Brushing, flossing, and a good mouthwash – all of these are necessary for keeping your oral health up to your dentist’s standards between visits, but what else can you do? Does visiting the sauna help improve your oral health?
Sauna use is good for oral health because it can help prevent gum, tooth, and tongue disease by strengthening your immune system, improving circulation, and decreasing inflammation. If you are already suffering from a dental infection, these effects can help accelerate healing and fight further infection.
Keep reading to learn more about how saunas impact oral health, including why you should use them and how they compare to average dental care routines.
Can the sauna help with oral health?
Saunas have a wide variety of benefits. From reducing stress to clearing skin, it might seem that a sauna session can cure whatever ails you, but where does this end? For example, can saunas help with oral health?
Saunas can help improve oral health as an extension of known benefits such as increased blood circulation, reduced inflammation, and detoxification. Using a sauna has medical benefits because of the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, much different than regular oral interventions like Listerine or other mouthwashes.
In many cases, viruses are caught under a layer of mucus. Therefore, it is important to use dry heat from saunas to prevent viral infections from forming.
Sauna and gums
Saunas can improve your gum health by reducing inflammation and detoxifying your body.
Using saunas frequently increases your blood circulation. This increased circulation will both reduce inflammation – and, with it, your pain levels – and accelerate healing and help strengthen your immune system to fight further infections.
Gum disease is caused by poor oral hygiene. While the sauna will not replace regular brushing and flossing, it can help your body fight off the infection.
Sauna and teeth
Saunas might be good for maintaining teeth because they can prevent the build-up of tartar, given the dry heat prevents bacteria build-up. They have a similar effect to Efferdent, which cleans dentures, partials, retainers, and other dental appliances.
Using saunas regularly can help fight infections that may lead to abscesses and tooth decay. Saunas fight infections because they strengthen the immune system and emulate the effects of mouthwashes like Listerine.
Although they can cause positive effects on your appearance, saunas do not have the same effects as teeth-whitening strips and teeth-whitening mouthwashes.
Sauna and the tongue
Saunas are a good alternative to Listerine and other mouthwashes because of their antibacterial properties.
Many people claim using saunas regularly can prevent bacteria build-up on the tongue since the dry heat creates resistance to building bacteria.
Saunas have similar effects to tongue scraping, which removes the bacteria from your tongue and keeps it appearing and functioning normally.
Can saunas harm oral health?
Saunas are not usually damaging to your oral health.
If you become nauseous while using the sauna, there may be issues with vomiting, which leads to tooth decay. Typically using saunas can be a good way to prevent tooth decay because it prevents the formation of tartar and plaque.
Furthermore, using a sauna for too long may cause inflammation in the infected area in your mouth. If you are using a steam room, then the wet heat can cause the infection to progress more quickly. In contrast, dry heat causes infections to dissipate.
Which type of sauna works best to improve oral health?
While neophytes may lump all forms of saunas together, each type has its own unique benefits. Which one is better for oral health specifically?
The best saunas for improving oral health are typically infrared saunas because they use dry heat. They heat your body directly without heating the air around you, which allows you to remove the toxins from your body comfortably.
Keep reading to find out how different saunas can affect your oral health.
Traditional sauna and oral health
Traditional saunas rely on ambient heat from either hot stones or a comparable electric heater to increase both your surface and body temperature in order to elicit the sweat response and related benefits.
Traditional dry saunas can be a good option for improving oral health because they reduce inflammation and assist in detoxification. The more frequently you use traditional dry saunas, the more you will boost your immune system. You are likely to have better oral health with a boosted immune system.
Use traditional saunas for at least fifteen minutes once a week. The length of time you use the sauna will vary depending on your condition and experience using saunas.
Infrared sauna and oral health
Infrared saunas heat your body from the inside out using far infrared waves. They are both hotter and less humid than other types of saunas.
Infrared saunas are usually the best saunas for your oral health because they heat the body directly without causing discomfort. Far infrared saunas offer a variety of health benefits, including decreased inflammation and accelerated wound healing. The dry heat creates resistance to bacteria build-up, unlike wet heat which can cultivate the formation of bacteria.
You should use infrared saunas daily for the best benefits. Use your infrared sauna for 30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute period of relaxation.
Steam rooms and oral health
Steam rooms are typically kept at a lower temperature than either traditional or infrared saunas, but the extreme humidity provokes the sweat response.
Steam rooms are not the best options for oral health because they can be a hot spot for reproducing bacteria. The moist heat can cause further oral health problems like increased bacteria.
Instead of using steam rooms, you should use far infrared saunas or traditional saunas. However, if you want to use a steam room, you should use them in moderation for between 5 and 10 minutes so you do not accelerate the growth of any oral bacteria.
Final conclusion – is sauna good for oral health?
Overall, saunas are good for oral health because of the positive effects they can improve your immune health as a whole.
Saunas have anti-inflammatory benefits that can increase blood circulation and assist in wound healing. Furthermore, they have many detoxifying elements which can prevent dental infections.
Generally, the best type of sauna for oral health is an infrared sauna. They have the best heat penetration without causing discomfort or having negative effects on the body. If you want to have the best results, try using a far infrared sauna.