The Impact of Stress on Periodontal Health

By Dr. Azim Malik
Specialist Periodontist and Implant Surgeon

How well you deal with stress can have a direct impact on your dental health.

It’s a big one.

It's not about stress exactly – it's more about the coping mechanisms.

Patients could be extremely stressed but how they deal with it varies from patient to patient.

If you don't deal well with stress, it’s more detrimental to your general health as well as your gum health.

I will ask a patient in an appointment how stressed they are.

But stress can be difficult to manage because it could be about anything.

For example, a patient could be going through a divorce and they could also have work stress.

It could be an accumulation of things.

I don’t tend to give my patients direct advice about how to deal with stress because that can be difficult to in a short appointment.

But dealing with stress can definitely lead to some gains in terms of periodontal health.

But the impact will not be the same as, for example, giving up smoking, which can lead to major gains.

THE IMPACT OF STRESS ON PERIODONTAL HEALTH

Stress increases the inflammation in your body.

If you've got systemic inflammation and then you've got periodontal inflammation then one inflammation contributes to the other.

Also, your immune system will not work as well when you’re stressed.

It can be difficult to tell patients not to stress because straight away that can make them feel stressed out!

Recommendations for Managing Stress and Improving Periodontal Health

Things like yoga, meditation and exercise are great stress relievers.

My patients benefit from meditation in particular.