Heading Back To College After The Holidays? How To Protect Your Teeth Once You're Back
Posted on: 27 December 2017
If you're heading back to college after coming home for the holidays, you're probably loaded down with the gifts you received. In addition to those gifts, you should also be loaded down with information on how to keep yourself healthy now that you're living the active college life. You might not realize this yet, but college life can wreak havoc on your health; physical and dental. That's because you might not have the time to dedicate to your health anymore. Unfortunately, that can translate into a lot of problems for you. When it comes to your dental health, you can't afford to take chances while you're at away at school. Here are four common college issues that can destroy your teeth.
Alcohol and Tobacco Use
Parties are a normal part of college life. However, alcohol and tobacco use can ruin your teeth and your gums. First, excessive alcohol use can cause dry mouth, which can lead to an increased risk of tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease. Tobacco use can interfere with the blood flow in your mouth, which can also lead to tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease. However, tobacco use can also increase your risk of oral cancer. To protect your teeth and gums, avoid tobacco use, and try to limit your alcohol consumption.
Stress and Anxiety
Like parties, stress and anxiety can also be a normal part of college life. However, stress and anxiety wreak havoc on your teeth. Not only can stress increase your risk of gum disease, it can also increase your risk of tooth damage, especially if you chew on things when you're stressed out or anxious. Chewing on things like pens, pencils or even your fingernails, can break your teeth, wear down the enamel, and introduce oral infections through the germs that are found on those objects. If you're stressed out or anxious, avoid taking it out on your teeth.
Lack of Proper Dental Hygiene
When you're working on a tight schedule, trying to get study time, work time, and leisure time, into an already busy day, it's easy to forget to brush and floss your teeth. It can also be easy to forget about your dental appointments. Don't let a busy college schedule ruin your teeth. Make time in your busy schedule to brush and floss your teeth on a daily basis, and visit your dentist, someone like John P Poovey DMD PC, twice a year.
Unprotected Physical Activity
If you're like most college students, you probably enjoy some outdoor activities with your friends. Unfortunately, if you're enjoying those activities without the proper mouth protection, you could be setting yourself up for some serious dental problems. Protect your teeth, and prevent dental problems, by always wearing a protective mouth guard when you're involved in outdoor activities.
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