Whether you’re a weekend warrior, gym enthusiast, or professional athlete, oral health plays a direct role in sports performance—and it’s something most players overlook.
Recently, we had the opportunity to present this topic to The Highlanders, making them the first rugby union team to focus on oral health in improving players performance. What we shared with them could change the way you approach your own oral health and training.
The Cycle of Oral Inflammation & Performance Decline
Think about this: when you train, your body goes through stress and recovery. Your muscles break down, inflammation kicks in, and then healing starts. But what happens if there’s another source of inflammation constantly draining your body’s energy and resources?
That’s exactly what happens with gum disease and hidden oral infections.
Oral Inflammation: Unhealthy gums (gingivitis and periodontitis) triggers chronic inflammation in the mouth. The immune system works overtime to fight bacteria, but when the infection lingers, the inflammation spreads to the rest of the body.
Muscle Recovery: Your body prioritises healing infections over muscle repair. If you’re dealing with oral inflammation, you’re already one step behind in recovery—reducing the rate of muscle recovery and increasing changes of muscle injury.
Performance Drops: Chronic inflammation affects energy levels, endurance, and even reaction times. Studies have found that athletes with untreated gum disease experience more muscle fatigue, longer injury recovery times, and weakened immune systems.
This isn’t just theory. Science backs it up, and elite athletes are the most prone to it. The web of interaction shows how competitive sports, such as football and rugby, create an environment that's conducive to oral inflammation, which in counterpart has a cascade effect on performance.
Elite Teams Are Leading the Way
This relationship is not new. Professional sports teams worldwide are taking oral health seriously because they’ve seen firsthand how it affects performance, injury prevention, and recovery.
Take Clarence Seedorf, one of football’s greatest midfielders (Milan, Real Madrid, Netherlands National team). He suffered from chronic groin pain for over a year and a half. It wasn’t until he signed up with Milan and the team doctor discovered a hidden infection in his wisdom tooth, and had the tooth extracted, that the problem was resolved. After a simple dental procedure, his groin pain disappeared almost overnight.
🔹 Think about that. A tooth infection was affecting his legs. It's no surprise that teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona have incorporated dental check-ups into their mandatory exams for players.
And it’s not just football—rugby is catching up. The Highlanders are leading the way in rugby union by integrating oral health into performance care, setting an example for other Rugby Union teams right here in Aotearoa.
Poor Oral Health Versus Performance
A healthy body starts with a healthy mouth, and when your oral health declines, so does your performance, recovery, and overall well-being.
🔻 Reduced Training & Performance: Oral infections don’t just cause pain—they drain your body’s energy. Your immune system diverts resources to fight inflammation, leaving you with less stamina, slower reactions, and reduced strength.
🛑 Recovery & Rest Time: Ever felt like you’re taking longer to bounce back after a tough game? Chronic inflammation from gum disease delays muscle healing and increases fatigue, meaning you stay sore longer and increase the risk of overuse injuries.
⚡ Psychological Impact: Even minor dental pain can mess with your focus. Ever caught yourself feeling short fused due to a toothache? If your mind is occupied with jaw discomfort, tooth sensitivity, or an aching gum, your focus is compromised— affecting strategy, reaction time, and execution.
💨 Breathing: Your oxygen intake fuels your performance. Dry mouth, gum infections, or tooth pain can interfere with proper breathing, reducing endurance and stamina—a major issue for any athlete.
🥩 Difficulty Eating: Struggling to chew or drink due to dental pain? That means you’re not getting the nutrients you need for muscle repair, endurance, and energy levels. Over time, this can weaken performance and further slow recovery.
🦠 Risk of Systemic Infections: Bacteria from infected gums or untreated decay can spread through your bloodstream, affecting your joints, muscles, and even your heart—increasing the risk of injuries and illness taking you off the field.
🚰 Dry Mouth: Athletes are prone to dry mouth due to heavy breathing and dehydration, and less saliva = more bacteria growth. This increases cavity risk, weakens enamel, and worsens gum disease—all of which hurt performance over time.
🦷 Tooth Loss: Losing a tooth isn’t just an aesthetic issue. It affects your bite, jaw alignment, and even posture, impacting strength, balance, and muscle tension—key elements in any sport.
What About You?
Maybe you don’t play professionally, does this still matter? Absolutely.
The difference is, you have more control over your habits than elite athletes who are constantly exposed to higher risks.
📲 Download the EasyDental App for free, take our risk assessments, receive professional advice, track your dental history, and be a step closer to a better oral health. #LoveYourSmile
All our content is grounded in scientific research. If you're interested in reading more into this topic, feel free to explore not only the articles mentioned below but also other scientific studies and research papers that provide valuable insights. Science is a vast and ever-evolving field, and there's always more to discover and learn.
2. Image from CNN Sports Marco Luzzani/Getty Images