There are many different things that can impact your dental health, especially while traveling. It’s important to take care of your teeth, because after all, you only get one set of adult teeth – and dental work can be very expensive. Your dental health impacts your overall health, too.
Here is what you need to know about how traveling affects your dental health and what you can do in order to keep your teeth in good health all throughout your vacation.
How Can Traveling Impact Your Teeth?
You know how your ears may pop while you’re flying? This is because of how the air in your body is trying to adjust to the change in air pressure as the plane ascends and descends.
You may also experience a toothache on an airplane for the same reason – but not if your teeth are healthy. Healthy teeth aren’t bothered by toothaches while you’re flying. However, if you have a cavity or have had dental work done a long time ago, then this may mean that there are tiny pockets of air in your teeth.
Like with your ears, these air pockets may try to expand in order to accommodate for the changing air pressure, leading to pain and discomfort that you wouldn’t feel on the ground. Just because the toothache goes away when you return to your usual elevation doesn’t mean that the problem with your teeth goes away too. If you’re experiencing toothaches while traveling, this means that you either have tooth decay or dental work that is about to fail.
In addition to toothaches while flying, people do all sorts of things while traveling that can affect their dental health. Some of these are as follows:
- Forgetting to brush and floss as needed
- Eating lots of junk food
- Drinking lots of red wine, energy drinks, and other such beverages
- Being dehydrated
- Activities that can damage your teeth
While it’s good to celebrate and have fun while traveling, make sure that you’re still taking care of your teeth in order to avoid paying for it later.
How Do You Prevent Toothaches While Flying?
By doing what you can to keep your teeth healthy! See your dentist as recommended, brush and floss, and all that good stuff. The way that you prevent toothaches while flying is by eliminating the air pockets in your teeth.
If you have a cavity large enough to give you a toothache while flying, you should make an appointment to have it treated as soon as possible. Once treated properly, air won’t be able to enter your tooth anymore and your toothaches while flying should go away.
However, if you have dental work and still experience toothaches in those teeth, what this means is that the filling is loose and likely to fail soon. Air shouldn’t be able to enter a tooth that has been properly treated. As such, if you’re still experiencing toothaches while flying, you’ll again want to see your dentist about this to see what is going on.
How To Keep Your Teeth Healthy While Traveling
Keeping your teeth healthy while traveling involves maintaining good oral health habits, such as brushing twice a day, flossing once a day, and seeing your dentist as needed. It may be a good idea to make an appointment to have your teeth checked before you go on vacation so that any cavities or old dental work can be fixed before you jet off, saving you toothaches later on.
Drinking lots of water stimulates saliva production, which helps to prevent cavities. Chewing sugar-free gum for about 20 minutes after a meal can also help prevent cavities, as well as freshen up your breath and smile for pictures.
If you do experience toothaches while traveling, you can use over-the-counter painkillers, a saltwater rinse, cold compresses, and peppermint in order to help alleviate the pain.
Further Reading
To learn more about how traveling can affect your dental health, check out our previous blogs.
- Why Shouldn’t You Brush Your Teeth After Throwing Up? (for those who get sick while traveling)
- Can Stress Affect Your Teeth?
- Does Chewing Gum Actually Help Clean Your Teeth?
- How Your Diet Impacts Your Teeth: Interesting Facts You Need To Know
- Toothache Relief Strategies
- 7 Bad Habits That Damage Your Teeth
Avenues Dentistry is here to help you maintain your dental health. Contact us today to schedule a dental appointment.