Diabetes and Implant Placement

This National Diabetes Awareness Month, we at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania want to raise awareness of the unique challenges people with diabetes face regarding their oral health. People with diabetes are at elevated risk for tooth loss, so dentists have long been studying the question of what kinds of prosthetic teeth are effective for them.

Research indicates that people with controlled diabetes can generally receive implants successfully, but there are a few areas that require extra precaution. One is that people with diabetes take longer to recover from surgical incisions, which are necessary for the placement of implants. This means that people with diabetes may expect a longer osseointegration period before their new dental crowns are placed. The other concern is that, because people with diabetes have higher rates of gum inflammation, their implants are at greater risk of failing prematurely.

Fortunately, a recent systemic review found that people with controlled diabetes hardly experience greater rates of implant failures than non-diabetic people. The key is that their oral health needs to be more closely monitored for signs of gingivitis, so that they can receive necessary cleanings quickly. If a patient has great trouble controlling their diabetes, dentures may be more appropriate. We offer dental implants at our offices, and will give each patient the individual care they need for lasting oral health.

 Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Oral Bacteria in Aging Populations

Oral hygiene is crucial for the preservation of teeth and the integration of implants. At The Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, we’ve seen a lot of people safely through the entire tooth replacement process. But as people age, their risk of oral health complications increases, which is why we wanted to provide some information about the connection between oral bacteria and overall health in the aging population.

Older Americans have higher rates of tooth decay than any population except young children. According to some estimates, 64% of them have periodontitis, which is the more advanced form of gum disease. People with periodontitis experience jaw bone deterioration, which makes their teeth likelier to come loose, migrate, or fall out. Their mouths also lose vertical dimension, causing bite problems. But oral bacteria will not necessarily remain confined to the mouth. They may enter the bloodstream through the dental pulp, an abscess in the gingival tissue, or through the lungs, and cause inflammation throughout the body. This would cause other prosthetics and replacement body parts, such as heart valves, to be at higher risk of premature failure. Oral bacteria that migrated to other parts of the body have also been implicated in rheumatism and Alzheimer's Disease.

It is certainly worthwhile for older people to maintain their regular brushing and flossing. They may want to consider electric toothbrushes and enlarged toothbrush grips. People with dry mouth may also want to use sugar-free gum to increase their saliva production and reduce their intake of sugary drinks, such as iced tea, sweetened coffee, and fruit juice. 

The Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA.

 

Cleaning a Night Guard

We at the Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania treat a lot of people who have suffered damage from temporomandibular joint disorder. Many of them damaged their teeth by grinding or clenching them at night. But some people have a lot of success using night guards to avoid tooth damage or protect replacement teeth. Since we want patients to be able to enjoy their teeth for as long as possible, we wanted to provide some guidance on cleaning night guards and preventing oral infections.

Wearers will remove their night guard each morning upon waking up. There are antibacterial rinses commercially available for soaking night guards in, and antibacterial soap and water work well for cleaning, too. But people still commonly brush their night guards to ensure they have removed bacterial build-up. If they do, it is important for them to avoid hard-bristled toothbrushes or toothpaste with extra fluoride, which won’t protect plastic and may even scratch it.

The protocol for maintaining a night guard doesn’t differ too much from maintaining a denture, except for one key thing: a night guard needs to be kept dry. The case it is kept in should be ventilated and should also be cleaned daily with antibacterial soap. When not in use, the night guard should be kept out of extreme heat, which could warp it. A wearer should always brush and floss prior to putting it back in at night.

The Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA or call 215-463-4141.

When a Tooth Cracks

Breaking a tooth is scary. While there’s no way to be completely prepared for when it happens, we at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania want people to know that teeth often can be saved, and that getting treatment quickly increases their chance of successful treatment. In this blog post, we discuss what to do immediately after discovering a broken tooth and what treatments are likely.

The molars are the likeliest teeth to break. They are the ones that can normally withstand the force of the patient’s bite, although they may break against something extremely hard. When other teeth are used for chewing, they are much likelier to break or be pushed sideways. If a patient chips or cracks a tooth, they should rinse their mouth with salt water and cover the broken crown with dental wax if they have any on hand, or sugarless gum if they don’t.

A small chip may be repairable with bonding. For this procedure, a dentist would apply and contour an adhesive material onto the tooth. But if the tooth is significantly broken, a dentist may need to reshape it in preparation for an entire new crown. The crown would be custom-made to fit the patient’s mouth and cemented over the reshaped natural enamel, which would be left in place to cover the dental pulp. If an x-ray reveals that the tooth is cracked at the root, it will need to be removed. We’ll work with a patient to determine whether an implant or a partial denture would make a better replacement.

Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania operate in Philadelphia, Folsom, and Clifton Heights. Visit Oral Surgery PA or call 215-463-4141.

 

Bite Collapse

People in need of an oral surgeon have often suffered extensive wear to their teeth. When teeth are worn down or absent, the patient may experience bite collapse, which is also known as loss of vertical dimension. Since fixing this is one of the most important aspects of what we do, we want to make sure our patients understand how it affects them.

Vertical dimension loss doesn’t only occur when tooth enamel is eroded; it can also occur when the front teeth are tilted outwards and back teeth are missing or broken. The loss of bite dimension is often evident from the appearance of the patient’s face, which may be wrinkled and have a mouth that is disproportionately small compared to the surrounding features. It also can be the cause of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD), which causes pain throughout the head, neck, and shoulder and can lead to more tooth grinding.

If your teeth are worn down extensively, your dentist might refer you to Oral Surgery Consultants of Pensylvania for extractions.  After healing, you would follow up with your dentist for any restorative work.

 

Drs. Bahram, Richman, Mohan and Dieu operate at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania at 2546 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19145. To schedule an appointment, call 215-463-4141 or visit Oral Surgery PA and fill out a contact sheet.