Your posture poses a bigger risk to your oral health than you probably think!
Every parent remembers being told by adult figures how their posture is important, and many parents today reiterate these teachings to our children. It’s been scientifically proven that an improved posture can lead to stronger backs and necks, as well as healthier joints. But there are also a lesser-known benefits of good posture that can potentially have lifelong impacts including a healthy smile and jaw, as well as teeth issue prevention!
On this page we’re going to go over everything you need to know in terms of how improving your posture can subsequently improve your oral health, and as always if you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact us online so our team can help you out!
Sit Up Straight and Relax Your Jaw While Using Your Phone Or Scrolling Social Media
The human back is muscularly connected in a very intricate way, so it’s somewhat easy for all of us to understand how this muscular connectivity can be uncomfortably tightened or become uneven if we hold the same position for too long. All of us have felt cramps from being in one position for too long, but most of us remain unaware of the postural habits we’ve developed that ultimately can affect our health.
Many of us scroll social media on our phones with the entire weight of our heads arched downwards, which once habitual can lead to consistent slouching that can cause our skull to eventually sit somewhat further back within our spinal column. This can lead to an added amount of pressure upon our upper backs, the base of our necks and jaws, which subsequently then leads to misaligned bites and dental issues.
Our jaws will naturally counterbalance any type of teeth misalignment, and this ultimately can lead to serious oral health problems. Many of us don’t even realize that our jaws are clenched while we’re scrolling on our phones, and this is bad because it stresses out our joints and can cause muscular inflammation.
But one of the other externalities of clenching our jaws is damaged teeth!
Always Stand And Sit Up Straight While Wearing Braces
It’s a pretty common stereotype in imagining teens slumped over couches playing video games, or being hunched over at their school desks. It’s important for parents and all braces patients to fully understand that slouching and bad posture can actually have a detrimental effect on treatment.
These posture problems also affect adults undergoing orthodontic treatment, particularly adults who are sitting at desks all day long hunching over their computer screens.
Standing and sitting up straight obviously has a lot of health benefits, but when it comes to wearing braces this type of good habit will do wonders in terms of preventing future oral health issues and protecting your treatment investment. Misaligned jaws can slink down to your neck, shoulders, and even all the way down your back towards your pelvis.
There’s no denying how bad of an issue structural misalignment is, and it’s a leading cause of migraines for countless people. Ensuring the very most out of your orthodontic treatment also includes doing what’s best for your ubiquitous oral health, and also your posture!
Tips For Improving Your Posture
It’s well known throughout the health sciences and chiropractic communities that good posture leads to improved feelings of balance and centeredness, so if you want you or your kids to foster better posture habits consider the following practices:
- Lift your chest and roll your shoulder blades back and down in an attempt to open your chest. This will help with your posture and effective breathing techniques, which subsequently helps you relax your jaw.
- Tighten up your stomach muscles in an attempt to support your core more often, which will help you take some of the strain out of your back in terms of simply supporting yourself throughout your daily routine. Putting more of an emphasis on your core while walking around will also help you relax your jaw and alleviate any unnecessary back strains.
- Notice a straight line while standing up throughout your entire body. Focusing on your balance throughout your daily routine goes a long way in terms of providing a more symbiotic relationship from your jaw to your feet.
- Practice drawing an imaginary line from your ears to your hips when sitting down at computers and other chairs. This will help you recognize when you’re exhibiting bad posture and when it needs correcting.
Reach Out To Dr. Karpac And Our Team Of Specialists For More Tips on Improving Oral Health Habits!
Your posture is an important aspect of maintaining the integrity of your orthodontic treatment and overall bodily health, but there’s of course so much more that goes into fostering good oral health habits.
Always feel free to contact us online or call us at 614-766-0330 (Dublin office) or 614-471-6355 (Gahanna office) to get in touch with our team and have all your questions or concerns answered!