This is what stress can do to your teeth.
The world famous acclaimed actress Demi Moore, 54, recently shared a photo on social media which showed her giving a big smile to the camera – and missing two front teeth!
On an appearance at the Jimmy Kimmel show, Moore explained that she had recently lost two of her anterior teeth due to stress. Revealing how it happened, Moore told Fallon on the show:
I'd love to say it was [because of] skateboarding or something really cool, but I think it's something important to share because stress is literally, probably after heart disease, one of the biggest killers in America. Stress sheared off my front teeth.
Yes, stress can make teeth fall out—and it can happen to anyone. So if Demi Moore could lose teeth to stress, you must be wondering if you can too. The answer may surprise you.
Stress has a lot of negative physical manifestations, from headaches to backaches, high blood pressure to heart disease. But is it true that stress can lead to your teeth falling out? The answer is yes, as evidenced by what happened to Demi Moore. “I literally just like knocked it out,” she told the audience.
In fact, this was not the first time that Moore experienced dental troubles due to feeling stressed. In 2010, the actress made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show and discussed how she “knocked” her own teeth out because she had been clenching her teeth too hard. This is also one of the well-documented effects of stress.
It is necessary to understand the cause behind tooth loss, and more importantly, how this dangerous effect of stress could be prevented. As Moore did not explain beyond vaguely saying that her teeth “sheared off”, we decided to paint a clearer clinical picture.
In the case of the dental impacts of experiencing chronic stress, subtle changes gradually lead to greater catastrophic consequences when left uncontrolled. For instance, a negative mental state potentially causes fundamental changes in the oral flora – as in, the bacteria that normally reside in the mouth. Changes in the oral flora have even been known to cause heart disease, but more locally, they lead to inflammation and infection of gum. The result is periodontal disease, which can inevitably end in tooth loss. Periodontal disease puts more than just one tooth at risk.
It should also be mentioned that stress and anxiety lead to bruxism, otherwise known as teeth grinding. Stress is the number one reason why people grind their teeth. Grinding weakens teeth due to friction. When periodontal disease is combined with dangerous habits such as tooth grinding, tooth loss is definitely a real possibility. Another factor that could be involved might be extensive previous dental work, which adds to the fragility of the teeth.
Ergo, if you wish to retain your pearly whites for as long as possible, it is necessary that you get a handle on your stress. Recognise these signs with the help of a dental check-up before it’s too late.
