Does Bad Posture Affect Your Oral Health?

Do you know the reason for a constant headache could be your poor posture while sitting at your desk? Have you ever wondered if the way you carry your body posture affects your oral health?

Yes, it’s true! The way we sit, stand, or walk, not just affects our back, neck, or shoulders, but also our mouth. They are all linked, after all. According to the Colgate Oral Health Association, even dentists are trained to maintain the right posture while treating their patients so that they can have a long-lasting career.

In this article, we try to put in everything you must know about bad postures and its link with dental issues, its effects, and solutions, and tips to prevent them. Head on to dive deeper into the know-how of postures and dental care.

The Link Between Body Posture and Oral Health

There is a direct connection between your head posture, teeth contact, and, thus, jaw pressure. Whenever you close your mouth, your teeth align themselves to help relax your jaw. In some people, this alignment doesn’t fit so perfectly. It is one of the significant outcomes of the wrong postures. When the head is tilted forward, or backward, it puts stress on the spinal cord, thus, straining the head muscles. It further stresses the jaws to compensate for the stretch and leads to pain, inflammation, and other gum problems. So, you can see how closely related they are!

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How Bad Posture Affects Your Oral Health?

So yeah, how’d you figure out if your postures are being troublesome in your dental hygiene? In the given points, we shall focus on some of the ways your dental hygiene can be affected due to bad postures, and you can identify them before it’s too late.

Change in ‘Bites’:

The way your teeth come together is called ‘bites”. The change in bites or the teeth’s alignment can affect the ligaments involved in the process if your posture is wrong.

Headaches:

If you’ve been feeling a constant pain in your head, you might want to visit your dentist, along with seeing a GP. Chances are, the strain in Temporomandibular Joint Mu+scles (TMJ), upper back, neck or shoulders, might be the reason for your headache. It often happens when the muscle is strained by maintaining a wrong posture.

Neck and Back Pain:

If the neck slants forward, the back bents too, along with the spinal cord. It is another side effect of bad posture, which can lead to dental problems.

Numbness in One of the Hands:

If you’re experiencing numbness in any of your hands, you might consider visiting our dentist for a safer side.

Trouble Cleaning your Ears:

If you have trouble cleaning your ears, you can consider it one of the symptoms of health problems caused due to bad postures.

A Clicking Sound While Opening the Jaw:

You may hear an unusual sound while opening the jaw, and you sure would want to get it checked if it’s a TMJ Disorder.

Tenderness of the Face and Jaw:

When your jaws are affected due to bad posture, they might feel tender and weak.

Sleep Disorders:

If you have trouble having a good night’s sleep, it can be due to facial pain. The pressure on the jaw can sometimes be so intense that it can cause the bite not to fit properly, and thus, lead to facial pain.

Tooth Damage:

As already seen, bad posture can put a lot of unnecessary stress and strain over your mouth, which may lead to tooth damage or cracked teeth.

Pain in Jaws:

You may experience pain in your jaws, especially when you yawn, or open your mouth. You should consult your doctor if you doubt it could be due to your improper postures.

Tips for Correct Dental Posture

Having an upright position is crucial to maintain the proper health of your mouth, as well as your body. Strengthening the core is one of the best ways to make this easier. Apart from that, you can follow the following tips to help maintain the correct posture. Sit straight: Your seating position determines if you’re following the correct posture. Sit up straight, and avoid putting pressure on your spine.

1. Walk with shoulders lined up with ears:

Some people tend to walk keeping their heads a bit down. Walk straight because now you know, it’s about your oral health too!

2. Keep stomach muscles straight:

Any bending in the core of the body, would affect the posture, and thus, lead to related problems.

3. No hunching and bending:

If you have a habit of drooping, or slouching, you will need to check that. You wouldn’t want to give any of your poor postures way to oral problems.

4. Do regular exercise or yoga:

The best way to loosen your muscles and get the perfect posture is by doing regular workouts.

5. Keep the book or phone at eye level when reading for long:

Stressing the neck muscles while reading will undoubtedly cause trouble to your jaws, and that isn’t what we want. So, you need to take care of yourself in those reading hours. We also recommend not to read while lying down.

Conclusion

We often tend to ignore the pain in the facial region, head, jaw, etc. and the problems that come along with them. The most important thing is that we fail to understand the reason for such issues. If you have complaints regarding the issues mentioned above, you might be a victim of dental problems caused due to bad postures.

You do not have to panic, as your dentist would guide you with proper diagnosis and treatment. Just in case you are too nervous about dental equipment, or heavy machinery, you can go for sedation dentistry. A competent dentist would have a proper oral sedation dentistry training. If required, he would brief you about the procedure and then proceed with the treatment.

In short, to ensure overall health, you need to take care not to stress your spinal cord or jaw.