Water treated with chlorine and other chemicals are often associated with wear and oral erosion.
Although all year round the pools has a large influx of people who come to practice swimming but summer is the time when this is maximum. And is that a swim in the pool is one of the most used measures to cope with the high temperatures of the summer.
Chlorine affects tooth enamel and oral health. Not everyone knows, but the pools are treated with a high chlorine component that helps maintain their pH and sometimes the amount of chlorine used is not quite correct. This can be detrimental to the enamel of people’s teeth as per skin specialists.
What can we do?
The first point to pay attention to is the maintenance of the pool, especially in those located in private homes, where more attention should be paid to the pH and water temperature controls. The reason is that all the chemical components that water has , make the proteins that we have in the saliva and increase the organic deposits in the teeth. These bacteria adhere more easily and become bacterial plaque that causes that plaque to mineralize, become harder and become tartar accumulated in the teeth. “This happens more in people who swim many hours a day, like professional swimmers who are swimming about 6 hours a day. In them, it is frequent that the tartar accumulates and the yellow or brown spots appear in the teeth, known as scales of the swimmer.
What effects does it have on the teeth?
When a person who is not a professional swimmer goes to the pool, they usually bathe for a while and spend another time in the sun or under the umbrella. The expert indicates that the exposure to chlorine that we usually have in a pool is not enough to damage if we swim for hours.
The tartar besides being an aesthetic problem (nobody wants to have tartar between their teeth) can affect of very serious form to the oral health. It can cause inflammation of the gums, which is what we call gingivitis, produce bad breath, also known as halitosis, and can cause tooth decay or periodontitis. All this adds up to the fact that, for example, when we increase the intake of carbohydrates and products rich in glucose or sugary drinks, that makes all these problems worse.
We do not normally know how much chlorine is used in swimming pools, which is a problem because that exposure can ultimately cause dental erosion that greatly weakens the enamel and causes tooth sensitivity and pain.
That is why it is highly recommended to brush your teeth with a natural non-fluoride toothpaste after going to the pool, and even swimmers who swim for 5 or 6 hours a day. For frequent swimmers, toothcare becomes an important point to take care of.
What happens in salt water pools?
Does this risk also exist in salt water pools? The specialist indicates that these are much more advisable. “In fact, we use water with salt in dentistry because it helps the healing of wounds, because that salt causes the entire infection to be eliminated and the patient does not have pain, so these waters are not so harmful to health.
Waters in the salt pools is cleaner than the sea because of the pollutants in the sea near crowded beaches. So it is always advisable to choose a pool that keeps chlorine level in control.
