An eating disorder is a severe psychological illness defined by the person’s negative feeling about their body size or food, and as a result, it can affect the person’s physical or mental health.
An eating disorder can also affect the person’s dental health. Without proper nutrition, those soft tissues and gums may lead to bleed easily. The glands that produce saliva can swell so individuals may experience dry mouth that can eventually cause damage to the teeth and mouth.
There are two most common eating disorders that can affect your oral health. These are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa is defined by fear of gaining weight, with a strong desire in restriction on eating food or self-induced starvation. Bulimia Nervosa, on the other hand, is the opposite of anorexia, it is the repeated, excessive overeating — followed by self-induced vomiting. Eating disorders prevent our bodies from getting the right amount of vitamins and nutrients that could negatively affect the teeth.
When the person has anorexia, it may experience the weakening of the jaw bone and can result in osteoporosis that can also lead to the weakening of the teeth causing tooth loss. If the person has bulimia and often they vomit the food they eat, either by manually inserting a finger down to their throat or taking some pill that may lead to throwing up. If vomiting frequently occurs, it may injure or bruise the soft tissues in the mouth.
People with eating disorders that include vomiting is another way of bringing the acid’s up to the stomach, and it could cause damage to the tooth enamel. In effect, it could cause changes to the teeth’s shape, sizes and length. But acid erosion for a person with bulimia has a particular pattern that is evident on the upper front; particularly on the tongue side and biting edges. Because of numerous vomiting episodes, tooth decay is another consequence of acid erosion that coats the mouth and hits the teeth when it expelled.
There are also people with overeating disorder that do not induce any vomiting episodes. However, they consume large amounts of foods. In many instances, these foods may have high sugar amount, acids, contain low nutrition or made with other ingredients that may cause teeth decaying and cavities. These foods include cakes, sweets, and carbonated beverages. Overeating can eventually lead to teeth discoloration, sensitivity to hot and cold food and drinks, even gum infections and tooth loss. Furthermore, the various eating disorders may also lead to a temporomandibular disease that can cause joint pain due to teeth that have worn down and cracked. In general, nutrition and hygiene suffer which can mean more tooth decay and gum disease.
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