4 Ways Yoga Improves Your Oral Health

When you think about your oral health, what is it that first comes to mind? Brushing twice a day? Flossing every morning? Regular visits to the dentist? Applying your daily dose of Good-Gums? What probably doesn’t spring to mind is yoga!

It’s common knowledge that yoga is good for the mind, body and soul, but few of us associate it with oral health. But the fact is, including yoga in your routine won’t just soothe your physical and emotional self; it’ll also improve the health of your teeth and gums.

How does yoga improve oral health?

Those who regularly enjoy yoga know that the benefits are extensive; in fact, some might say limitless. And those benefits include improved oral health. Right about now, you may be imagining someone standing on one leg with their arms in the air as they contort their mouth into all sorts of funny shapes. But the truth is there’s no need to master some special and complex pose. It’s no more complicated than finding a few minutes a week for a simple, calming yoga routine. You may not be convinced just yet, and that’s OK. So let’s delve in a little further and discuss the four main ways yoga can improve your oral health.

1. Yoga increases your saliva production

Healthy saliva production is absolutely crucial for the upkeep of teeth and gums. Saliva keeps the mouth moist and helps break down food and bacteria, preventing plaque build-up, which would otherwise cause tooth decay and gum disease. When common ailments like allergies and colds strike, our saliva production can slow, causing the mouth to dry and enabling bacteria to thrive. 

That’s where yoga comes in. Yoga is known to stimulate the salivary glands, especially when poses that involve forward bends and twists are part of your routine. This boost in saliva production creates a healthier environment for your teeth and gums.

2. Yoga alleviates stress and tension

In this day and age, stress is a common factor for so many. Stress takes its toll on our emotional well-being and mental health, but also on our physical health. You may know that stress causes headaches, back pain or tight muscles. But did you know that stress can also trigger jaw-clenching and teeth-grinding? This is known as bruxism. As you can imagine, this leads to various dental problems, including:

• Jaw pain
• Tooth and gum sensitivity 
• Chipped teeth
• Gum recession

As you may well know, yoga is the ultimate destressing tool, where both body and mind are concerned. Therefore, including yoga in your weekly routine can massively help alleviate the tension that builds in your body and manifests in teeth-grinding or jaw-clenching, leading to better oral health.  

3. Yoga helps to reduce inflammation 

When we become stressed, our bodies release a hormone known as cortisol. While the release of cortisol is your body’s natural defence against stress, too much cortisol can lead to chronic inflammation. When this inflammation reaches the gums, we experience not only severe pain but also a heightened risk of gum disease and tooth decay. 

Restorative yoga poses will alert the body to calm down, destress and slow the production of cortisol, reducing the risk of potential teeth and gum issues.

4. Yoga supports improved posture

When we’ve been sitting at our desks all day, it’s easy for our shoulders to drop and our backs to slouch. When this happens, our necks push forward, causing the jaw to misalign. If this becomes a regular occurrence, there’s a risk of permanent jaw misalignment and even potential facial pain. 

Regular yoga can hugely improve poor posture, as the poses and stretches you enjoy in your sessions will eventually lead to your subconsciously sitting and standing straighter.

In summary, yoga is beneficial in many ways; it benefits the mind, soul, body, and teeth and gums. Whether you’re already enjoying a weekly session or following yoga tutorials on YouTube, any yoga practice will ultimately help to improve your oral health. And the good news is that it’s never too late to start. 

Do keep in mind that yoga should not be considered a substitute for brushing your teeth and regularly visiting the dentist but rather a hugely beneficial accompaniment to your everyday oral health care routine.

Add Good-Gums to your oral care routine 

Thanks to its unique formula, Good-Gums has antimicrobial properties, neutralizing the oral acids in the mouth and preventing plaque bacteria build-up, which results in fresh breath and clean teeth.

Thorough at cleaning teeth, Good-Gums also provides excellent nutrition, which your gums absorb while brushing. So every time you brush, you’ll be feeding your gums with vitamin C – essential for gum health and rapid tissue regeneration. It’s also rich in the minerals essential for building strong tooth enamel.

Good-Gums is easy to use and because the active ingredients are in powder form, their effects are more potent.

Try Good-Gums today!