Stress impacts us all, with the effects being felt throughout our bodies. A survey, conducted in August 2024, found that 86 per cent of people in the UK feel stressed at least one day per month, with a typical adult feeling stressed 10.3 days per month, and 11 per cent of people feeling stressed every day. It’s important to consider the effects that this may be having on patients’ mental, physical, and oral health, and how dental professionals might offer advice and help for people with severe symptoms.
Effects of stress on health
If stress is not brought under control, it can lead to health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes. Patients suffering with stress might experience headaches, muscle tension, pain, fatigue, stomach issues, and trouble sleeping. It’s important that dental professionals also understand the impact that stress can have on oral health, and how to help them manage any painful symptoms.
Muscle tension and the risk of fracture
Stress can cause many patients to subconsciously clench their jaws, putting pressure on the temporomandibular joint, and excess force on the teeth. Those with chronic stress may also clench their jaw and grind their teeth in their sleep which can, over time, wear down the surfaces of the teeth, and may eventually lead to fractures and cracks.
Dental fractures can be very painful, depending on the unique situation. In some cases, if a fragment of tooth has chipped off, the tooth may be repairable. In others, a filling or crown may be appropriate treatment options to both repair the damage and prevent further issues. If the fracture has resulted in the nerve exposure, root canal treatment may be required. In any case, a crack or fracture may cause patients pain and shouldn’t be ignored. Many patients will seek dental treatment to resolve the issue and, in the meantime, it’s important to offer them advice to help manage their pain and prevent any further damage where possible.
Troublesome mouth ulcers
Research suggests that stress and anxiety may also lead to the development of mouth ulcers. They may be caused by stress-related damage to the mouth, like biting the cheeks. Usually, they heal on their own within a couple of weeks, but they can be painful. As such, some patients may phone the practice and ask for advice to help them manage their pain. In this situation, it’s important to ask them how long they have had it, as a mouth ulcer lasting longer than three weeks may be an early sign of mouth cancer.
Where no red flags are raised, it’s important to offer patients advice about how to manage their pain, particularly when their mouth ulcer is in a sensitive area. Normally, with the right products and techniques, mouth ulcer pain can be managed at home, without the need for patients to attend the practice for an appointment.
Relieving the symptoms
Pain relief is a top priority for many patients, with toothache a common but not insignificant problem for many people. As such, practitioners should provide patients with advice about how to manage their pain at home whilst they wait for their dental appointment. Although many patients will instinctively reach for solutions like paracetamol or ibuprofen, these are often not the most effective ways to manage dental pain.
Instead, recommend pain management solutions from Orajel, for rapid relief from toothache and mouth ulcer pain. Orajel Dental Gel is a topical gel with 10 per cent benzocaine which can be applied directly to the painful tooth, for toothache relief in just two minutes. For more severe cases, recommend Orajel Extra Strength which contains 20 per cent benzocaine. Orajel Mouth Gel is the ideal solution for patients suffering with mouth ulcers, enabling them to directly apply 10 per cent benzocaine to the affected area.
Stress can have a massive impact on patients’ health and wellbeing, so it’s important to help them manage painful symptoms effectively with topical local anaesthetic whilst they wait for emergency dental care, or for their flare ups to subside.
References available on request.
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