Exercising is good for you, right? Fitness keeps you in shape and betters your overall health. Although keeping active is important to your quality of life, doing so can cause you dental damage in ways you might not have considered before if you aren’t careful. Here are a few ways exercise can harm your oral health and what you can do to protect your smile.
The Effects of Swimming on Oral Health
If you’re a frequent flyer at a chlorinated pool, your oral health could be in danger without the right precautions. You might be at risk of:
- Enamel erosion – Too much exposure to chlorine can wear away at your enamel. This can lead to brittle, discolored, stained, or sensitive teeth.
- Mouth injuries – Running by the pool or playing high-contact watersports such as water polo can result in tooth or jaw injuries.
- Swimmer’s calculus – This condition affects swimmers who spend more than 6 hours a week in chlorinated waters. The chemicals from the water turn teeth yellow or brown.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Teeth
When swimming, close your mouth as much as possible. Some water will inevitably get into your mouth, but reducing contact is the goal. Rinsing your mouth out with tap water and adding fluoride to your oral hygiene routine can also reduce the effect of chlorine on your smile.
To prevent mouth injuries, ask your dentist for a mouthguard and follow safety rules at the pool.
Try to keep your swimming sessions to less than 6 hours a week.
Contact Sports and Tooth Damage
Contact sports such as wrestling, football, or boxing can cause a variety of mouth injuries. Without protection, it’s not uncommon for rougher physical activities to dislodge teeth, cause serious soft tissue injuries, or loosen restorations.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Teeth
The best way to protect your smile from mouth injuries is by wearing a mouthguard. Your dentist can get you a sturdy, custom-fit mouthguard you can bring to all your sporting events and practices. This can cushion any impact you might receive to the face during a contact sport.
The Dangers of Sports Drinks
Although sports drinks might be both tasty and refuel your body with electrolytes, they are filled with acids that can erode your enamel and cause tooth decay. Sports drinks often have the same amount of sugar as soda. Even just five days of drinking them can damage teeth.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Teeth
The best way to protect your smile from mouth injuries is to choose water. If you must indulge, choose a sports drink that’s low in added sugar. A good alternative is natural coconut water with no additives.
Rinsing your mouth out with water after consumption can also wash some of the cavity-inducing acids off your teeth. If you can, brushing your teeth about twenty minutes after drinking is even better.
About the Practice
At Berkshire Dental Group, we provide a wide array of dental services at your comfort and convenience so you’ll leave the office looking forward to your next visit. The practice offers same-day emergency appointments and has a full menu of treatments for any significant oral health issue. If you want to learn more about how to protect your smile or you’d like to schedule an appointment, contact Berkshire Dental Group at their website or by phone at (918) 250-9528.