Dentures: Fit for Life

Dentures that fit not only add to your enjoyment of life but are essential to maintaining your health. Properly fitting dentures also help support facial muscles and allow for more natural speaking and chewing. There are many types of dentures and options to consider when determining your oral health future. Dental implants placed in the jaw and attached to the denture, for example, help prevent bone loss and improve your ability to chew more naturally.

Financial planning is another very important aspect to consider. Medicare and Medicaid provide little to no dental benefit coverage. Plan ahead to create a treatment plan with your doctor to ensure that you are fit for life.

Ortho & Overall Health

I actually just completed my ortho treatment and couldn't be happier! This is a picture toward the end of my case.
I can't believe how much easier it is to keep my teeth clean and how it has changed my smile.

There are many benefits to orthodontic treatment. Did you know that teeth in proper alignment are less prone to break and easier to keep clean? Clean teeth develop less problems with decay and gum disease. Additionally, misaligned teeth can cause abnormal wear of tooth surfaces, inefficient chewing, and stress on gum tissue and bone that support the teeth. In extreme cases, misaligned teeth can result in chronic headaches or pain in the face or neck.

Each treatment plan involving orthodontic care is different. There are express cases and there are full cases. In some cases, you might need to see a specialists. Schedule a consultation if you are interested in learning more about clear braces.

Orofacial Development: Kids & Sleep

Have you heard your child snore? Take a moment to read Mouth Breathing: Adverse Effects on Facial Growth, Health, Academics, and Behavior to learn about how sleep disorders impact children. Talk to your child's dentist or pediatrician if you have concerns about your child's sleep hygiene and orofacial development. Consider checking in on your child or use the baby monitor every now and then to monitor his or her sleep patterns.

Local pediatricians often refer parents to healthychildren.org as a resource for many health, developmental, and nutritional issues. This site also has information available for the different ages & stages that talks about sleep. Check it out—It could literally change your child's life!

Sip All Day, Get Decay

Added acid in the food industry comes in basically two forms: phosphoric acid and citric acid. Phosphoric acid is added to all carbonated drinks to preserve the carbonation (the bubbles) until the beverage is opened. Citric acid, which is made and produced as a byproduct of the corn industry, is used as a preservative. To note, we are not talking about citric acid in its natural form--citrus fruits. Although, citrus fruit in the form of juices is just as damaging.

As you may recall, pH is a relative scale we use to indicate acids and bases. A neutral pH is 7 which is for the most part the pH of our bodies. Water is also at a neutral pH. Battery acid is highly toxic at a pH of 1. Most juices, energy drink, sour candies, and sodas range in pH between 2.4 and 4.0. Tooth enamel starts breaking down at a pH of 5.5. The root surface of teeth starts breaking down at a pH of about 6.5.

The Minnesota Dental Association launched a Sip All Day, Get Decay campaign to bring awareness to this issue. The acid in sports drinks, energy drinks, and sodas, whether they contain sugar or not, is the primary cause of weakened tooth enamel. With each sip, acid attacks the teeth for approximately twenty minutes. Consider sipping on water and save those other drinks for a treat!

The Mouth Matters: Oral Health Impacts the Body

The health of your mouth has countless impacts on your overall health. Think of your mouth as the gateway to the rest of your body. From diabetes to sleep apnea to emotional health, the mouth matters.

Malocclusion

Malocclusion means teeth that don’t fit together well. Baby teeth are the placeholders for adult teeth. Lose the placeholders and the adult teeth can come in crooked or crowded. This can be caused by losing a baby tooth too early to decay or even by decay between the baby teeth.

Teeth that don’t fit together trap food. Crooked or crowded teeth are harder to keep clean. This can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.

In a growing child with lots of decay the shifting teeth can cause the inside shape of the mouth to narrow and the tongue can become crowded. There is scientific evidence suggesting that this can affect the shape of the airway in the throat and could lead to sleep apnea or breathing problems during sleep.

Heart Disease

Roughly 80% of US adults have some form of gum disease. Gum disease is preventable and reversible. Bacterial infection in the gums can spread to other parts of your body. Researchers have found that people with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease.

Diabetes

Research shows that people with diabetes are more likely to develop periodontal disease. Now, new research suggests that having periodontal disease may make it more likely to also develop diabetes. The presence of periodontal disease may have a detrimental affect on your blood sugar levels. Treatment of periodontal disease may help people with diabetes achieve better glycemic control.

Low Birth Weight

Pregnant women who have periodontal disease may be seven times more likely to have a baby that is born too early and too small. Pre-term and low birth weight babies are at increased risk for numerous complications including infection and difficulty feeding and gaining weight.

Periodontal disease is an infectious disease affecting more than 23 percent of women between the ages of 30 and 54 years. Periodontal disease is a preventable and treatable condition. If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, it is even more important that you see your dentist regularly.

Sleep Apnea

An anatomically constricted airway can collapse while lying back or sleeping. If you snore, wake up gasping for air, wake up tired, or have trouble staying awake, you may have sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart problems, and medication and surgery complications, among other issues. A physician must diagnose sleep apnea. The first treatment of choice is a CPAP breathing machine. If the patient cannot tolerate the CPAP, an oral appliance may be a viable alternative. An oral appliance works by bringing the lower jaw forward supporting the airway open.

Self-Esteem

The way a person feels about their smile profoundly affects their self-esteem. Problems with extensive decay, bleeding gums, bad breath, crooked or missing teeth, or perhaps ill-fitting dentures impact self-image and self-esteem.

For an estimated one quarter of the population, negative feelings about getting dental treatment stem from a bad experience in the past at the dentist.

Healing problems in the mouth and preventing the same problems from reoccurring can create a great deal of emotional healing. Find a dentist who will truly listen to you and who will support putting you in control of your oral health.