How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Your Dental Health?
Dr. B. Kanagasabapathy
[M.D.S. (Ortho), Fellow ICOI]
Sleep – The physiological activity has numerous benefits on our health. Good sleep is crucial for many biological processes that take place in our bodies. It gives our organ systems a chance to repair and restore essential functionalities like circulation, hormone secretion whilst our brain excretes the toxic waste when we sleep.
You also might aware of the necessity of good-quality sleep and its role in reducing stress, improving memory, benefiting heart health, and so on.
However, the modern lifestyle with an ever-active hub of events makes most people carry on with poor sleep schedules. Do you agree?
Apart from daytime drowsiness, tiresome feel in doing regular activities, sleep deficiency is also associated with various chronic diseases.
Dentists observed that sleep deficiency has many adverse effects on our oral health as well as physical health. Dr. Kanagasabapthy has explained the correlation between insufficient sleep and its impact on our oral cavity.
1) Gum diseases
Sleep, inflammation, and the immune system of our body are regulated by an internal process called Circadian Rhythm. It is also responsible for driving hormones. Researchers observed that disruption in the circadian rhythm due to a severe degree of sleep loss will tend to produce higher levels of a protein complex called NF-KB, which stimulates inflammatory hormones throughout the body.
Remember that inflammation is the key component for gum or periodontal diseases.
Oral bacteria take advantage of swelling in gums and accumulate around the gum lines forming pockets. It is followed by irritating the gum tissues and weaken the bone around teeth that eventually lead to teeth loss.
2) Tooth Decay
As sleeping is crucial for recharging our body’s immune system, an improper sleep cycle will lower the production of cytokines a powerful protein required to combat bacterial infections in our body.
Likewise, sleeping is essential to replenish the blood vessels that supply calcium and phosphate for your teeth. The nutrient components aid in strengthening the enamel as well.
Consider what will happen if your teeth do not get enough nutritional compounds when your immune system has havoc? This will make your teeth vulnerable to bacterial attacks.
3) Shortage of Saliva
Some people with sleep deprivation develop the habit of breathing through their mouth, instead of nose. The salivary flow will decrease gradually for persons who sleep with their mouths open. In simple, low salivation is a common consequence of sleep loss.
Saliva takes care of swish off the bacteria in our mouth. When salivary flow is depleted, the microbes in the mouth thrive and followed by a multitude of oral illnesses like:
- Bad Breath
- Xerostomia (Dry Mouth)
- Cavities
- Mouth Sores
- Oral Herpes and much more
4) Temporomandibular Joint Disorder
When we sleep, our brain undergoes a series of stages during which brain waves slow down. Likewise, good sleep is required to organize nerve cells for effective brain functioning.
When it gets disrupted due to factors like improper sleep cycle, it lowers the brain’s performance and will lead to depression. People with stress or depression develop the habit of grinding and clenching their teeth. Similarly, people with sleep apnea also grind their teeth when they sleep.
Chronic teeth grinding will have havoc on the muscles and joints connecting the lower jaw to the skull. It causes TMJ disorders that cause pain in the jaw and radiate around the neck, face, ear. Likewise, this activity tends to enamel layer weakening that makes your teeth sensitive to hot and cold temperatures.
Bottom Line
Sleeping is not just to relax our body and mind. The amount of sleep you get every day is directly associated with your dental health also. If you care about your teeth health, then adjust your daily activities to get sufficient sleep every night.
