{"id":760,"date":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/\/template2\/dental-care-blog\/eating-disorders-impact-oral-health\/"},"modified":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","slug":"eating-disorders-impact-oral-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/eating-disorders-impact-oral-health\/","title":{"rendered":"An Eating Disorder\u2019s Impact On Oral Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1142\" src=\"http:\/\/contentlibrary.socialmediafordentistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2018\/03\/eating-disorders_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" \/>  <strong>THE FOOD WE EAT<\/strong>\u00a0provides our bodies with the building blocks to maintain healthy cells, tissues, and organs and the energy to work, learn, and do the activities we love. It is crucial that we eat enough food (and preferably the right kinds) in order to keep everything working properly, which is why eating disorders are such a serious threat. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Malnutrition And Overall Health<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Eating disorders are a group of psychological disorders that can have a devastating impact on the mental, physical, and emotional health of those who suffer from them. No system in the body is spared, and <strong>that includes oral health<\/strong>. That\u2019s why we want to educate our patients on the dangers of eating disorders and encourage anyone suffering from one to seek help returning to healthy eating habits. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Anorexia: Starving The Oral Tissues<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by extremely restricted food intake, and may also involve purging and compulsive exercising. The main risk to oral health with anorexia is malnutrition. Insufficient nutrients can result in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colgate.com\/en-us\/oral-health\/conditions\/anorexia-bulimia\/eating-disorders-and-oral-health-problems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">osteoporosis<\/a>, which weakens the jaw bones, <strong>leading to tooth loss<\/strong>. The gums may also bleed easily, and the salivary glands may swell up and produce insufficient saliva, resulting in dry mouth. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bulimia: Stomach Acid Versus Teeth<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by periods of overeating (binging) followed by forced elimination of food through vomiting or laxatives (purging). Frequent vomiting exposes the teeth to stomach acid on a regular basis, which <strong>erodes the protective layer of enamel<\/strong> and can lead to discoloration, decay, and even tooth loss.  <strong>Watch this video to see bulimia\u2019s effects on teeth, as well as how dentist\u2019s can help:<\/strong>  <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aXhWEgF4mag?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>  <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Preventing Additional Damage<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Maintaining a good dental hygiene regimen is an important part of keeping teeth and oral tissues healthy in any circumstance, but particularly while recovering from an eating disorder. One important caution to take if your teeth have been exposed to acid (whether from acidic food and drink or from regurgitated stomach acid) is to <strong>wait thirty minutes to brush<\/strong>. Immediately after acid exposure, tooth enamel is weaker and can be scrubbed away by brushing, so it\u2019s better to rinse with water and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colgate.com\/en-us\/oral-health\/basics\/brushing-and-flossing\/is-brushing-teeth-after-eating-good-for-you-0313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wait to brush<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Road To Recovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Eating disorders are very serious, and recovery is about getting the right help \u2014 from supportive friends and family as well as licensed psychologists. If you or someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, a good first step on the road to recovery would be contacting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaleatingdisorders.org\/help-support\/contact-helpline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Eating Disorders Helpline<\/a>. The dentist also plays a role in minimizing and repairing the damage from malnutrition and acid erosion, so make sure to schedule an appointment. <\/p>\n<h4>Your overall health and wellness are important to us!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/share-your-work\/public-domain\/cc0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>THE FOOD WE EAT<\/strong>\u00a0provides our bodies with the building blocks to maintain healthy cells, tissues, and organs and the energy to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,180,182],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-general-dental","category-ortho","category-176","category-179","category-180","category-182","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}