Great Oral Health Contributes to a Healthy Pregnancy

Great Oral Health Contributes to a Healthy Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting time. It’s also a time when there is a lot to think about and to do.  After all, there’s designing the nursery, selecting baby clothes, and choosing your new baby’s name. While all of these things are at the forefront of your mind, our team at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania wants to remind you of how great oral health contributes to a healthy pregnancy.

 

Taking care of your gums and teeth when you are pregnant is important. During pregnancy, heightened hormonal changes can increase your risk of developing periodontal disease, and may even increase your risk of pre-term labor.  We want to emphasize the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene during your pregnancy by brushing and flossing regularly. With excellent oral health care, you can contribute to a healthy pregnancy.

 

We know that you’ll be having many ob/gyn appointments during your pregnancy, but don’t miss your regular dental checkups during this time. Dental procedures can be done during pregnancy, but they need to be scheduled appropriately, usually in the second trimester. 

Alcohol's Effect on Your Oral Health

 

Many alcoholic drinks, including beer, contain sugar that can damage your tooth enamel.  Wines, margaritas, daiquiris, and other mixed drinks containing citrus juices or soda are even worse.  The high acidity and overly abundant sugar content can increase your risk of tooth decay.

 

Alcohol, by its very nature, is dehydrating.  It dehydrates your body and reduces the amount of saliva in your mouth.  This can both damage and soften your enamel.  In addition to physical problems and addiction tendencies, excessive alcohol consumption can cause a host of dental troubles, including gum deterioration, cavities, and even tooth loss over time.

 

If you are going to drink (and not excessively, we hope), there are a few things that we at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania advise you to do in order to lessen the damaging nature of alcohol’s effect on your health.

• Brush and floss every night before going to bed -- especially if you’ve been consuming alcohol.
• Leave your toothbrush and floss out if you plan to go out and drink as a reminder to brush and floss before turning in.
• ·Swish water in your mouth while drinking alcohol to rinse sugar and acids away and add moisture to your mouth.
• Chew sugarless gum between drinks and after drinking.

While all of these tips won’t completely eliminate alcohol’s damaging effects on oral health, it can help to lessen the detrimental effects.

Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction is sometimes necessary for certain conditions and procedures, including wisdom teeth eruption, infection, or in the event of severe tooth decay. Most tooth extraction procedures are fairly simple and straightforward, but special care should be taken to avoid complications and to ensure a speedy recovery. When you visit for your tooth extraction, be sure to follow all pre-surgical instructions. With the use of anesthetic and/or sedation, you can expect your extraction to be painless and comfortable.  You may experience a pressured sensation as the tooth is eased from the socket and extracted. When a tooth cannot be easily removed from a socket, a tooth may need to sectioned and removed in portions. This process is also fairly simple and easy to complete.  Once the tooth has been fully extracted, the gum with be stitched to heal or the site will be preserved for implant placement.

 

Provided you follow all post-op specifications, including follow-up visits and restorative procedures, your tooth extraction will ensure your smile stays healthy, functional and beautiful.

Implant Site Preservation - A Key to Implant Success

If you are in need of a tooth extraction and you plan on completing your restoration with a dental implant, implant site preservation is essential for a successful implant placement procedure.  Implant site preservation ensures that the site of your future implant remains in an ideal state with minimal bone changes, thereby ensuring your implant cylinder can be placed with ease, the healing process is efficient, and your implant remains stable and secure for many years.

Here at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania, we’ve helped many Philadelphia patients with implant site preservation and dental implant placement.  For complete information on oral surgery and implant services available through us, visit our site and contact us directly.

IV Sedation

IV sedation is an effective and safe dental resource.  Through sedation services we help patients feel relaxed and comforted throughout their procedure. Although sedation can be administered through various methods, IV sedation is both fast acting and easy to control. Also called “Twilight Sedation”, IV sedation is introduced intravenously and can be adjusted according to patient needs.

 

Through IV sedation, you’ll experience your procedure as a pleasant rest.  You’ll likely have little to no memory of the process and feel no discomfort. Since IV sedation is so safe and effective, some patients can even undergo multiple procedures during one sedation session.

 

For more information IV sedation and other forms of sedation dentistry, please visit our website or contact us directly here at Oral Surgery Consultants of Pennsylvania.

Oral Cancer

We understandably don’t like to think or talk about cancer, but confronting this serious issue is imperative to good health practices.  In the dental health community, we are especially concerned with our patients’ understanding oforal cancer and all necessary screening and preventative measures. Like other forms of cancer, oral cancer can be extremely costly and difficult to fight once it has progressed; but also like other cancers, when it’s diagnosed early, patients greatly improve their prospects for a full recovery.  

 

Since there are a number of behaviors and lifestyle factors that can increase the risk of oral cancer, patients should be aware of the following factors and get a screening if any apply to them:

• Patients over fifty who use any tobacco products, drink frequently or heavily, and/or have a history of oral cancer in their family.
• Patients who have been infected with HPV.
• Patients who regularly experience sores or pain in the oral cavity, especially if due to damaged teeth or past dental work.
• All patients over eighty.

Wisdom Teeth

Should you get your wisdom teeth removed, even if you’re not experiencing any pain or problems? In most cases, the answer is yes.  That’s because properly aligned wisdom teeth are a rarity.  More often than not, wisdom teeth create issues as they start to erupt--growing in crooked or only partially emerging—or they become impacted and compromise the gum, bone and surrounding teeth.  Cyst and tumors could even form around an impact wisdom tooth and require involved and costly surgery.

 

To prevent these and subsequent problems, wisdom tooth removal should be completed proactively. The procedure is often simple and straight forward.  Sedation and anesthesia eliminates any pain and discomfort.  After the wisdom tooth removal, you will need a day of rest and basic aftercare, which may include medication and compliance with a soft diet as not to compromise the healing process.  A follow up appointment may be needed to remove stitches and assess the health of the gum.

 

If you are in need of wisdom tooth removal, or if you’re not sure if you should undergo this procedure, please view out website for complete information:http://www.oralsurgerypa.com/oral-surgery/wisdom-teeth.html. We look forward to answering any questions you may have.