When you think of relaxation, you probably don’t think about your mouth. Learning how to rest and relax your mouth is a critical component that contributes to your overall dental health. These self-care tips will review how to rest and relax your mouth and its benefit to you.
Why Rest and Relaxation are Important for your Mouth
A tense, unrested mouth can lead to numerous dental problems. If you don’t allow your mouth to rest, you can experience headaches, enamel deterioration, and inflammation in the jaw. More serious conditions include Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ), migraines, earaches, and even clicking in the jaw joint.
Employing a few strategies to rest and relax your mouth will not only protect your teeth, but will also prevent damage to any dental work you’ve had done while relieve pain-causing inflammation.
No matter what your daily schedule looks like, it is easy to implement a few facial relaxation techniques into your day. These self-care tips will ease you into a healthy low-maintenance routine while also promoting your overall oral health.
Don’t Clench your Teeth
We clench our teeth in stressful situations. If you find yourself stressed, practice actively unclenching your teeth. Tilt your head slightly downwards, and open your jaw. Let it hang there for a count of 20 seconds. If you find yourself struggling to relax your jaw, try putting your tongue to the roof of your mouth!
You can practice this relaxation technique at your desk, during lunch, or even when you’re home before bed. The subtilty of this technique allows for mouth rest and relaxation anywhere.
When you feel confident about this strategy, work on keeping your mouth slightly open at all times. This will keep your mouth is a perpetual state of relaxation.
Jaw Massage
The benefits of jaw massage are vast. Massage allows for more blood flow, providing your tense jaw muscles with oxygen that will help with recovery. For a relaxing jaw massage, unclench your jaw, loosening the muscles in your face. Taking your fingers, feel for the muscles along your jaw bone and cheekbones. Massage these muscles, with your jaw still unclenched.
After one jaw massage, you’re sure to feel the benefits of mouth relaxation. This self-care tip can be practiced in the morning when you wake up, during your lunch break, and every night before bed.
Get a Mouth Guard (if you Grind Your Teeth at Night)
Unfortunately, there are some things that we cannot control. For dental and stress-related reasons, some individuals grind their teeth at night. Even if you actively practice mouth relaxation techniques, grinding at night can ruin all of your progress while permanently damaging your teeth.
If you grind your teeth at night, talk to your dentist. A mouth guard, made specifically for you, can stop you from grinding your teeth at night. This extra layer of protection promotes rest and relax for your mouth throughout the night.
If you want to learn more about how to rest and relax your mouth, you can always talk to the friendly team here at Barron Family Dental. Happy relaxing!
