It’s Gum Disease Awareness month, so our team at Shook Dental Care is leaving no stone unturned in the fight against this insidious infection.

We’re shedding light on two contributors to gum disease that often go ignored.

Your diet and your stress level can pose potential risks to your teeth and gums.

How?
That’s what we’re devoting the blog to today! We’re talking about nutrition and chronic stress, how they connect to your gum health, and how we can help you if gum disease has already taken hold of your mouth.

Surprising Cause #1 – Your Diet!

Gum disease takes hold of your mouth by slowly developing over time. In its earliest stage, gingivitis, you may not notice any signs or symptoms.

It’s an infection that often goes undetected long enough to compromise, and sometimes weaken, your immune system.
To be its strongest against gum disease and keeping its infection from spreading throughout your body, your immune system must be encouraged with a healthy diet.

If you’re eating highly-processed foods, refined carbs, and sugary drinks each day, your more susceptible to gum disease.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure your daily diet is packed with immunity-boosting vitamins and nutrients.
You can incorporate foods like:

  • Yogurt and other probiotics
  • Lean protein
  • Almonds and other nuts
  • Dark vegetables such as bell peppers, spinach, and broccoli
  • Citrus fruits like grapefruit, oranges, and fresh lemons

If you consider how important a healthy immune system is in fighting off the infection of gum disease, you may want to take a look at what you’re taking in everyday and how you can modify your diet to keep your body strong and healthy.

Surprising Cause #2 – Chronic Stress!

Everyone deals with stress. It’s a race against the clock every single day to manage your long list of responsibilities.

Personal and professional obligations pull us in different directions, and stress comes with the territory.
But when that stress becomes unmanageable, you’ve got a chronic problem on your hands.

You know how stress affects you emotionally and psychologically in the short term.

Persistent stress over a longer period of time goes a step further to impact your health.

In fact, some studies even suggest that up to 80% of all health problems can be traced back to chronic stress!
That’s because, plainly put, stress is a bully.

It keeps your body’s natural defenses from doing their jobs in warding off danger.

One of those dangers is the infection of gum disease. Stress will suppress your immunity so that you are more vulnerable to gum disease infection.

It’s one more reason to learn healthy ways to cope with stress and achieve better balance in your life.

  • Find a trusted friend, family member, or counselor to talk to during stressful times.
  • Stay active with daily exercise.
  • Make time for yourself each day to unwind, even if it’s only 15 minutes of quiet solitude.
  • Devote time each week to a new hobby, interest, or catching up with friends or your spouse.
  • Incorporate yoga or meditation into your daily routine to feel centered and rejuvenated.

Whatever works for you to balance and simplify your life so you can manage stress is going to benefit your oral and overall health.

Schedule Gum Disease Treatment

Today, you’ve learned some surprising truths.
It’s not that you weren’t already aware of how important a nutritious diet is to your health. But to know that it directly connects to your oral health may come as a shock.

What you may find more alarming is the impact chronic stress can have on your teeth and gums!

Dr. Shook and our team are here to help you avoid gum disease, and to treat it when you can’t avoid it. Regardless, we’ll make sure your gums get healthy and stay that way with our skilled staff and advanced technology.

Call our San Pedro, CA dental office at 310-982-6333 or fill out our online form to schedule an appointment.