The budding trees and green grass are a beautiful sign that warmer weather is on its way. But if you suffer from seasonal allergies, they can also leave you feeling stuffed up and miserable. Even worse, in addition to all those uncomfortable symptoms, allergies can also affect your oral health.

1. Tooth Pain

Seasonal allergies affect your sinuses, building pressure and congestion. This pressure that causes you headaches can also put pressure on the roots of your teeth, causing pain and inflammation in your upper molars.

2. Dry Mouth

Pollen can cause stuffiness and congestion, which results in more breathing through your mouth. While it may feel like your only option, it’s also not good for your oral health.

When you breathe through your mouth, your saliva dries up. Saliva is necessary to properly digest food, wash away food particles, and neutralize the acid levels in your mouth. This can result in bacteria build-up, cavities, and other oral health issues.

Additionally, the medicine most often used to treat allergies, antihistamines, contain ingredients that can further dry out your mouth.

3. Bad Breath

Another common symptom of seasonal allergies is a runny nose. Not only is this uncomfortable and unpleasant, but it can also result in bad breath. Allergies cause increased mucus production, which often results in nasal discharge (post-nasal drip). This causes bacteria to multiply, resulting in bad breath, and often a sore throat.

4. Sore, Swollen Gums

Post-nasal drip combined with a dry mouth can cause sore, swollen gums. This can make brushing at eating uncomfortable, and over time can lead to gingivitis, canker sores, and even gum disease. These problems can go on long after your seasonal allergies are gone.