Overly Intense Exercise Can Actually Damage Your Teeth

Exercise is typically linked to a strong mind and body. However, did you know that too much can actually hurt your teeth? Recent findings published in the The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Sciences in Sports found that too much exercise can actually be bad for your dental hygiene.

Researchers at the University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany and other institutions recruited about 70 adults for the study--half of whom were competitive triathletes who trained for a mean time of nine hours per week.

Each participant received a full oral examination with a saliva test and filled out a questionnaire about their exercise routine, diet and oral hygiene habits. In one part of the examination, the team instructed 15 athletes to run for 35 minutes on an outdoor track. The difficulty of the run increased as time passed by. Saliva samples were collected several times.

Findings revealed that athletes had greater tooth enamel erosion and more cavities in comparison to non-athletes, and this risk was positively correlated with the athletes' training time. However there was no link between consumption of sports drinks to oral health or diet.

Saliva samples also showed that athletes produced a lower amount of saliva, which meant that their mouths were dryer. Their mouths also produced more alkaline in comparison to the saliva produced at the resting state, which can contribute to the growth of tartar plaques on the teeth.