The Effects of Eating Disorders on Your Oral Health
Eating disorders can cause nutritional deficiencies and impact multiple parts of the body, including your oral health. Dentists are often some of the first to spot the warning signs of an eating disorder, as they can cause damage to your mouth and teeth.
Early treatment can help to minimise and even potentially reverse some of the damage before it becomes permanent. Eating disorders require specialised and comprehensive treatment methods to prevent irreversible oral health damage and promote overall health and well-being.
The impact on your teeth
Bleeding gums: Nutritional deficiencies can cause the gums and soft tissue in your mouth to bleed more easily.
Swollen salivary glands: A cycle of bingeing and purging can cause the salivary glands to become enlarged.
Chronic dry mouth: Deficits in nutrients in the body, as well as bingeing and purging, can lead to recurring dry mouth, dehydration, and decreased saliva production.
Tooth decay and gum disease: Not enough calcium, or vitamin D to process it, can elevate the risk for gum disease and tooth decay, as these nutrients are vital for oral health. Brushing your teeth too often after a purging session can also exacerbate tooth decay.
Bad breath: Deficiencies of vitamin B3 (niacin) can cause chronic bad breath, as can regular vomiting.
Tooth sensitivity and enamel erosion: Vomiting regularly causes stomach acid to pass over the teeth, which can cause the enamel (outer layer) to erode. This can lead to sensitivity to hot and cold, discoloration, and weakened/brittle teeth.
Arthritis in the jaw: The temporomandibular jaw is the joint connecting the lower jaw to the skull. Eating disorders can cause degenerative arthritis here, which includes joint pain, headaches, and difficulties chewing and opening/closing the mouth.
Cracked and dry lips: Dehydration from insufficient nutrients and frequent vomiting can cause the lips to become red, dry, and crack.
Damage to the soft palate: Sores in the mouth can form from lack of iron in the body. Purging can also cause redness, cuts, and scratches inside the mouth, particularly the top, or soft palate, area. It can also cause tissue loss around the mouth.
How to help your teeth
DON’T NOT BRUSH YOUR TEETH AFTER VOMITING. Once the stomach acids have coated your teeth they become soft, brushing could cause more irreparable damage. Instead, rinse your mouth with milk or chew, some cheese then spit it out or chew sugar free gum. All this will help lower the PH levels in your mouth to help aid less damage.
Chew sugar free gum, this stimulates saliva with natural antibacterial properties.
Try to eat sugary foods on 3 occasions per day instead of spreading it out throughout the day, the less hits of sugar on the teeth the less likely you are to get tooth decay.
BRUSH TWICE A DAY, this is a must! Don’t swallow the toothpaste, just spit it out and rinse with water or a mouthwash. Your toothpaste contains Fluoride and this is what keeps teeth strong.
Choose toothpaste that have 1350 ppmF (parts per million of fluoride) or more
Your Dentist can prescribe a double or triple strength fluoride toothpaste, which will give your teeth much better protection.
5 TOP TIPS
1 – BRUSH TWICE A DAY, this doesn’t have to be first thing in the morning or just before bed, just morning and night.
2 – SPIT DON’T RINSE, keep as much fluoride on your teeth for as long as possible
3 - CHEW CHEESE OR MILK RINSE after vomiting, this help lower the PH much quicker
4 – VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS, consider supplementing your diet with calcium and vitamin D to help support stronger teeth.
5 – VISIT YOUR DENTIST. They are trained in dealing with eating disorders and the effects it has on your teeth. If there are any problems, it's best to get it dealt with early.