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Senior Citizens Keeping Dentures Clean

August 22, 2014 Afshin Golyad DDS. , , ,

Senior Citizens Keeping Dentures Clean

Keeping one’s mouth and teeth clean is healthy and allows for healthier eating. It is very important to take are of your mouth at any age especially when one is an elderly and has dentures. Senior citizens are at a higher risk of experiencing complications with gums and teeth (Healthy Gums and Teeth).

 

In’s & Out’s of Keeping Your Dentures Clean & Intact

When you start using dentures, it is recommended to start with softer foods to get used to the denture and how it feels. One should also be careful since bones and hot food can not be easily detected with dentures and may cause damage.

Keeping Senior Citizens Dentures Clean

Keeping Senior Citizens Dentures Clean

Dentures or partials should be brushed daily with a soft toothbrush or denture cleaning brush, using a commercially prepared denture powder or paste, hand soap, or baking soda. They should be brushed inside and outside, and rinsed with cool water. Remaining natural teeth and gums, especially those teeth supporting a partial denture, should also be brushed (Teeth Brushing Mastering Tips). It makes them more important since loosing any more teeth causes the partial to be looser or one may need a new appliance which can be costly.

Night Time Guide for Keeping Dentures Clean

When not in use or at night, dentures should be stored in water or a denture cleaning solution to prevent drying.

Those with arthritis or other limiting conditions should try adaptations to make dental care easier. For example, attach a bicycle grip or wrap a washcloth around a toothbrush handle for easier grasping.  Also by using electric toothbrush (Electric Toothbrush Wiki Page), it may be easier to control than a manual one. They are also great for removing plaque (Dental Care | 7 Basic Things You Should Do) and stimulating gums.

 

Denture Fitting

Check dentures for fit. If you wear full or partial dentures, be sure they fit properly and that you are using the correct amount of denture cream. If you experience discomfort, or if you are using more than one tube of denture cream every three weeks, your dentures may not fit properly and should be evaluated. Visit your dentist (Best Dentist in Santa Monica) to see if they need to be adjusted. Ever few years the dentures may need to be relined meaning your dentist needs to add more plastic in the bottom of the denture where it sits on your gums. Over time by wearing dentures and placing pressure on the gums, the gums and bone will shrink producing a gap between your gums and denture. The reline procedure will fill this gap making the denture fit better and tighter.


Extraction Post Op Care

July 25, 2014 Afshin Golyad DDS. , , , ,

Extraction Post Op Care

If you just had a tooth extracted, the following information will help. The initial healing period typically takes from 1-2 weeks, gum tissue (Gum Disease | Gum Disease Treatment) takes about 3-4 weeks to heal and complete healing of the bone can take about 6 months.

Immediately Following Surgery After Extraction

  • Keep the gauze placed over the extraction (Extraction Procedures) site with pressure applied by biting down until the bleeding stops. You may need to change the gauze a few times if it is soaked with blood. You may have some minor oozing for the next 24 hours which is perfectly normal. Place a towel on your pillow case before sleeping at night so the pillow case won’t get bloody.

 

  • Extraction Post Op Photo

    Extraction Post Op

    Take your prescribed pain medication and antibiotic pill if you were prescribed by your doctor before the numbness goes away. This will usually coincide with the local anesthetic becoming less effective.

 

 

  • Restrict your activities the day of surgery, and resume normal activity when you feel comfortable probably the next day.

 

  • Place ice packs on the side of your face where surgery was performed.

 

  • Restrict your diet to liquids and soft foods for the first few days till you are comfortable eating regular food.

Dental Extraction | Tips & Guides

July 11, 2014 Afshin Golyad DDS. , , , ,

Dental Extraction | Tips & Guides

Dentists and oral surgeons (dentists with special training to perform surgery) perform tooth extractions (Dental Extraction). Before removing the tooth, your dentist (Best Dentist in Santa Monica) will place a numbing gel on the gum next to the tooth to get your gums (Healthy Gums | Healthy Teeth | A Lifetime Commitment) numb before give you an injection of a local anesthetic to numb the area where the tooth will be removed.  In cases where is desired by patients or if the extraction is complicated, the oral surgeon may use general anesthetic to put you to sleep for the amount of time it takes to perform the procedure.

 

Factors & Procedures of Dental Extraction

If a tooth is impacted or broken down badly, your dentist will cut away gum and bone around the tooth and then, using forceps (Forceps Wiki Page), grasp the tooth and gently rock it back and forth to loosen it from the jaw that hold it in place. Sometimes, a tooth must be removed in pieces if it breaks or as a result of cavity (Cavity Treatment and Prevention) can not be grasp by a forceps.

 

Post Op Dental Extraction Procedure 

Extraction | Tips & Guides Image

Extraction | Tips & Guides

Once a tooth has been removed, after the bleeding stops, a blood clot forms in the socket where the tooth was kept in the jaw bone. Initially the dentist will pack a gauze pad into the socket and have you bite down on it to help stop the bleeding. Sometimes the dentist will place a few stitches to close the gum edges over the extraction site. This will help with cases that bleeding is difficult to stop or as a result of cutting the gums (Healthy Gums and Teeth) around tooth, it is necessary to place the gum back in its place.

 

Dry Socket Due to Extraction

Sometimes, the blood clot in the socket breaks loose, exposing the bone in the socket. This is a painful condition called dry socket.  Smoking or using a straw may increase the chances of dry socket.  Some area in the mouth has a greater chance of developing dry socket compare to other areas.  If this happens, your dentist will place a medication over the socket for a few days to protect it as a new clot forms. A dry socket is not an infection and does not require antibiotics.


Extraction Procedures

July 10, 2014 Afshin Golyad DDS. , , , ,

Extraction Procedures 

When you were a kid, losing your tooth was something to be excited about, perhaps achieved by tooth (Baby Teeth | Oral Hygiene) jiggling, biting into a piece of bread or an apple, or tying a string around the tooth and giving it a tug. As an adult, tooth loss (Discuss Tooth Implants With Your Santa Monica Dentist) or extraction are hardly causes for celebration, however sometimes there are no choices but to pull a tooth which is also known as an Extraction Procedure.

Causes For Extraction Procedures

Although permanent teeth are meant to last for our entire life, there are times that they can’t be saved. The most common reason for loosing a tooth or an extraction procedure is having great amount of decay (Understanding the Connection Between Sugar and Tooth Decay) or as a result of accident to trauma.

There are other reasons such as:

  • Not having enough space for all teeth to fit in your jaw. Sometimes as a result of orthodontics, the extraction is necessary to remove a tooth so the others can be align (Teeth Bonding) properly. There are some of us that have smaller than average mouth and all 32 teeth can not fit in our jaws.

 

 

  • High risk of infection:  In people that the immune system is compromise perhaps as a result of chemotherapy (Chemotherapy Wiki Page) or diseases such as AIDS, or an organ transplant the infection in a tooth be a risk to general health of the patient and extraction would be a safer treatment.

 

 


Jaw Pain | Cause & Effects

July 8, 2014 Afshin Golyad DDS. , , , ,

Jaw Pain | Cause & Effects

TMJ disorder which stands for  temporomandibular joint are the result of issues with the jaw, the joint and/or the surrounding muscles on face that controls moving the jaw and chewing actions. The technical name is temporomandibular disorders or TMD.

Anatomy of The Jaw

Jaw Pain | Cause & Effects Image

Jaw Pain | Cause & Effects

The temporomandibular joint is the joint or the hinge that attaches the lower jaw to the skull on the side of the face in front of the ears. These joints are flexible, allowing the site jaw to move up and down and side to side and enabling the individual to talk, chew, and yawn. The cause of TMD pain is not really clear, but it is believed that symptoms are the results of problems with the muscles of the jaw or with the parts of the joint itself or both.

Some possible reasons for these disorders might be:

  • Injury to the joint, and muscles from car accidents to sports or even street fights.

 

 

  • Dislocation of the disc which is a soft cushions between the ball and socket.

 

 

  • Stress, which can cause a person to tighten facial and jaw muscles or clench the teeth (Healthy Gums and Teeth) which could result in clenching and grinding as discussed earlier.

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