How Stress Affects Your Dental Health

The coronavirus pandemic is causing everyone, including our patients, unusually high amounts of stress right now. The stress from the pandemic alone can have negative effects on your smile. As your trusted dentist in Herndon, VA, we want to keep you informed on how stress affects your dental health and what you can do to combat this extra stress. Here are our best tips:

Eat a Healthy Diet

When people get stressed out, a common coping mechanism is to resort to comfort foods. Unfortunately, comfort foods often leave behind sticky residues and staining agents on your teeth. Foods and beverages like hard-candies, sodas, potato chips, coffee, citrus fruits, and teas are all known to be tough on your teeth. Practice consuming these substances in moderation, even under high stress. This will reduce the amount of buildup that is left on your teeth. If this buildup remains on your teeth, you may experience more plaque and tartar along your gum line which can lead to serious dental concerns like gum disease.

Practice Good Oral Hygiene Habits

When under high amounts of stress, it can be easy to forget to take care of yourself. However, we want to encourage all of our patients to continue practicing good oral hygiene habits throughout this crisis. Brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day. This will go a long way in preventing plaque and tartar buildup. While this crisis has thrown off many people’s daily routines, it will only cause more costly dental concerns later on if you neglect your oral health now.

Stay Calm, Accidents Happen

Unfortunately, dental emergencies do not always happen at the most convenient times. During this crisis, you need to know who to call if you experience a dental emergency. Herndon, VA dentist Dr. Mark Jefferies can work with you to address your dental emergency compassionately and effectively. Our goal is to alleviate your symptoms, restore your oral health, and prevent further injuries to your smile. We work with you every step of the way to ensure all of your dentistry needs are met. Here are some common dental emergencies that we treat in our office:

• Trauma to the teeth, gums, jaw, or lips
• A cracked, broken, or chipped tooth
• Dental infection
• Dental abscess
• A knocked-out tooth
• Broken or loose restorations
• Severe tooth sensitivity

At the family dentist office of Dr. Mark Jefferies, your safety is our priority. That’s why we are here to help you during this crisis. If you find yourself needing dental care, please contact us so we can advise you on scheduling your next dental appointment. We are a Family and Cosmetic Dentistry practice that offers clinical excellence in the areas of prevention, restorative and cosmetic dentistry before, during and after treatment and are committed to establishing lifelong partnerships with our patients. Our team looks forward to seeing you soon!