1. Food pocketing/holding food in the mouth without swallowing it.

You know that what you eat directly impacts your health, and that includes the health of your teeth and gums. But it can work the other way around too. If you have an orthodontic appliance, such as braces, or have had certain dental problems or procedures, the health and comfort of your teeth and gums can directly impact what you eat.

Difficulty chewing is a common problem for older adults, and can have many causes and even takes longer time in eating food. Missing teeth, poorly fitting dentures, and mouth pain are typical culprits for chewing problems. If left untreated, these problems can increase the risk for weight loss, or inadequate intake of important nutrients, so your first step should be a visit to your dentist to help determine the cause of your problem. Meanwhile, eating soft foods (see tips for braces) can you help maintain your nutrients until you can see your dentist.

Here are a few important steps to take to help ensure you or your loved one are not struggling unnecessarily due to food pouching:
 See the dentist regularly, and make sure any pain or new issues are addressed promptly.
 Make sure dentures fit properly — they should not move, make noise during meals, or cause pain.
 Practice proper hygiene of teeth and dentures, like brushing and soaking. Seek help with this, if needed.

2. Invisalign Aligners & its Advantages

While there are many options to straighten your teeth Invisalign is the only clear option that is free of brackets and wires. Invisalign allows you to work, eat, and participate in social situations worry free! All while giving you a perfect smile. Invisalign has many benefits for the wearer, such as comfort and flexibility, below we will look at advantages of Invisalign has to offer.

• Invisible Appearance

Invisalign trays are invisible! They are completely clear so they don’t detract from your face or smile.

• Improved Cleanliness

Invisalign trays are removable – when you are ready to brush and floss your teeth just remove the trays, clean your teeth, then pop them back in.

• Saves Time

With Invisalign you will be able to spend less time at the orthodontist or dentist’s office as they only need to be maintained every 6 weeks on average.

• Safe and Removable

Is your child or teen in sports or band? Invisalign allows for a more comfortable experience without the scrapes other orthodontic options can cause.

• Better Dental Health

Straight teeth are better for your gums and dental health.

• Beautifully Straight Teeth

The result speak for themselves and Invisalign leads to beautifully straight teeth and a wonderful smile. Possibly the best reason to use Invisalign!

3. Mouth Breathing Habit

Mouth breathing habit develop in people when they can’t breathe through their nose. Mouth breathing may solve the immediate and essential problem of getting enough air. But mouth breathing can become a hard-to-break habit that can cause sleep disorders, dental problems and facial structure differences.

Mouth breathing habit affects adults and children. Healthcare providers estimate between 10% and 25% of children have mouth breathing habit. Children who have mouth breathing habit are more likely to have dental problems like malocclusion and facial difference. They can also develop obstructive sleep apnea that healthcare providers link to learning difficulties and behavioral problems. Malocclusion in children as well as adults happens when your upper and lower teeth don’t align. Proclination of anteriors justified by interposition of the hypertonic lower lip between maxillary and mandibular incisors provoking labioversion of the:

• Maxillary incisors
• Posterior crossbite
• Anterior open bite
• Distal relation of mandible to maxilla.

Talk to your healthcare provider if you think you or your child is developing mouth breathing. They’ll recommend treatments or medication to resolve the problem.

4. Teeth grinding at night

Teeth grinding (bruxism) often occurs during sleep. This is called sleep or nocturnal bruxism. A key challenge with sleep bruxism is that it is much harder for people to be aware that they are grinding their teeth while sleeping. Relatedly, a sleeping person doesn’t realize their bite strength, so they more tightly clench and grind their teeth, employing up to 250 pounds of force.

Teeth grinding at night is more common in children, adolescents, and young adults than middle-aged and older adults. Exact numbers of how many people have sleep bruxism are hard to come by because many people are not aware that they grind their teeth.

People with teeth grinding don’t grind their teeth throughout the night. Instead, they have episodes of clenching and grinding. People may have very few episodes per night or up to 100. The frequency of episodes is often inconsistent, and teeth grinding may not occur every night. Teeth grinding can increase the risk of problems with the joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull, known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). TMJ problems6 can provoke difficulty chewing, chronic jaw pain, popping or clicking noises, locking of the jaw, and other complications.

The best treatment for teeth grinding at night varies based on the individual and should always be overseen by a doctor or dentist who can explain the benefits and downsides of a therapy in the patient’s specific situation.

5. Why do your gums bleed on brushing?

Reasons for gum bleeding:

Gum bleeding can be due to a variety of reasons. They can be divided into local causes and systemic causes.

The local causes of bleeding are due to poor dental hygiene. Poor dental hygiene can lead to continuous deposition of plaque, which in turn, can cause gum inflammation leading to gum bleeding. Systemic causes include those diseases which can lead to a defect in bleeding and defects in tissues. Defects in bleeding include bleeding disorders such as thrombocytopenia (lack of platelets), hemophilia (deficiency of clotting factor) and hormonally influenced gum disease in females (puberty, pregnancy, and menstrual cycle associated gum bleeding). The defects in connective tissues are mostly due to a deficiency of vitamin C. The systemic causes of bleeding are rare these days (except in cases of hormonally influenced gum disease as occurs in pregnancy, puberty and during certain stages of the menstrual cycle).

Treatment of gum bleeding:

Most times improving brushing habits, brushing twice daily, regular flossing and regular visits to a dentist (at least once in 6 months) can treat gum bleeding and prevent future events of gum bleeding.

As for hormonally influenced bleeding, these complaints are temporary and will subside when hormonal levels stabilize (after puberty, after delivery). Even in these situations, regular dental visits will help alleviate the symptoms more easily.

For more such information please contact our experienced doctors at Prisma Dental Care or subscribe to our YouTube channel (@prismadentablr)

6. DENTAL IMPLANTS: FAQs

What are dental implants?

Dental implants are the best available replacements for missing teeth. They are made of titanium and look and feel like natural teeth. They are fixed replacements for missing teeth in the form of screws which are placed into bone.

Are there any other fixed options for missing teeth?

There is one other option for a fixed replacement of missing teeth. These are called bridges. In case of bridges, the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth are reduced in height and width. Following this, a 3-unit bridge is given. The missing tooth area of the bridge is called the pontic and the teeth which have been reduced in height and width are called as abutments. The abutments serve like pillars in the bridge.

Bridges have been around for several decades and are deemed as successful treatments for fixed replacement of missing teeth. However, in the long run bridges could run into problems as most patients find it difficult to keep the areas under these bridges. This may lead to decay occurring occasionally in these bridge after about 10 years.

Another big disadvantage of bridge being used for replacement of missing teeth is that the adjacent teeth need to be unnecessarily ground and trimmed for accommodating the bridge. Dental implants have no such problems as the missing tooth is replaced with a singular replacement using a screw in the bone.

How do dental implants attach to bone?

Do dental implants feel like natural teeth?

Dental implants are the closest man-made replacement to natural teeth. Instead of having a root that attaches to the bone (as happens in natural teeth), dental implants have a screw that attaches to the bone. This screw transmits the biting forces to the bone and gives the patient feedback of biting on the food they chew. The same does not happen with removable dentures as they directly rest on the soft tissues and are not connected to bone.

How many teeth can be replaced with dental implants?

Any number of teeth can be replaced with dental implants. It is just that the number of implants may increase but all teeth can also be replaced with dental implants (full mouth dental implants)

So please connect with the doctors at Prisma Dental Care to get the best-known replacement for teeth with dental implants.

For more such information please contact our experienced doctors at Prisma Dental Care or subscribe to our YouTube channel (@prismadentablr)

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