KOCHI: Every year, the World Oral Health Day falls on March 20. This year’s slogan for the day is ‘a happy mouth is a happy body’, which reiterates the need for the hour to keep the mouth healthy for overall well-being.
The oral cavity harbours a plethora of microorganisms and the frequent interplay among them decides the fate of symbiosis and dysbiosis among them. Adding to this microcellular pandemonium is the crosstalk between microbial flora and the host immune response.
Since the past several years, the lifestyle changes that have presented in daily life among people have been tremendous. One main outcome of this drastic lifestyle change is stress. Stress affects every system of our body, the stomatognathic system or the oral cavity is also not an exception. Let’s have a look at the stress-related dental problems.
Bruxism or teeth grinding: This is often found in people with sleep disorders and can lead to severe consequences such as frequent grinding, hypersensitivity of the teeth and abrasion. In the long run, it may even cause jaw joint problems.
Aphthous ulcers: Frequent oral canker sores or aphthous ulcers are often a product of excessive stress. It may affect movable oral mucosa such as the inside of the cheek, tongue, lip, etc. These lesions are very painful and often last for 10-14 days.
