How Eating Disorders Affect Your Teeth

An eating disorder can cause lasting, permanent damage to your teeth and mouth. The harmful habits and nutritional deficiencies associated with bulimia (compulsive eating and bingeing) and anorexia (limiting food intake) can have serious affect your oral health. People with eating disorders have more than eight times the risk of experiencing tooth decay.

Contributing factors

• Poor nutrition: Food restriction can lead to a deficiency of calcium, iron, vitamin D, and other nutrients needed for good dental health.
• Not enough calcium: Because it plays a role in making jawbones healthy and strong, a lack of calcium can cause teeth to loosen and possibly fall out. If you don’t get enough calcium through your diet, your body will draw it out from other sources like your bones and teeth.
• Lack of vitamin D: The body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Vitamin D also plays a role in your immune system by serving as an anti-inflammatory. It can also help fight gum disease.
• Iron deficiency: Iron carries oxygen throughout your body. If you don’t have enough healthy red blood cells, your ability to fight infections decreases.
• Overeating and reflux: Binge eating can cause an excess of stomach acid. When it backs up into the esophagus, it causes heartburn. If stomach acid reaches the mouth, it can burn the oral tissues and disintegrate your teeth.
• Vomiting: Purging food by self-induced vomiting brings harsh acid from the stomach. Repeated vomiting leads to strong stomach acid repeatedly flowing over the teeth, which wears away enamel. Erosion can cause tooth enamel to appear translucent, and it greatly increases the risk of tooth decay. Tooth decay can also result from excessive tooth brushing or rinsing after vomiting.
• Dry mouth: Vomiting and/or poor nutrition can cause saliva glands to swell. This can lead to chronic dry mouth, which can increase acidity in your mouth. This can also result in more cavities, tooth loss, and infections in the mouth.

Prevent damage to your teeth

According to the American Dental Association, If you suffer from an eating disorder, you can reduce oral health problems if you:

• Rinse your mouth with tap water after vomiting and wait at least 20 minutes before brushing your teeth.
• Brush teeth vertically from the gum line towards the ends. This allows the bristles of the toothbrush to reach in between the teeth. Use a flexible toothbrush and nonabrasive toothpaste; ideally, one formulated for protecting tooth enamel.

Your dentist can help

Your dentist can suggest ways to protect your teeth. They may recommend:

• Fluoride treatments that can strengthen tooth enamel.
• Toothpaste, gum or mints containing a sugar substitute called Xylitol that can also help you produce more saliva, preventing dry mouth and cavities.
• A mouthguard that can minimize the effects of stomach acid on your teeth.

If you have an eating disorder, it’s important that you see your dentist regularly and consult with them about your specific treatment needs.

If you need a dentist, you can find one at hmsadental.com/find-a-dentist.