These 4 Medications are Bad for Your Dental Health

Our body is a complicated mechanism where different factors affect the entire system and influence it both directly and indirectly. Taking any medications is a chemical intervention into the human body so it may not only treat the disease but affect other organs even not related to the illness. This is what they call a “side effect”.

But what to do if you really can’t go without those medications? Being aware of the possible side effects, being supervised by your doctor and supporting your body with extra care – this is what you can do. Let’s talk about dental health, medications that affect it negatively and how you can treat one thing without ruining the other.

Hormonal treatment

Yes, even oral birth control pills affect your dental health. You know that you can’t choose hormonal medications yourself – only your doctor should prescribe them according to your individual condition. They have various side effects and one of them concerns dental health.

Hormonal therapy has no direct impact on the health of your teeth and gums, but the changes in the hormonal balance do affect them. The boost of estrogen and progesterone production changes the metabolism in the body. This leads to worse digestion of calcium and fluorine and reduces their amount in saliva.

Some hormonal medications may cause problems that will require gingivitis treatment. Visit your dentist more often, clean your teeth in office and, depending on how far the harm to your teeth went, strengthen your dental enamel with the help of fluoride therapy.

Slimming Pills

Harming your health for the sake of a perfect body – unfortunately, this practice isn’t something new. This is why slimming pills or everything else that promises a good shape without effort is always popular. In most cases, they work as a laxative. It may help you lose a little weight, but give you other problems instead.

Not only does diarrhea exhausts the entire body by making it lose water and nutrients – but it is also bad for your teeth. A dehydrated body produces less saliva that is a natural protection for our teeth. Therefore, you have to realize that no magic pills will give you a healthy fit body – it’s a matter of lifestyle and commitment.

Diuretics

Diuretics can make your body lose water by making you urinate more. Some people use them for slimming too because without water, the body really can lose several pounds. But this works just the same as the slimming pills – dehydration causes mouth dryness that leads to reduced saliva supply and uncontrolled bacterial multiplication.

Cough drops and syrups

They are as harmful to our teeth as any basic candies and syrups are. The sugar is the blame. When you are sick, it affects your oral health too. It is way more vulnerable during this period, and it’s much easier for the sweet remedies to cause harm to it. Pay more attention to oral hygiene when you are ill, and prefer unsweetened medications to treat yourself.

Besides, such syrups and candies often contain lemon acid that is very aggressive towards dental enamel. Sucking a cough drop means long contact with your teeth so the acid has plenty of time to ruin your enamel. If you have a sore throat, it’s better to rinse it with some herbal brew – that won’t harm your teeth and will be more effective.