A balanced diet gives your body everything it needs to stay healthy, fight infection, grow and maintain itself. When you don’t give your body what it needs for whatever reason it struggles which can manifest in illnesses and poor health. Eating disorders can exacerbate this situation.
Eating disorders of any kind take a serious toll on your health, from starving your system of those essential nutrients to causing your body to harm itself. Let’s take a look at the various eating disorders and how they can impact oral health.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia is a particularly destructive eating disorder that can seriously impact your oral health. One symptom of bulimia is the desire to vomit after eating. Unfortunately, this exposes the teeth and gums to harmful stomach acids that can do great damage.
Over time these stomach acids can wear away tooth enamel and creates the environment for tooth day and gum disease as a result. Nearly 90 percent of those with bulimia will have some enamel erosion caused by stomach acid.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia can be equally destructive to the mouth but in a different way. By starving the body of essential nutrients, the mouth simply doesn’t get what it needs to remain healthy. A lack of vitamins, minerals and calcium all contribute to tooth decay, tooth loss, gum disease and more.
In those with anorexia, teeth can become brittle and weak, cavities can develop and teeth can become sensitive. More seriously, anorexia can induce osteoporosis which is a weakening of the bones, including the jaw. Women are particularly susceptible to osteoporosis.
It doesn’t really matter what the eating disorder is, the fact that the body is starved or essential nutrition will have a detrimental effect on oral health. As holistic dentists, we here at Aesthetic Family Dentistry are naturally concerned with the causes and effects of eating disorders.
As dentists, we are also usually the first people to detect eating disorders due to the damage they can cause. With that in mind, it’s important for you to know that we don’t judge, we won’t tell anyone and we won’t interfere with your life if you don’t want us to. We will treat the dental issues as they arise and can refer you to experts should you like us to, but it is completely up to you.
Aesthetic Family Dentistry are holistic dentists, meaning we care about your entire wellbeing and not just your mouth. If you need help in any way with diet, teeth, or your oral health, contact us today for a consultation. We’re here to help.
