Giving significance to how one looks and categorising people according to their looks has resulted in people being extremely preoccupied with their own body. Being severely concerned about how one looks, one’s body weight and body shape have resulted in various types of eating disorders in a significant section of people. Disturbances in eating patterns have been noticed in many irrespective of age.

Eating disorders have resulted in people indulging in excessive eating or inadequate eating. This disorder is most commonly seen during the growing up period – being a teen or a young adult. This illness results in being severely affected physically as well as psychologically. Those with eating disorders suffer from other psychological problems also like anxiety or depression. The total wellbeing of the person is affected by this disease.

The most common eating disorders seen is the compulsive fear of gaining weight (anorexia nervosa), a disorder that has a person exhibiting binge eating followed by acts such as vomiting to compensate excessive eating (bulimia nervosa) and binge eating disorder where a person does not have control over their eating. Binge eating episodes do not have acts such as vomiting or purging to compensate for the excessive eating.

Eating disorders affect the general health of a person and it also affects oral or dental health. Disorders lead to a wide range of nutritional deficiencies and affect the dental health of the person. The different ways how dental health is affected are discussed.

Bleeding of gums

Bleeding of the gums is noticed in people who have eating disorders. The soft tissue in the oral region gets affected by nutritional deficiency and they become susceptible to infection and are unable to function efficiently. The salivary glands get affected and would also reduce the amount of saliva production.

Reduced amount of saliva in the mouth leads to chronic dry mouth. The mouth is not lubricated normally and people will also suffer from chronic halitosis or bad breath. When the lubricating effect of the saliva is absent, infections become common and it also affects the chewing function of the mouth.

Bruises are also noticed in the soft tissues of those with eating disorders. Due to their illness, they forcibly vomit what they have eaten. The soft palate often has bruises and cuts on them due to the forced vomiting. Knuckles also will have small cuts from the teeth when they force vomit.

Tooth decay and gum diseases

Nutritional deficiency is one of the signs of a person with eating disorders. Binge eating and purging and starving lead to nutritional deficiencies. Vitamins such as iron, calcium etc. promote and boost dental and oral health. Calcium helps in building up bones and teeth and if there is a deficiency of calcium the teeth are imperfectly formed. They do not have the required structure and are not able to provide functional support. Iron helps in healing wounds and sores in the mouth – a lack of this can lead to infections spreading rapidly in the mouth. Lack of vitamins can also lead to bad breath and can also cause inflammation in the gums.

Along with these comes tooth decay- when the teeth do not have the proper structure, they become easily susceptible to infections from bacteria and invite tooth decay. Gums also get affected and are unable to give support to the teeth due to the infections affecting them. If there is dehydration in the mouth, lips can also get dry and cracked.

Discolouration of teeth

Induced and frequent vomiting is exhibited by those who have eating disorders. Vomiting leads to acid reflux in the mouth.  Acid affects dental enamel strongly. The protective covering that the enamel offers gets eroded slowly due to this frequent acid reflux. Teeth get discoloured due to the enamel being eroded.

Teeth sensitivity is experienced due to the loss of dental enamel. Consuming hot or cold drinks becomes difficult due to the discomfort and pain experienced. Constant exposure to acids can cause teeth to be chipped. The soft tissues also get eroded due to the acids in the mouth. Tooth decay can become extreme and can also affect the pulp or the core of the teeth and can lead to teeth loss.

Jawbones affected

Disorder affecting the lower jaw bone is often seen. Degenerative arthritis is often seen associated with those with eating disorders. Swallowing food will be a problem and adds on to the issue of eating disorders. Discomfort and pain is often associated with chewing in those with eating disorders. As a result of pain associated with eating, people with eating disorders would try and reduce it. They will stop or reduce eating to a minimum. This in turn will bring in other connected dental and health issues detailed earlier.

Dental care for eating disorders

Eating disorders often affect the dental health of a person. It is important that while seeking help from a dentist important issues be discussed. Issues that one is going through such as eating disorder should be informed to the dentist. This will help the dentist is providing the appropriate treatment.

Brushing and flossing are important and it is important that this personal hygiene is not stopped. Those with eating disorders induce vomiting and there would be acid reflux in the mouth. Cleaning mouth and rinsing it after each induced vomiting will help to keep the mouth clean.

Dry mouth is one of the signs associated with eating disorders. Related to this are tooth decay and gum diseases. It is important that treatment for dry mouth is sought as this will help curb tooth decay and gum disease to an extent. There are products and treatment available to help moisturize the mouth and help in this regard.

It is important that proper treatment for eating disorders is taken and at the same time obtaining help from dentists for dental health related concerns is important. Understanding that the situation needs expert care and checking with dentists on the different care and protection that can be taken to improve dental health should not be discarded.