How To Take Care of Your Teeth & Improve Well-Being

Chances are that when you’re grappling with stress and frustration on a regular basis, a lot of it may revolve not around the major issues that pop up every now and then, but the things that constantly irritate us.

“Stress can come from any number of sources, whether trauma, difficult family relationships, health issues, or the dialogue in your own head,” explains Michelle Dossett, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a staff physician at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Even what we think of as a happy event, like throwing a party, can be stressful.” When there’s so many different ways that you can find yourself stressed out, what can you do to stem the tide? A major part of it is going to be investing in self-care, and ideally, you want to sprinkle it in as often as you do the stimuli that cause you stress.

First, it’s important to remember when we’re talking about self-care that it’s not “selfish” to try and set aside time to take care of your needs. In fact, taking the time will help you get in better spirits, depending on what you invest in. For example, let’s talk about your teeth. You may keep up with the bare minimum in order to have healthy teeth, but having teeth that are both healthy and visually appealing is the goal for some. In that sense, taking the time to invest in your teeth’s appearance may be a form of self-care, if this is something that you value. Here’s some advice from 44 West Dental, a dental practice in West Michigan, on some of the cosmetic procedures you can use:

“Bleaching: Whitens teeth using at-home bleaching trays with hydrogen peroxide gel after one office visit to take impressions and create a custom tray.

Invisalign: Straightens teeth by using a series of clear, removable aligners to gradually and predictably move the teeth into a more ideal position instead of using conventional metal brackets and wires.”

These are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to taking care of your teeth, and ideally, you’ll be able to reach out to your dentist to see the different cosmetic options you have that will match your needs and your price. It may not be a bad idea to try and apply this mentality to other cosmetic treatments as well, but you don’t want to go overboard.

Many people don’t necessarily think of healthcare as self-care, but that’s not true at all. In fact, think of how frustrating it gets when you’re out sick from work and need to figure out how to juggle responsibilities, or when you have some sort of mysterious pain or other symptoms that you can’t pin down. Getting ahead on your health or even cosmetic procedures is sure to make you feel good, and that’s what self-care is all about.

Let’s talk about some other options that combine healthcare and self-care while we’re at it. Taking care of your teeth is great, but you want to try and use as many healthful options as possible to try and improve your condition. For example, let’s talk about meditation.

A lot of people are tempted to try and write off meditation due to its spiritual connotations or in favor of other forms of exercise. However, you may want to reevaluate, especially in terms of self-care and healthcare.

There are a lot of different types of meditation out there, but they generally all revolve around a few basic concepts, finding a comfortable posture and focusing on something specific, whether it is a mantra or simply focusing on the moment. One of the nice things about meditation is that it is quite accessible, with no special equipment needed. In fact, if you had a quiet space available and have a break, you could even incorporate meditation into your work schedule. On paper, it makes sense that meditation would help you deal with stress, but there are also studies showing that it can also support anything from healthier digestion to even pain management.

When we talk about dental care and meditation, they may seem as far apart on the health spectrum that you can get. However, both of them involve taking an active role when it comes to your health. In many ways, this is perhaps the best thing about self-care. By being more active when handling your issues, not only can you cut health issues off at the pass, you also get more confidence because it was your doing.