How to keep oral pain from being a pain to your business
Distracted workers cost American businesses millions of dollars every year.1 And there’s little that’s more distracting than mouth pain.
Get to know more about toothaches and other pains so you can help save your employees some discomfort and keep them productive.
Common causes of mouth pains
Your employees could be suffering from toothache or other pain due to:
- Cavities
- Tooth abscess (infection in the tooth that can spread into the bone and soft tissues)
- Gum disease
- Teeth grinding and clenching
- Sensitive teeth from root exposure or tooth fracture
- Injury
- Mouth sores
- Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), which causes pain to the jaw and face muscles
- Sinus or ear infection
Advise employees with mouth pain to see a dentist right away. An injured tooth requires either seeing a dentist or visiting an emergency room immediately. If the problem is not treated early, it can worsen and result in more serious and costly treatment.
How you can help your employees
In addition to urging your employees to seek treatment, you can help them ease or avoid mouth pain by:
- Offering a great dental plan as part of your benefits package. Americans with coverage are more likely to see the dentist,2 which means they are much less likely to let productivity-killing oral health problems linger.
- Encouraging employees to practice good oral health habits — brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, flossing daily, seeing their dentist regularly and wearing a mouth guard while playing sports or taking part in many activities.
- Keeping toothache relief options such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen in your first-aid kit.
Sources:
1 https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/new-survey-shows-70-percent-of-workers-feel-distracted-heres-why.html
2 https://www.nadp.org/Dental_Benefits_Basics/Dental_BB_1.aspx