Stress related oral diseases- A review

With the increasing work load in our daily lives and the urgent and fast need to accomplish our goals, a lot of stress has seeped into our lives. Stress is defined as a physical, mental or emotional response to events that causes bodily or mental tension. Every part of the body is affected due to stress; be it minds body and even our oral cavity. It can either be direct expression of emotions or conflicts, or can be indirect result of emotional problem. The oral mucosa is highly reactive to psychological influences. Mouth is directly or symbolically related to major human instincts and passions. Various systemic manifestations of stress are headache, hypertension, gastric ulcer and diabetes mellitus etc. However aim of this article is to highlight various stress related oral problems which includes dental caries/erosion, gingivitis/periodontitits, Bruxism/Clenching of jaw, Myofacial pain Dysfunction syndrome, Apthous ulcers, Oral lichen planus and Burning mouth syndrome etc.