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Exercising and keeping fit is one of the social trends worldwide, and almost everyone seems to be hitting the gym searching for a perfect summer body. Indeed, this is a good thing, and you should join in on the trend. Health and fitness experts have confirmed that you gain a lot from regular exercise and staying fit. These benefits include enjoying good physical health, maintaining good mental health, improving your general well-being, and many others.
However, could there also be disadvantages to hitting the gym and exercising regularly? The answer is yes, especially if you do not ensure adequate safety procedures to protect you in the process. Exercising or lifting weights without adequate safety procedures can endanger your teeth and overall health and well-being. Unfortunately, many people do not know about this yet, despite numerous efforts from professionals, like dentist Dr. Howard Efron, to create awareness about it.
If you are a weightlifting enthusiast reading this article, you are in luck today. This is because we will teach you everything you need to know about dental safety and how to protect your teeth while lifting weights. Please ensure to read to the end of the article for the exciting information you will discover.
Things to Know about Dental Safety When Lifting Weights
It’s well-known that various fitness activities, such as running and jumping, can expose your teeth to damage. However, what many people don’t realize is that activities like weightlifting can also damage their teeth if not careful.
The truth, however, is that weight lifting is one of the body fitness activities that can expose your teeth to the risk of even higher damage levels if you do not ensure adequate safety measures. This is because most lifters are in the habit of clenching their jaw when lifting weights, which is not a safe practice for their dental health. In addition, weight lifting can also lead to dehydration and consumption of high-sugar level energy foods and drinks among lifters.
Indeed, all these factors are bad for your teeth and can cause damage. Thankfully, though, you can do a few things to protect your teeth while lifting. They are listed below:
Tips for Protecting Your Teeth While Lifting
Use a Mouth Guard: most people already know the importance of wearing a mouthguard when playing contact sports like boxing, football, or basketball. This is because the guard helps to protect their teeth from getting knocked off or broken in the game. Mouthguards can also be pretty valuable for high-risk non-contact sports like running, biking, weight lifting, and others where people often clench their teeth a lot.
You can opt for a specially fitted mouthguard from a dentist or go for a cheaper option from a sports store. The second option might not fit well, but they can still protect your teeth better than not using a mouthguard. The benefit of using a mouthguard while lifting is that it helps prevent you from grinding and clenching your teeth against each other.
Protect Your Teeth
Reduce Your Sports Drink Intake: too much intake of sports drinks can be pretty disastrous to your oral health, even more than soda pop. This is because they contain high acid volumes that can damage your teeth’ enamel. It worsens when the acids meet a dry mouth during the exercise. Instead of consuming too many sports and energy drinks, you can opt for drinking lots of water.
Drink Lots of Water: it shouldn’t be a thing of surprise that this tip is coming up as a way to protect your teeth during weight lifting. During exercise, people tend to produce less saliva, exposing them to a higher risk of dental erosion.
Considering that saliva contains minerals and proteins that help protect the tooth enamel and prevent gum disease and tooth decay, it is essential to keep your mouth hydrated at all times, especially while lifting weights or doing other exercises. So, always carry a bottle of water along when visiting the gym and drink as much water as possible while exercising.
Why you should wear a Mouth Guard When Lifting Weights
Preventing Headaches
Some of your strongest muscles are located in your jaw. When eating food or clenching your teeth when weight lifting, the muscles provide a powerful force. If you clench your teeth tightly, the tension will extend into your head, resulting in headaches. Having recurring headaches after weight lifting can be caused by frequent jaw clenching.
Powerlifters often clench their jaws during workouts as their bodies react to the heavyweights they’re lifting. By wearing a custom-fitted mouthguard, you can relieve tension in your jaw since your teeth won’t be directly pressing against each other. You will avoid weightlifting headaches with a mouthguard, and your jaw will thank you.
Preventing Teeth Cracking
A powerlifter is, by nature, an extreme athlete. They accomplish some amazing feats by pushing the human body to its limits. Lifters exert a powerful force on their teeth due to this extreme nature. You aren’t grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw; you are cracking your teeth.
When lifters lock their jaws and teeth collide, it applies enough force to crack the teeth, causing severe pain and potentially high costs. In the absence of immediate treatment, cracked teeth can become infected, resulting in further dental expenses. Wearing a mouthguard protects you against the powerful force of teeth colliding.
A mouthguard offers a soft, rubbery feel that is perfect for grinding. It’s much more relaxing and less damaging to your body to grind on a mouthguard than on your teeth. Don’t grind on your teeth, use your mouthguard!
Conclusion
It is essential to note that you are not just putting your teeth at risk when you fail to ensure adequate oral care procedures while lifting weights. This is because you also expose your entire jaw system to the risk of damage. Thankfully, the tips discussed in this article will help you avoid this situation.
