7 Oral Health Concerns for Those Over 50

When they say “age is all in your head,” they’re probably right. But then, your teeth ARE in your head -- so you likely can’t escape having to pay a little more attention to them after the age of 50. Although some oral health concerns are seen as common as we age, if you adopt a proactive mindset and educate yourself, these concerns do not have to be common for you. Anticipating and recognizing changes in your mouth can help you be on top of your health in this area -- so let’s take a look at the main ones you have to watch out for.

1. Dry Mouth: The most common oral health concern you’re likely to experience as you age is dry mouth. In the medical world, dry mouth goes by the name xerostomia, and can be brought on by a number of contributing factors, including the over-consumption of drying beverages like coffee and alcohol, as well as the frequent consumption of salty foods. Another big offender is the medication we take over a lifetime to treat various illness. And the list isn’t a short one – there are at least 400 medications that can contribute to xerostomia, including medications for high blood pressure and depression. Many of our Patients manage dry mouth with various methods to include increased saliva production by chewing gum, xylitol lozenges, or xylitol mints. Some prefer mouthrinses like Biotene for dry mouth. Others consume more water. I do like it when people can make more of their own saliva with dry mouth lozenges. 
2. Ill-fitting Dentures: First off, it’s important to note that the need for dentures is not a must as we age. Today, healthier living and better access to dental care has reduced the percentage of seniors wearing dentures to 27% from nearly 50% just a few decades ago. That said, should dentures be a part of your life, or that of a loved one, wearing properly-fitting dentures is critical.Sometimes, all that’s needed is a denture reline. Give us a call at 208-664-9225 to see if we can help. Dentures that cause pain or shift in the mouth tend to alter a person’s eating habits, which can lead to nutrition deficits if healthy, but hard-to-chew, foods are avoided. Ill-fitting dentures can also cause thrush.
3. Physical Obstacles to Good Oral Care: As we age, we sometimes find ourselves having to contend with physical ailments that limit our desire to maintain good oral care. Arthritis, vision loss, or injuries are a few of the most common. To combat these concerns, using a floss pick to get between teeth can be helpful, and the regular use of oral rinses can assist in dislodging difficult-to-remove food debris, while adding to the overall health of one’s mouth and gum tissue. Here’s how to choose the best mouth rinse for your needs!
4. Naturally Receding Gums: The old expression “long in the tooth” isn’t just a quaint idiom about how one accumulates wisdom with age – it also refers to how our teeth appear to “lengthen” as we age. In other words, it’s a fancy way of saying our gums are receding. While some degree of gum recession is indeed natural as we get up in years, this predisposes us to cavities along the root structure of the tooth where enamel doesn’t exist. So, as one ages, flossing, brushing and rinses are more important than ever.
5. Gum Disease: Natural gum recession is one thing, and a part of “growing up,” if you will. Gum disease, however, is preventable. So, if it’s been longer than six months since you’ve seen us, please do give us a call at 208-664-9225. Each of the above items in this list can contribute to gum disease, and good oral care can prevent it. Failing to do so can lead to a need for dentures at its most extreme, and pain and swollen gums at its least. We’d prefer you experience neither concern!
6. Tooth Loss: If a tooth is lost due to trauma or decay, and not replaced with an implant or other prosthetic, it can have serious complications for the health of the jawbone. Teeth can shift out of place and fall out, and bone tissue can be resorbed back into the body. Not a good thing.
7. Loss of Insurance Coverage: Retirees without dental coverage can sometimes cover the expense of dental care on their own; sometimes they cannot. But a lack of funds to take care of one’s teeth can be devastating to the health of our mouths, and our overall health. So we need to plan for two things: a care routine that allows us to take care of our teeth as much as humanly possible and some sort of financial backup plan for when problems do arise. So, please do check with our in-office dental plans and multiple payment plans to aid it times when outside dental coverage is low to none. 208-664-9225. GenerationsDentalCDA.com

Saving Space for Permanent Teeth with a Space Maintainer

Saving Space for Permanent Teeth with a Space Maintainer


If your little one's teeth have begun to fall out, and their permanent replacements appear to be lagging far behind, you may wish to consider a space maintainer to minimize future orthodontic work. Believe it or not, the absence of your child's teeth might seem cute now, but those tiny little gaps can cause deep gouges in your pocketbook as you watch them fill up with teeth that don't belong there. Space maintainers are simple to use, kids get along fine with them, and they have become the de-facto standard for protecting the cosmetic and functional aspects of your growing child's mouth.
 

Why Your Child Might Need a Space Maintainer

When a child's tooth is lost early due to trauma, tooth decay, or nature's insistence that it drop out before its permanent replacement is due, a space maintainer can be used to hold back the natural inclination of teeth to move forward. Without preventing this movement, teeth that should be in the rear of our mouths end up along the sides, and take up precious real estate destined for another tenant. The result is overcrowding, and in some cases impacted teeth. In the end, it's always easier to save the space now, then create it later.
 

How They Work

Space maintainers are very similar in purpose and design to an adult "bridge," but instead of placing artificial teeth over the gap, the space is kept open to accommodate its future resident. At Generations Dental we make most space maintainers out of metal, (sometimes both metal and plastic), and custom-mold them to the shape of your child's mouth. In most cases, the maintainer is made up of a metal band attached to a rectangular-shaped wire that butts up against the tooth across the gap. This acts to temporarily preserve the space where the baby tooth once was, so its replacement can erupt without obstruction. To some, the final product looks like an old Radio Flyer® snow sled, or a shoe horn you might use to maintain the shape of unworn shoes.

Does My Child Need One?

It's important to note that dental space maintainers are not required for all childhood tooth loss, and that we’re not going to suggest you create a decade worth of space maintainers as each tooth falls out of your child's mouth. Our bodies are quite effective at saving space for the loss of our front teeth as well as our incisors - it's the teeth along the sides of our mouths that tend to cause the majority of complications. Of course, each mouth is different, so be sure to discuss with us the best course of action for you and your child. If your child has recently lost a tooth, or several teeth, and it’ll be awhile before they’re scheduled to see Dr. Rader, give us a call at (208) 664-9225 to see if you should come in a little earlier.

Using a space maintainer is an affordable and effective way to ensure your child's teeth come in where they are supposed to, and when they're ready. It can have a positive effect on your wallet, reduce the amount of time your child needs to wear braces, and control the cosmetic appearance of your child's teeth and mouth.  


GenerationsDentalCDA.com

Probiotic for fighting oral bacteria that causes cavities.

https://goo.gl/uyN9KJ

One Step Closer to Oral Probiotic Supplement

Mon, 03/21/2016 - 1:42pm -- Editor

It seems like probiotics are everywhere these days; yogurt, kombucha and kimchi abound in nearly every supermarket. There's good reason for this trend – greater and greater amounts of evidence continue to merge that suggest our internal microbiome influences everything from our metabolism to our moods. Recently, a new beneficial strain of oral bacteria has been isolated by researchers at the University of Florida. This strain is of particular interest because it promotes a basic pH and seems to inhibit growth of S. mutans, the major culprit implicated in caries formation.

The strain, currently referred to as A12, is found more commonly in the mouths of people with few or no cavities. The bacteria creates ammonia from two common compounds in the mouth: urea (secreted naturally by the host) and arginine (an amino acid). This property is of interest to scientists and health professionals since it directly opposes the action of S. mutans, which ferments sugar into lactic acid, eroding the teeth. However, A12 goes further than just neutralizing acid in the oral environment – research indicates the bacteria can actually kill S. mutans.

Strain A12 competes vigorously against S. mutans by secreting peroxide bursts and interfering with the processes that allow it to form biofilms. The researchers found that when strain A12 was grown with S. mutans, the latter was unable to form effective plaque structures and did not grow as rapidly as usual.

This discovery holds both diagnostic and treatment potential. First, measuring the levels of A12 in a patient's mouth compared to other bacterial species could tell dentists about the greater state of the patient's oral health. This could be used to prevent caries and gingivitis before they begin. Second, a suspension of the microbes in saline could be used as a probiotic rinse, inoculating the patient with beneficial bacteria, which along with improved oral hygiene could rapidly change the oral health of a patient in need of improvement. The NIH agrees, recently awarding a three-million-dollar grant to USF to examine the activity of A12 and similar bacteria.

Generationsdentalcda.com

An article about prenatal and pregnancy care of a mother's teeth and gingiva. Old article but a goodie; when I was the dental director at the community health center. http://goo.gl/A1I0hf

Often overlooked, dentists say mother’s oral health connected to baby’s health

TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012 Spokesman Review-By Adrian Rogersadrianr@spokesman.com

• 
  

For many pregnant women, bumping up their flossing routine – much less scheduling their first dental visit in years – may fall last on their to-do lists.

But for dentists and doctors, the connections between mothers’ oral health and the health of their babies – before and after they’re born – are vitally important. 

“Prenatal dental care is huge,” said Justin Rader, director of the Dirne Dental Clinic in Coeur d’Alene. “It’s big for the fetus’s health, for the mother’s health.” 

Many women miss out, however. According to a 2010 report released by the Spokane Regional Health District, just 56 percent of women reported they visited the dentist while they were pregnant.

That kind of data isn’t available about North Idaho residents, said Linda Harder, a health education specialist at the Panhandle Health District. But, seeing a need, the district provided free fluoride treatments and cleanings to some low-income women.

“With those gals, quite a few of them had not seen a dentist in years, and it was pretty horrendous,” Harder said.

That’s during a time when women’s oral health may be at especially high risk, which research suggests could put their babies’ health at risk, too. Here’s why pregnancy is hard on mothers’ mouths – and how oral health can affect pregnancy. 

Pregnancy changes what you eat – and what you can’t stand.

For many pregnant women, the smell or taste of toothpaste induces nausea, and they brush less thoroughly. 

Meanwhile, they indulge pregnancy cravings or eat sugary snacks or sugary drinks to try to combat first-trimester nausea, which also can contribute to decay.

Then there’s the vomiting. When women experience morning (or afternoon or evening) sickness, the acid can erode teeth. 

After morning sickness, women should rinse their mouths with water and use a fluoride rinse, but hold off brushing for 20 minutes to allow the acid to dissipate, said Melissa Haidu, dental director at CHAS. The acid softens tooth enamel, and brushing them right away just makes it worse.

Pregnancy hormones affect your mouth.

Bleeding gums are common in women who never suffered that problem before pregnancy.

“A lot of my pregnant patients come in and say, ‘My gums are just bleeding and bleeding and bleeding, and I don’t know what to do,’ ” Haidu said.

Researchers say high progesterone and estrogen levels are connected to gingivitis. 

“For pregnant women, your hormones are out of whack,” said Jessica Pearson, dental department supervisor at the Riverstone Family Health Clinic in northeast Spokane.

Swollen, tender gums can lead to serious bacterial infections in your mouth, called periodontitis.

Research suggests bacteria from infections in your mouth can reach developing fetuses.

A cavity in your tooth can affect your whole body, Rader said. When pregnant women allow a cavity to go untreated, “they’re affecting not only their health but the fetal development.”

When a pregnant woman has a tooth abscess – a collection of pus, basically, as a result of decay or a broken or chipped tooth – acid and bad bacteria are injected into her bloodstream when she bites down, Rader said. The bacteria can reach the baby, slowing its development, he said.

The research isn’t conclusive, according to the oral-health report by the Spokane Regional Health District.

But early research suggests there’s an increased risk for preterm birth or low birth weight among women with dental infections, the report said. As the bacteria enter the bloodstream and then the uterus, they trigger the production of chemicals suspected of inducing preterm labor.

With every sweet kiss comes a dose of bacteria, too.

The relationship between mothers’ oral health and their babies’ health continues after the babies are born.

Each person has his or her own oral microflora, which is what dentists call the bacterial environment in your mouth. 

Good bacteria help ward off bad ones, creating a “healthy biofilm” around your teeth to protect them, Rader said. Bad bacteria contribute to tooth decay.

When mothers kiss their babies, share food or silverware with them or transfer saliva in any way, they’re transferring their bacteria. 

Women with healthy mouths will transmit less harmful bacteria to their babies, improving the child’s chances of good oral health.

“Babies are born without all the bacteria in the mouth that we have,” Haidu said. “They have some, but not the mess we have.”

Teens often ignore dental health

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016, 3:52 P.M.

Teens often ignore dental health - Spokesman Review.

“It’s like pouring acids on minerals,” Dr. Rader said. “You’re washing your tooth away.” -------

The teen years are hard on teeth, and Dr. Justin Rader often sees the evidence when adolescent patients open their mouths.

Frequent snacking, sugary lattes and energy drinks take their toll on the enamel of young teeth, whose owners may not be diligent about brushing and flossing.

In a free dental screening Thursday afternoon at Lakes Middle School, Rader gave a dental hygiene pitch to the patients in his chair, while their parents listened in.

Dental plaque is like “wet goo. It’s soft, so it’s easy to brush off,” the Coeur d’Alene dentist said. “But if plaque stays on your teeth longer than a day, it turns to cement. That’s when you need us to scrape it off.”

Seventeen Kootenai County teens took part in the free dental screening offered through the Panhandle Health District. In three hours, hygienists gave each of the students a fluoride varnish and put protective sealants on 87 teeth. Students who needed follow-up care got referrals and vouchers for free cleanings and fillings.

The dental screenings were part of a health fair at Lakes Middle School. Many of the students were referred by teachers, who often are the ones who spot students with tooth aches and other dental problems, said Linda Harder, the health district’s oral health program coordinator.

About 17 percent of Kootenai County residents don’t have health insurance, and even when families do, dental work can be expensive, Harder said.

According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, teens have distinct oral health needs, including risk factors based on the potential for poor diet, alcohol or tobacco use, jaw injuries from sports and eating disorders.

“In the last few years, we’ve seen a real need in teens for dental services,” said Melanie Collett, Panhandle Health District spokeswoman. 

Asher Mattson, 18, relaxed in the dental chair Thursday while he got sealants and a fluoride varnish.

“We hadn’t seen the dentist in a long time, so we took this opportunity,” said Mattson, a student at Mountain View Alternative High School in Rathdrum, who came to the screening with his sister.

Mattson has never had a cavity. Karla Marshall, a dental hygienist, told him that she could tell he had good brushing and flossing habits. But it was time for a full check up, said Marshall, who sent him away with a referral to a dentist.

Not all teens rank that well on dental hygiene. More than 150 teens were asked about brushing and flossing during Panhandle Health District surveys in 2011 and 2012. 

About 23 percent of the students said they brushed their teeth only a few times a week. More than half never flossed.

Every child is different, said Amanda Maloney, who brought her three children to the screening. 

She has to remind her 13-year-old to brush her teeth, which seems to come more naturally to her 11-year-old.

“The pre-teen and teen years can be hard,” said Rader, the dentist. Parents are giving their children more autonomy and responsibility, so they don’t always monitor dental hygiene.

That’s why Rader works on the educational message for young patients: brush twice daily for two minutes each, floss and use a mouth rinse at night to lower bacteria levels in the mouth. 

He’s also developed some vivid imagery to describe how sipping lattes or energy drinks all day affects tooth enamel.

“It’s like pouring acids on minerals,” he said. “You’re washing your tooth away.”

Good dental habits will pay dividends for years to come, said Harder, the oral health program coordinator.

Tooth decay and gum disease are linked to a variety of problems, including poor academic performance, difficulty making friends and less success later in life, Harder said.

Poor oral health also plays a role in other types of the health problems, including heart disease, strokes and premature births in pregnant women.

http://goo.gl/DJMsKC

Waterpipes: Why Using a Hookah Is Like Smoking 100 Cigarettes

Whether you call it a hookah, hubble-bubble, shisha or goza, a waterpipe by any name is hazardous to your health. Research published in the October 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association finds that waterpipe smoking is associated with gum disease, oral cancer, esophageal cancer and dry sockets, among other serious health conditions like lung cancer and heart disease.

These findings may come as a surprise to the 2.3 million Americans who smoke waterpipes. “The public needs to know they are putting themselves at risk,” says study author Dr. Teja Munshi. “They should be made aware of the dangers of smoking hookahs.”

Waterpipe smoking, which began 400 years ago in ancient India, is often done in groups and on the rise among young people thanks to the popularity of hookah cafes. Up to 34% of 13-15-year-olds have tried it, and up to 20% of college students have also smoked a waterpipe.

A waterpipe heats up special tobacco, often available in flavors such as strawberry, cotton candy and spiced chai. That smoke makes its way through a pot of water in the pipe and is inhaled through a rubber hose with a mouthpiece. The level of nicotine in this tobacco is not currently regulated, and there are no age restrictions on who can frequent hookah cafes or buy related paraphernalia.

Because one waterpipe session can last up to 80 minutes, a smoker could take between 50-200 puffs, compared to cigarettes, which usually take 5-7 minutes to smoke and can be finished in 40-75 puffs. In fact, the World Health Organization reports that one waterpipe session is the same as smoking 100 cigarettes. “Whether you are smoking a cigarette, a cigar, or tobacco from a waterpipe, smoking is dangerous not only to your oral health but to your overall health,” says JADA Editor Michael J. Glick, D.M.D.

More on MouthHealthy

• More on non-cigarette alternatives
• 6 steps to quit smoking
• How smoking affects your dental health
• What you need to know about smokeless tobacco

Source: http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics/w/waterpipes/?content=hookah&medium=topstories&source=mh%2F


Generations Dental - Justin Rader DDS
generationsdentalcda.com

103GenerationsDental PROOF2