Secondary Effects of Yoga and Pranayama in Dentistry: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Yoga is an art that includes physical, mental, and spiritual activities for a healthy mind and body. Nowadays, because of modern dentistry, we dentists face many occupational health issues related to the neck, shoulder, and back. The “asana” and the “pranayama” are part of the yoga activity. Asana helps dental professionals to recover from posture-related problems like musculoskeletal pain. Daily practice of yoga does not just help to decrease the stress and anxiety of the dentist and dental patient but also improves the immunity of the body. The people who are more stressed give less care to their teeth, gums, and oral health. Yoga reduces stress, improves the oxidative status of the body, increases immunity, and reduces gingival inflammation. Yoga improves the lifestyle of the person toward nature. Yoga helps dentists to give good posture and flexibility to relieve musculoskeletal pain. Yoga and pranayama help in the maintenance of oral hygiene, reduction of gingival inflammation, and prevention of dental diseases. Yoga and pranayama help us with our day-to-day muscular discomfort and pain. Yoga is easy and more comfortable than other muscle-strengthening exercises. Yoga helps to get the best from our personal and professional life. This review article focuses on the importance of yoga and pranayama for the dentist, dental diseases, and oral health.

Keywords

• dental stress
• mental health
• musculoskeletal disorder
• oral health