you know that Yoga can improve your dental health? Yoga has been shown to reduce stress, which can improve upon many aspects of your mental and physical health. If your orthodontic treatment is irritating you, stepping on the Yoga mat can help!

Of course, if you are experiencing an intense dental pain that will not go away, you will want to contact your dentist or orthodontist right away to let them know what is going on. If something is wrong with your treatment, it could harm your teeth or slow down the treatment process.

Here is how Yoga can improve your dental health.

Why Practice Yoga for Dental Health?

There are Yoga sessions designed to help your body recover from and get rid of stress. If you practice regularly, you will be learning to handle stress in a healthy manner through breathing and proper exercise. Stress can be very harmful to your dental health, as it can cause you to grind your teeth.

Clenched jaws also cause a lot of problems. Not only could doing this often ruin your enamel or crack your teeth, but you might be experiencing frequent headaches or neck pain. If you take 20 to 30 minutes every day to practice your stretches, a relaxing Yoga routine could greatly improve your dental health.

However, if your teeth have already been damaged, you will want to see a dentist. If you are searching for orthodontists in Center City, then contact Orthodontics Limited today. We specialize in treating jaw issues, can help with your braces pain, and give you the advice to stop grinding your teeth at night.

Yoga can Reduce Inflammation

A lot of your braces pain can be linked to inflammation that occurs when your gums or mouth are irritated. Yoga reduces this inflammation, making your braces rub less on the sensitive parts of your mouth.

Higher stress levels also lead to more stress hormone production. This can also cause your gums to swell. When your gums are often inflamed, this puts you at a higher risk of gum disease. Since Yoga has been shown to reduce stress in many studies, it is a great option for reducing swelling and therefore also your odds of getting gum disease.

Since it also reduces stress, it can allow you to focus on caring for your teeth better and practicing better oral hygiene. People who are experiencing a lot of stress tend to grind their teeth together without even realizing it or forget to brush their teeth twice a day.

You are more likely to experience headaches when you overwork your jaws too, so reducing your stress levels is always a good idea. Plus, Yoga has a wide variety of benefits that affect your entire body and not just your teeth.

Yoga Stimulates Saliva Production

Many of the breathing techniques used during Yoga can actually increase the amount of saliva in your mouth. Saliva will wash away bacteria and help fight bad breath that is caused by a dry mouth.

If you want to try Yoga for free at home to relieve your braces pain, there are plenty of helpful videos on YouTube. If you find an online instructor that you like, you can easily start to benefit from Yoga right in your living room, so do not be afraid to give it a shot!

Yoga Reduces Pain

Yoga is designed to help you have a better posture. If you often slouch, then your head is out of alignment with your spine. Slouching can even affect how your bite is lining up, which might lead to pain in the jaw.

Practicing Yoga poses can help to properly align your body again. Plus, if you often experience a tight jaw, Yoga can relieve the painful tension from your muscles there.

Try a Jaw Massage with Yoga

If you are experiencing Invisalign pain, then a massage while you do Yoga can be very helpful at relieving that pain. It is very simple to do and allows you to bring more awareness to your body while you practice your yoga poses.

Simply massage your lower jaw whenever you have a free hand during your Yoga session. It should be done very gently in order to get rid of any pain. Massaging will release the stress in your jaw, helping it to stop clenching.

If you do not have a free hand in your current pose, you can try moving your bottom jaw slowly side to side to relieve pain. This will also help to release any stored tension from your jaw muscles.

Adding a quick Yoga routine to your mornings is easy and provides you with many benefits. If you often have jaw pain or headaches, be sure to consider starting.

Other Benefits of Yoga

Once you have started practicing Yoga, you will notice a difference in your body. Many people report that they sleep easier at night, are stronger and more flexible, helped them feel happier in their day to day lives, and improved their focus at work.

If you want to start a low impact activity, then Yoga is perfect for almost anyone. You can always start with smaller routines and work yourself up to the more difficult poses! Yoga instructors know that people do not start extremely flexible, you need to slowly work on it.

Conclusion

If you have frequent Invisalign pain, jaw pain or headaches Yoga can be a great option for you. There are many different physical and mental benefits of practicing yoga regularly, but it is particularly good at improving dental health.

Yoga reduces our stress levels, which can help improve the health of your gums. If you are in constant pain due to your orthodontic treatment, starting Yoga today can help you.

If you are searching for an orthodontist in Center City, we are here to help! Be sure to contact us if you are experiencing dental pain that does not go away, no matter what method you try.

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