Cancer Treatment

Dental care during cancer treatment

Cancer and oral health may seem unlikely partners, but your oral tissues are going to be at the center of a firestorm when you begin cancer treatments.

If we can examine you two weeks prior to beginning your treatments, we can likely prevent serious dental problems.

Some oral problems you may experience and preventive measures you can do at home include—
Xerostomia—Cancer treatments affect the salivary glands, which result in dry mouth (xerostomia). Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water. Without the protective saliva, oral bacteria voraciously feed on sugary drinks and food and eventually cause tooth decay. Chew sugarless gum or suck on mints made with the natural sweetener, xylitol. We can prescribe a saliva substitute.

Oral hygiene—Keep a stringent oral care routine even though you won't want to crawl out of bed. Brush with fluoride toothpaste after each meal and before you go to bed, and clean your tongue with a tongue scraper. Use a mouth rinse that does not contain alcohol because alcohol can cause xerostomia. Gently floss every day.

Cavities—Radiation can cause rampant cavities. Using a gel fluoride product every day will be your teeth's best friend.

Etched tooth enamel—A hard, protective layer of mineral covers your teeth. Cancer treatments can cause you to regurgitate stomach acids that destroy tooth enamel. Immediately after regurgitating, rinse your mouth with ¼ teaspoon baking soda stirred into 1 cup warm water.

Infection—Chemo can make you less resistant to oral bacterial and fungal infections. Watch for signs of swelling, bleeding, a sore, or a sticky white film in your mouth. Immediately call our office or your oncologist so that we can prescribe a medication to get the infection under control.

Good oral health will help you as you proceed with your cancer treatment program. It is critical that you make and keep your appointments so that we can assist you during this stressful, topsy-turvy time.

Dragons Breath!

You brushed your teeth, but 20 minutes later your dragon's breath is back. Halitosis (bad breath) refers to stinky sulfur compounds that accumulate especially at the back of your tongue.

Halitosis has several causes and treatments, including—

Diet—digested foods such as hi-protein foods, coffee, tea, acidic foods, cookies, candy, garlic and onions are absorbed into the bloodstream, carried to your lungs and exhaled.

• Eat fewer offending foods and drink more water.

Inadequate oral hygiene—food particles between your teeth and trapped in the grooves on your tongue ferment and produce sulfur compounds.

• Brush twice each day with an anti-bacterial or baking soda toothpaste and floss once each day or after each meal.
• Thoroughly clean dental appliances.
• Use a tongue scraper to remove trapped food and bacteria from the back of your tongue.  
• Avoid mouth rinses that contain alcohol. Use mouthwashes that contain xylitol and essential oils such as tea tree and spearmint that help freshen breath.
• Chew xylitol gum between brushings. Xylitol is an ingredient in some mouth rinses, toothpastes and gels.

Inadequate oral care lets biofilm build up on your teeth and below your gumline. Most of the sulfur compounds that cause bad breath come from bacterial compounds deteriorating gum tissue.

• A professional cleaning above and below the gumline removes bacteria and dead tissue.

Medicines—can cause xerostomia (dry mouth).

• Change medications, if possible.
• Saliva helps to clean the mouth, so, use products made with xylitol to stimulate saliva flow and kill oral bacteria.

Medical conditions—stomach or intestinal conditions such as the flu and Crohn's contribute to halitosis.

• Add more alkaline foods to your diet.
• Drink plenty of water.

If our suggestions don't help, don't be embarrassed to ask us about stinky breath

Candy Hearts

Did you know that one of the first areas affected by diabetes is your mouth? “But I’m not diabetic,” you think but ….are you sure? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimates that approximately 7.0 million Americans are diabetic but undiagnosed and that 79 million more are in a ‘pre-diabetic’ state.

Diabetes is a growing problem in America. According to the ADA*, 25.8 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes and 1.9 million more were added last year.

Poor blood glucose makes your gums vulnerable to attack by the millions of bacteria currently inhabiting your mouth. Oral symptoms of diabetes include dry mouth, inflammation and poor healing. This infestation can start you on a path toward gingivitis and periodontitis as well as a whole host of systemic health problems including kidney disease and stroke and low birth weight babies.

One way to keep an eye on your blood glucose levels is to have your dentist test you during your twice yearly oral examination. By making this a part of your regular cleaning, you can address current dental concerns while preventing potential future threats. Like an x-ray looks for decay, a simple blood test can be helpful in spotting those first signs of diabetes and pre-diabetes before they wreak havoc on your system.

Ask us today about adding a simple blood glucose screening to your regularly scheduled checkup. *Data from the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet (released January 26, 2011) http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/

After Labor Day Whites

After Labor Day Whites

Wear white after Labor Day? Of course! Especially when it comes to your smile. A beautiful white smile can give you confidence and make you more apt to smile. Increase your ‘face value’ with a clinical tooth whitening treatment.

Having a beautiful white smile doesn’t happen on its own. So many factors, including healthy juices and berries, wines and some medications, can stain and darken your teeth. Some not-so-healthy factors such as smoking and using other tobacco products can also make teeth yellow and dingy. Unfortunately, those stains don’t go away when you quit smoking or switch to apple juice. Once those stains creep in, you’ll need a little help to get rid of them.

There are plenty of over-the-counter whitening treatments that can help you brighten your teeth marginally but for serious whitening, we recommend an in-patient whitening. With whitening toothpastes we very little if any improvement.

We find that custom fitted trays with higher concentration solution than over the counter work great.  An even higher-concentration whitening can also be done in the office, usually in less than an hour. With proper care and avoidance of staining agents, an in-office dental whitening can be easy, inexpensive and long-lasting.

Still have questions about dental whitening? Call us today and we can discuss your options for a brighter smile.

Dry Mouth

Have you ever had ‘cotton mouth’? Everyone occasionally has a dry, sticky feeling in their mouth because of heat or a reaction to food but when your mouth is chronically dry, it’s a serious problem. When you notice a dry mouth, it’s a condition called xerostomia (zero-stow-me-uh) and may be only noticeable after you’ve lost about 60% of your saliva.

Xerostomia refers to a sensation of a dry mouth and can be caused by many different factors including over 400 different medications. A constantly dry mouth isn’t just annoying but makes it difficult to speak, chew and swallow foods and prevents you from maintaining proper nutrition.

Without that protective saliva, your mouth becomes a bacteria playground. If left untreated, xerostomia can result in tooth decay and gum disease, painful oral ulcers or a rampant yeast infection.

There are a few things that you can do to treat the symptoms of xerostomia. There are over-the-counter and prescription products and saliva substitutes that may help alleviate symptoms. They are available in sprays, toothpaste, lozenges, gels, chewing gum and liquids.

Another way is to avoid the things that cause dry mouth. Dental products that contain drying ingredients like alcohol or sodium laurel sulfate can exacerbate the existing problem. Other steps include stopping smoking and the drinking alcoholic beverages, consulting your physician about changing medications as well as reducing stress and anxiety.

If you are experiencing chronic dry-mouth, it is also important to have more frequent dental check-ups so that we can closely monitor the condition. If you are concerned about xerostomia, call and make an appointment, and bring a current list of medications with you to your check-up.

Eight reasons

Eight Reasons to Stay Away

It's been a long time since you have been in. We're not going to scold you. We understand.

Are you embarrassed because you're unemployed? Did your previous dentist seem cold? Maybe you're afraid because you had a bad experience in the past.

We have a few tips to help you relax.

• A down economy is not the time to skimp on your teeth. Conditions are more easily treated when we catch them early.
• The days of the stern, dentist parent are gone. We are caring professionals who chose this career because we like people and could make a difference in their lives.
• If the sights, sounds and smells of the old style dentist office are a turn-off, they're gone, too. Our office has a relaxed, homey atmosphere.
• And as for those calculus-encrusted teeth, you can't shock us; we've already seen it all.
• Don't be afraid to talk to us. We need to know if you are uncomfortable or want an accommodation; otherwise, we'll continue our procedure as if everything's hunky-dory.
• Some adults and children feel more secure when they are covered by a blanket; so, bring one with you. We're fine with that.
• If you don't like watching instruments being placed in your mouth or the sight of a needle—simply close your eyes.
• Bring your portable CD player or iPod, earphones and your favorite music. We suggest music that will help mask or blend into other sounds in the room.

Now, pick up that phone and call us; together we can make a beautiful difference in your mouth!

Snoring

 Got Snore? 

Are you losing sleep because your bed mate stops breathing, makes choking sounds and gasps for air? This condition is called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

An OSA sufferer can stop breathing as many as 100 times each night when the soft tissues in the mouth collapse into the airway. The lungs struggle to catch a breath—choking sounds—until the chest muscles can force the airway to open—the gasp.

OSA affects about 18 million people in the U.S. and can be life-threatening. OSA increases the person's risk for a heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure. Lack of continuous, restful sleep puts the sufferer at high risk of being involved in an auto accident and an inability to efficiently and safely function during the day.

OSA often goes undiagnosed because the person may be embarrassed to confide in us that there is a problem. Yet, OSA is easily diagnosed and treated, even from the dental office.

If you or someone you love has OSA (or is just someone who snores), the solution can be as simple as a custom-fitted mouthpiece to prevent the tongue and other soft tissues from collapsing into the throat. We would take an impression here in our office and send it to a lab where the technician will create your custom mouthpiece.

Call us right away and schedule a consultation so you and your partner can get the sleep you need and enjoy beautiful dreams together!