{"id":43,"date":"2021-06-18T18:45:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T18:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/?p=43"},"modified":"2021-06-18T18:45:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T18:45:11","slug":"oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ToothWe know that oral health is often connected to many other aspects of your physical health.\u00a0 It only makes sense then, that there too is a relationship between your oral health and mental health, or state of well-being.<\/p>\r\n

If you are suffering from mental health challenges, your teeth may be taking a toll.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Studies have shown a link between gum disease and conditions such as stress, anxiety, and depression.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed almost two-thirds of people with depression reported having a toothache in the last year.\u00a0 The same survey showed that half of all people with depression would say their teeth are in fair or poor condition. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Why is this?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Anxiety and depression can cause side effects that may damage your teeth and gums.\u00a0 These challenges may cause you to self-medicate with smoking or eating.\u00a0 \u00a0You may be suffering from oral side effects such as teeth grinding and jaw clenching (bruxism).\u00a0 You may also be more susceptible to canker sores.<\/p>\r\n

Both anxiety and depression cause your body to produce a hormone called cortisol.\u00a0 When cortisol levels increase in the body, your immune system becomes weaker.\u00a0 A weaker immune system leaves your mouth more vulnerable to conditions like gum inflammation (gingivitis) and gum disease (periodontitis).<\/p>\r\n

Medication prescribed to provide relief from anxiety or depression can also create a side effect that can contribute to oral health conditions.\u00a0 It is not uncommon for these medications to cause dry mouth.\u00a0 Lack of saliva means that your mouth isn\u2019t cleaning itself as readily, by washing away food debris, bacteria, and plaque.\u00a0 This makes your teeth a prime target for cavities.<\/p>\r\n

Making matters worse. <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

If you are feeling anxious or depressed, you may be avoiding regular dental checks or fail to maintain proper oral hygiene.\u00a0 Both, important factors in maintaining a bright and healthy smile.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

If you neglect maintaining your oral health this could make matters worse for your mental health.\u00a0 You could end up in pain, or maybe you\u2019ll feel embarrassed about the appearance of your teeth.\u00a0 This could lead you to avoid people or smiling altogether.\u00a0 Smiling is good for us plays a huge role in our well-being.<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Pumphrey can help. <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

If the oral health effects of anxiety and\/or depression are contributing to your lack of well-being, there is good news. There are ways to fight back!\u00a0 The first step is to make sure you are brushing and flossing your teeth twice daily.\u00a0 These very basic habits really go a long way in maintenance of your oral health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

However, you made need more intensive work.\u00a0 If this is the case, Dr. Pumphrey would love to discuss with you how he can help you feel better by helping you look better.\u00a0 We offer a free, simple, low stress virtual consult<\/a> or you may also give our office a call.\u00a0 We look forward to being a part of helping you maintain a state of well-being.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We know that oral health is often connected to many other aspects of your physical health.\u00a0 It only makes sense then, that there too is a relationship between your oral health and mental health, or state of well-being. If you are suffering from mental health challenges, your teeth may be taking a toll.\u00a0 Studies have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[10,11,12,6,5,7,13,9,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-43","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oral-health","8":"category-oral-hygiene","9":"tag-anxiety","10":"tag-depression","11":"tag-gingivitis","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-oral-health","14":"tag-oral-hygiene","15":"tag-periodontitis","16":"tag-virtual-consult","17":"tag-well-being","18":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nOral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand | Pumhprey Perio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand | Pumhprey Perio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We know that oral health is often connected to many other aspects of your physical health.\u00a0 It only makes sense then, that there too is a relationship between your oral health and mental health, or state of well-being. If you are suffering from mental health challenges, your teeth may be taking a toll.\u00a0 Studies have […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pumhprey Perio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-18T18:45:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicole McClees\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nicole McClees\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand | Pumhprey Perio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand | Pumhprey Perio","og_description":"We know that oral health is often connected to many other aspects of your physical health.\u00a0 It only makes sense then, that there too is a relationship between your oral health and mental health, or state of well-being. If you are suffering from mental health challenges, your teeth may be taking a toll.\u00a0 Studies have […]","og_url":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/","og_site_name":"Pumhprey Perio","article_published_time":"2021-06-18T18:45:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nicole McClees","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nicole McClees","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/"},"author":{"name":"Nicole McClees","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aea19c765d50de9cec26e5adacf41ffb"},"headline":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand","datePublished":"2021-06-18T18:45:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/"},"wordCount":500,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Anxiety","Depression","Gingivitis","Mental Health","Oral Health","Oral Hygiene","Periodontitis","Virtual Consult","Well-Being"],"articleSection":["Oral Health","Oral Hygiene"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/","url":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/","name":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand | Pumhprey Perio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-18T18:45:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aea19c765d50de9cec26e5adacf41ffb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Pumphrey-Featured-Image-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand Tooth and Profile of Head with Heartbeat Symbol"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/oral-health-and-mental-health-go-hand-in-hand\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oral Health and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/","name":"Pumhprey Perio","description":"Social Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/aea19c765d50de9cec26e5adacf41ffb","name":"Nicole McClees","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55f5d4c5fdfa532b9a4692dfb073edd0c818fc13d5ca212a183124b8533ac761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nicole McClees"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pumphreyperio.com\/social-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}