The link between dental health and general health has been, and continues to be, extensively studied and explored. Thanks to researchers around the globe, we have countless studies and researches showing how, and why, dental health impacts other aspects of our health. While the majority of us understand how our dental health impacts our physical health, it’s effect on mental health is often times overlooked.

Lets remember a common exercise that many of us have likely seen online or at dental clinics. The picture of the smiling family, with the caption, “What looks out of place?”. For almost everybody (I have yet to meet someone otherwise), the first, and normally only thing, that we notice is the man’s missing tooth, a single tooth. Our eyes naturally are drawn to that gap, blaringly obvious and out of place to us. By noticing this we feel good about ourselves, how astute we are like Sherlock Holmes. However, most fail to also observe that the man has one eyebrow totally missing! This exercise itself proves the point that our dental health can have a profound impact on our appearance, and as all of us know, this often relates with our self imagery and self-esteem (Tiggemann, 2005).

Many studies have also demonstrated how changes in mental health correlate with oral and dental health. Amongst others, a study done by Kisely S et al. (2015) portrayed a significant relation between those with common mental health disorders and dental issues through higher rates of tooth decay and tooth loss. Numerous other studies have also shown the correlation between poor oral health (periodontitis, tooth erosion, etc.) and severe mental illnesses / disorders (de Oliveira et al. 2016).

It seems an almost cyclic relationship in both directions regarding poor oral health and poor mental health. By neglecting our oral health, we negatively effect our self imagery and self esteem. This in turn decreases our mental health. As studies have shown, decreased mental health may also lead to further loss of oral health. The vice versa is also observed to be true, where a decrease in mental health for whatever reason my cause a decrease in oral health. And from there it is easy to spiral and these issues to worsen over time.

What You Can Do

Now that we know what relation dental health and mental health has, and as bleak as this topic is, what can we do to help ourselves or others who find themselves in this tough situation?

• Keep ontop of our oral and mental health as early and much as possible
  • Dental Health: Maintain a disciplined regime of morning and night oral health practices, from brushing to flossing to overall cleaning. Keep up with regular checkups from dental professionals as frequently as possible in another major aide.
  • Mental Health: Make sure to give yourself breaks and rest periods. Let your mind relax and heal from time to time. Enjoy breaks, activities you enjoy, and calming environments. Perhaps allocate a daily coffee and book session, or weekly outings with friends and family.
  • Overall: Be disciplined in your dental health regiments, and make sure you give you mind and body breaks when it needs, let yourself heal and catch up with the daily hustle and bustle of life. And above all, there is NEVER shame in getting professional help and talking to others. At the end of the day, we are all on this big green planet for the first time, and were all just trying to learn and get by day by day. “Be supportive of others, and you will find support in others”

The Take Home

Our dental and mental health are intrinsically linked. A decrease in one may cause a decrease in the other. However the opposite must be true as well. By enhancing one, so too should the other. It is important to understand this point, that our well being, in mind, body and soul are interlinked. That we must take care of ourselves the best we can, so that we can be the best we can be.

It is important to be diligent of our dental health regiments, as well as our mental breaks, and rests. When times get tough remember, no matter how stark or bleak, there are ALWAYS people ready to help. Sometimes its just the action of getting up and looking for them that we need.

One more point _{(I know I keep going on and on)}, be supportive of others in the hard times, and you will find support in others when you need them.

References

de Oliveira Solis AC, Marques AH, Dominguez WV, de Almeida Prado EB, Pannuti CM, Lotufo RFM, et al. Evaluation of periodontitis in hospital outpatients with major depressive disorder. A focus on gingival and circulating cytokines. Brain Behav Immunity. (2016) 53:49–53. 10.1016/j.bbi.2015.11.014

Kisely S, Baghaie H, Lalloo R, Siskind D, Johnson NW. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between poor oral health and severe mental illness. Psychosomatic Med. (2015) 77:83–92. 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000135

Tiggemann M. Body dissatisfaction and adolescent self-esteem: Prospective findings. Body Image. 2005;2:129–135. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2005.03.006.