b>j)΄!Pԫ&;"kB޶}pSVT(wę!j x;-m@JnQ+պכ7MajfJͱ4jѲ撆RxZMz7vIW/dٞТזcZM~ji ߒsQzԠDW3Den"M+/B:-uIJ7j委9p='mANޭ=/B:-n&nUfqxZM~c Ϲ+,&ᾺܢF[(1*" ϒ"Jԧ<;b" "jܢF[x ,!q қ*]/؝27SMcs"ޭDQ/应ܢF_! :s" 7`F+SVTn"IJnQ/应B 4 wD"IJ׭-`S9DrjiEJ߅gJ应矁[xZM~n"IB؃!'Тѕ+(mIKʭ/|ϐܢF[xZMzG %嬩/c[[ Endo Archives - Greenway Smiles https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/category/endo/ General Practice Wed, 08 Apr 2020 18:19:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Let’s Raise Awareness of Oral Cancer https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/lets-raise-awareness-of-oral-cancer/ Wed, 08 Apr 2020 17:45:50 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1878 THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY estimates that over 53,000 people will...

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THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY estimates that over 53,000 people will get oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer in 2020. The death rate of these types of cancer has been decreasing over the last three decades, and we want to help continue that trend by educating our patients on the symptoms and risk factors.

Learn the Risk Factors

Several risk factors increase a person’s chances of developing oral cancer, and some of them can’t be helped. For instance, men are twice as vulnerable to oral cancer as women, and people over the age of 45 are also at much greater risk.

Of all the risk factors, the greatest by far is tobacco use. As much as 85% of oral cancer cases are linked to some kind of tobacco use. Another risk factor that can be avoided is frequent, heavy alcohol consumption. Apart from these, too much sun exposure can lead to lip cancer, neglecting oral hygiene can increase your chances of developing it (particularly when combined with tobacco use), and a growing number of cases are linked with HPV infection.

Recognize the Symptoms

Not everyone with the risk factors will get oral cancer, and some people with none of the risk factors could still develop it. This is why it’s so important to be able to recognize the symptoms when they appear. These include:

  • Mouth or lip sore that doesn’t heal
  • An unusual lump on mouth, lip, throat, or neck
  • Strange thickness in the cheek
  • Numbness in the mouth or tongue
  • Red or white patches inside the mouth
  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing
  • The persistent feeling of having something stuck in the throat
  • Chronic bad breath

Early Detection Saves Lives

The earlier oral cancer is caught and treated, the better the rate of survival is. Those who have one or more of the risk factors should consider getting regular health screenings, which can detect oral cancer before any of the above symptoms appear.

How Your Dentist Can Help

One place where oral cancer is often caught early is at regular dental exams! That’s right, dentists don’t just check teeth for cavities and gums for gum disease. Add that to the list of reasons not to skip a regular dental appointment! If you’re up to date on your dental exams but are looking for ways you can get involved in raising awareness of oral cancer, just let us know!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

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The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Stress and Our Mouths https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/stress-and-our-mouths/ Wed, 01 Apr 2020 19:06:52 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1875 MENTAL WELL-BEING or lack thereof can often have an impact on physical health. Among those...

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MENTAL WELL-BEING or lack thereof can often have an impact on physical health. Among those impacts are the ways that oral health can be affected by stress, and we want to make sure our patients are aware of the connection so they have more tools to fight back.

Grinding Your Teeth? Stress May Be Behind It.

The technical term for habitual teeth-grinding and jaw-clenching is bruxism, and clenching and grinding are natural responses to stress and frustration for some people. Common signs of bruxism include flattened chewing surfaces of the teeth and a sore jaw, and the risks to oral health from this habit are significant. People with bruxism may not even realize they’re doing it, especially if they do it in their sleep rather than during the day.

Stress Can Compound TMD Symptoms

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is a disorder of the jaw joint, muscles, and nerves associated with chronic facial pain. Like with bruxism, stress is believed to be a contributing factor, resulting in soreness and pain in the temporomandibular joint, frequent headaches, and popping and clicking in the jaw.

Our Immune Systems Are Weakened by Stress

When stress goes on for lengthy periods of time, it can put a lot of strain on the immune system, making it harder to fight back as effectively against things like oral infections, canker sores, cavities, dry mouth, and gum disease.

Always Prioritize Oral Health and Hygiene

The many negative effects of stress only make it more important to keep up with good oral hygiene habits like daily flossing and brushing for two minutes twice a day. Spending just a few minutes looking after our teeth each day can make a huge difference in our oral health. Having healthy teeth and gums might not address whatever’s stressing you out, but it can definitely help you feel a little better and more in control.

Check out this video for a few quick ideas on de-stressing:

You Have Allies in This Fight

As dental health experts, we want to make sure that oral health is one thing our patients don’t have to stress about. We realize that the idea of going to the dentist can be stressful on its own for many people, but we’re here to help. We encourage everyone to keep up with their regular dental appointments, and especially to schedule one if you experience symptoms of oral health problems like TMD or bruxism.

We’re here to help our patients smile easier, not just healthier!

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The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> 5 Weird and Fun Mouth Facts https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/5-weird-and-fun-mouth-facts/ Wed, 18 Mar 2020 17:28:31 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1863 HOW MUCH DO you know about your mouth? Prepare to know a lot more, because...

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HOW MUCH DO you know about your mouth? Prepare to know a lot more, because we’re about to share a bunch of strange and fascinating mouth trivia. Let’s get started!

#1: Our sense of taste needs saliva to work!

We have approximately 10,000 taste buds in our mouths, most of which are on our tongues, but they can’t taste anything until molecules from the food we eat dissolve in our spit! Only then can the chemicals be detected by receptors on taste buds.

#2: The bumps on the tongue are called papillae.

You might think that the little bumps on your tongue are your taste buds, but they’re actually structures called papillae. Many taste buds are located on these papillae, along with temperature sensors, but individual taste buds are too small to see. Papillae give our tongues their texture, which is important for eating.

The downside of papillae is that the rough texture they create leaves many tiny gaps for bacteria to grow in, which can impact our sense of taste and give us bad breath if we aren’t scraping our tongues on a daily basis.

#3: The tongue is the only muscle that works without support from the skeleton.

Technically, the tongue is comprised of eight muscles, four of which are intrinsic (forming the tongue itself) and four of which are extrinsic (attaching the tongue to other structures in the mouth and throat). These muscles give the tongue an incredible range of possible movements, including shortening or lengthening, curling and uncurling, and (for some people) even rolling. Without all these movements, we’d have a much harder time speaking and eating!

#4: The tongue has super stamina!

You might have heard that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body. While this isn’t true, has your tongue ever felt tired the way your other muscles do after a workout? The reason the tongue doesn’t get tired is that it has a lot of built-in redundancy with all those different intrinsic and extrinsic muscles working together.

#5: Teeth start to develop before we’re born.

Baby teeth begin to form as early as six weeks into fetal development, and adult teeth start to form at twelve weeks. It takes many more months for baby teeth to fully form and erupt. Adult teeth take years, slowly developing as the child grows and there’s more room for these new teeth.

Know Any Other Weird Mouth Facts?

As dental health professionals, mouth facts are some of our favorites, and we’d love to hear any weird ones you know the next time you come in for an appointment. If you have any concerns about your teeth or gums or it’s just been a while since your last dental appointment, don’t hesitate to schedule a dental exam!

Bonus fact: we love our patients!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> From Dental Health to Overall Health https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/from-dental-health-to-overall-health/ Wed, 11 Mar 2020 17:48:22 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1860 WHEN WE THINK of being healthy, how much are we thinking about oral health? Just because...

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WHEN WE THINK of being healthy, how much are we thinking about oral health? Just because we go to our dentists for oral health concerns and physicians for overall health concerns, it doesn’t mean there’s no connection between the two.

The Mouth Is the Bridge Between Body and World

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the mouth is definitely the gateway to the body. What we eat affects our health, as well as other mouth-related habits like smoking or nail-biting, and problems in overall health may show their first obvious symptoms in the teeth and especially the gums. It’s easier to maintain good overall health by maintaining good oral health, and vice versa.

Gum Disease and Chronic Diseases

According to the CDC, as many as half of American adults have some form of gum disease. In its early stage, gingivitis, it’s the result of plaque building up and irritating the gums, causing swelling, tenderness, and infection. Over time, gingivitis can worsen into periodontitis, which weakens the support structures around the teeth. Studies have suggested a link between gum disease and a number of chronic conditions.

Diabetes

Nearly a quarter of diabetics also have gum disease. Diabetes makes it more difficult for the body to fight off harmful bacteria, which makes it easier to develop gum disease and harder to keep it under control. Gum disease, in turn, can make it harder to control blood sugar levels and manage the diabetes.

Cancer

Researchers have found that men with gum disease are 30% more likely to develop blood cancers, 49% more likely to develop kidney cancer, and 54% more likely to develop pancreatic cancer. Cancer treatments themselves can have an impact on oral health as well. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment can have side effects like dry mouth, sensitive gums, sores in the mouth, and jaw and facial pain.

Heart Disease

The reasons for this are not yet clear, but heart disease and gum disease have a tendency to go hand in hand. As many as nine in every ten people with heart disease also have gum disease. One theory is that inflammation is the link between these two conditions.

Other Complications

Beyond these types of conditions, gum disease is also linked to osteoporosis, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, certain lung conditions, and even stroke. Gum disease in pregnant women is also linked to preterm births and low birth weights.

Healthy Mouth, Healthier Body

All these connections between gum disease and chronic diseases can seem scary, but gum disease is preventable when we maintain good daily habits like brushing for two full minutes twice a day and flossing daily. Just as important is scheduling regular dental appointments and keeping the dentist up-to-date on our medical histories!

Thank you to all the patients who support our practice!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> What Causes Canker Sores? https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/what-causes-canker-sores/ Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:50:33 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1844 CANKER SORES CAN be a real pain in the mouth! They might not be very dangerous, but they can make it pretty hard to..

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CANKER SORES CAN be a real pain in the mouth! They might not be very dangerous, but they can make it pretty hard to have a good day. These angry little ulcers can form inside our lips and cheeks without warning and can take a few days to heal. Luckily, there’s a lot we can do to avoid getting them and help them heal faster when we do.

Avoidable Canker Sore Triggers

These are the top five causes of canker sores:

  • Dental/orthodontic appliances. Ill-fitting dentures can cause canker sores when they irritate the tissues of the mouth, and so can braces.
  • Acidic foods. Highly acidic foods like pineapples, lemons, strawberries, and tomatoes, as well as sour candies, can make you more vulnerable to canker sores.
  • Sickness. When we already have some type of infection, the chances go up to develop canker sores.
  • Stress. Stress can be pretty hard on the immune system, leaving the mouth more vulnerable to developing sores.
  • Tissue injury. We all bite our cheeks or lips from time to time, but when that happens, it’s easy for it to get temporarily worse because it swells up and we keep biting it!

Simple Canker Sore Remedies

Try to learn what your canker sore triggers are if you’re prone to getting them, because they’re easier to avoid once we know the cause. Cutting down on acidic foods is a great step. Using more dental wax can help if your braces are jabbing you in the cheek, or getting the problem spots checked by the orthodontist. Also consider exploring different ways of reducing stress so your immune system won’t be under as much strain.

If you’re doing all this and still getting sores, there are a few other things you can do:

  • Choose a soft-bristled toothbrush to minimize irritation. (Usually a good choice anyway.)
  • Brush with a toothpaste free of sodium laurel sulfate.
  • Rinse with warm saltwater to reduce inflammation and speed up healing. (Do not swallow.)
  • Apply a topical medication or take oral pain relief medication to reduce discomfort.

Prevent Canker Sores from Developing

Certain vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B12, iron, and folate, are great for preventing canker sores, and we can get plenty of them by eating more yogurt, spinach, kale, parsley, carrots, and salmon. Keeping up with daily oral hygiene is also essential, because our mouths are healthier when we’re keeping the plaque under control.

Come to the Dentist with Your Questions

If you have any concerns about canker sores that we haven’t addressed here, the dentist can help! Schedule an appointment, even if it’s not the right time of year for one of your regular dental exams. It never hurts to get professional medical advice about an oral health issue!

We love and appreciate all our patients!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Pregnancy and Oral Health https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/pregnancy-and-oral-health/ Wed, 19 Feb 2020 18:52:57 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1812 ASIDE FROM THE OBVIOUS, there are all kinds of changes the body goes through during pregnancy. Some of

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ASIDE FROM THE OBVIOUS, there are all kinds of changes the body goes through during pregnancy. Some of them can even impact teeth and gums, from morning sickness to changing hormone levels that increase the risk of several oral health problems.

Hormones Can Lead to Pregnancy Gingivitis

Pregnancy is a very busy and exciting time, but make sure not to slack off on brushing and flossing, because those changing hormones can leave the gums vulnerable to the tenderness and swelling of gingivitis. 40% of pregnant women have gum disease, and studies link pregnancy gingivitis with lower birth weights and premature delivery. Fight back against pregnancy gingivitis by brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush and flossing daily!

Enamel Erosion from Morning Sickness

Not every mom-to-be gets morning sickness, but the ones who do might experience oral health problems as a result. Frequent exposure to stomach acid erodes the protective enamel on teeth, leaving them vulnerable to decay. You can minimize the effects by swishing with baking soda and water to neutralize the acid after an episode of morning sickness. Once the acid is neutralized, it’s safe to brush!

Weird But Not Dangerous: Pyogenic Granuloma

Possibly the strangest way pregnancy can impact oral health is by causing raspberry-like growths between the teeth. These are pyogenic granulomas, or “pregnancy tumors.” Don’t worry, though, because they aren’t malignant. If they appear, it’s usually in the second trimester, and while they usually vanish after the baby is born, the dentist can remove them if they get too uncomfortable.

The Impact of Diet on Mom’s and Baby’s Dental Health

What we eat always plays a role in the health of our teeth and gums, and that is especially true during pregnancy. We recommend cutting back on sugary treats and focusing on getting plenty of essential nutrients. This will help keep your teeth in good shape, and it will also help the little one. Developing babies need vitamins A, C, and D, as well as protein, calcium, phosphorous to begin growing strong teeth.

The Dentist Is Your Friend

In addition to getting the right nutrition and maintaining good daily oral hygiene habits, it’s also important to keep the dentist in the loop. Fighting pregnancy gingivitis requires routine cleanings and checkups. Whether it’s been a while since your last appointment or you think you might be expecting an addition to your family soon, we encourage you to schedule a dental appointment soon!

Our patients are the best!

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The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Why Our Spit Matters https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/why-our-spit-matters/ Wed, 12 Feb 2020 22:16:38 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1810 WE DON’T USUALLY think very much about our spit, but it’s one of the biggest unsung heroes of our oral health. Just as...

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WE DON’T USUALLY think very much about our spit, but it’s one of the biggest unsung heroes of our oral health. Just as a car engine can’t function for long without oil, our mouths need saliva for chewing, swallowing, and even tasting our food, as well as speaking clearly and defending against a variety of oral health problems.

How We Make Spit

When everything is working the way it should, the salivary glands under our tongues and in our cheeks are continuously producing saliva, with an output between two and six cups a day. Saliva is almost entirely water, but the final 1-2% is made up of proteins, antimicrobial factors, electrolytes, and digestive enzymes to begin breaking down food.

The Stages of Saliva

Saliva production operates in different ways depending on how far our food is in the digestive process. These stages are cephalic, buccal, oesophageal, gastric, and intestinal. Has your mouth ever watered when you smelled your favorite food? That’s the cephalic stage! Once we start eating, the buccal stage begins, helping us to swallow our food. Then, the oesophageal stage helps move the food to the stomach.

The final two stages, gastric and intestinal, are also important even if they seem kind of gross. Before vomiting, the salivary glands work overtime in the gastric stage to protect the mouth and esophagus from the stomach acid that comes up with the partially digested food. The intestinal stage activates when the body doesn’t agree with food that makes it to the upper intestine.

The Connection Between Saliva and Oral Health

It should be clear by now that saliva plays a big role in may functions of digestion, but we want to focus on what it does for our teeth. Saliva neutralizes the mouth’s pH when we eat acidic foods, which protects our tooth enamel. Even though enamel is the hardest substance in the body, it’s very vulnerable to acid erosion. Saliva also washes away any food remnants that stick to our teeth.

Those antimicrobial factors we mentioned are also important for oral health, as they help fight gum disease and bad breath. Have you ever noticed that an injury in your mouth, such as a burned tongue or bitten cheek, tend to heal more quickly than other injuries? You can thank the growth factors in saliva for that!

The Dangers of Dry Mouth

With saliva doing so much for our mouths and our digestion, dry mouth can pose a major threat to oral health. Dry mouth has a variety of causes, from high stress situations to aging to drug use, smoking, and drinking. Even prescription drugs can cause dry mouth as a side effect.

Do You Have Enough Spit?

If you’re living with dry mouth, schedule a dental appointment right away. The dentist can discover what’s causing your saliva to run dry and work together with you to get it flowing again so that you can enjoy all the great health benefits that come with having plenty of spit!

Thank you for being part of our practice family!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Spotlight on Men’s Oral Health https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/spotlight-on-mens-oral-health/ Wed, 05 Feb 2020 18:06:29 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1806 WE SHOULD ALL BE taking good care of our teeth and gums, but did you know that this can mean different things for men than...

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WE SHOULD ALL BE taking good care of our teeth and gums, but did you know that this can mean different things for men than for women? That’s right: one of the ways men and women are different is their oral health, which is why we’re giving guys some tips for how to keep those handsome smiles clean and healthy.

Make Brushing and Flossing a Priority

One major difference between men and women’s oral health is that men have a tendency to be less diligent in taking care of their smiles than women — up to 20 percent less likely to brush twice a day, and less likely to change their toothbrushes regularly. This is such a simple problem to address: just make sure you’re taking the time every morning and evening to brush! Flossing once a day is important too.

Oral Disease Risk Factors for Men

On average, men are more likely to drink, smoke, and chew tobacco than women, which puts them at much greater risk of periodontitis (advanced gum disease), tooth loss, and oral cancer. Avoiding these harmful substances will go a long way to protecting your teeth and gums. We recommend drinking less and not smoking or chewing tobacco at all.

Men Are More at Risk of Dry Mouth

Because men are more prone to high blood pressure and heart disease than women, they are more likely to be taking medications for these conditions. A common side effect of these medications is dry mouth, which can pose serious problems for oral health. We need our saliva to wash away bacteria and food particles and keep the pH of our mouths neutral. Less saliva means a greater chance of cavities, gum disease, and halitosis.

Manly Men Go to the Dentist

Another problem that affects men more than women is that men tend to neglect scheduling regular dental exams. Even if they suspect something might be wrong, there’s a dangerous tendency to want to tough it out in case it goes away. This is not an effective or safe strategy when it comes to dental problems. We recommend twice-yearly dental exams even when you’re confident nothing is wrong. When it comes to dental health, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure!

Together, We Can Keep Those Charming Smiles Healthy!

In taking care of their teeth and gums, men should be wary of getting into a “tough guy” mindset. There’s nothing tough about not getting needed treatment for cavities or gum disease, and there’s nothing manly about skipping brushing and flossing or not scheduling regular dental appointments. Keep up with those great oral hygiene habits and don’t be a stranger to the dentist!

Helping patients is what we do!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Oral Health and Eating Disorders https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/oral-health-and-eating-disorders/ Wed, 29 Jan 2020 18:39:00 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1804 OUR BODIES NEED a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in order to function effectively, all the way to...

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OUR BODIES NEED a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in order to function effectively, all the way to the cellular level. Eating enough food and the right types of food is crucial to stay healthy, and this is a big part of what makes eating disorders such a dangerous problem. Not only is it harmful to overall health, though; it can also damage teeth and gums.

The Role of Malnutrition in Poor Overall Health

Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, are often devastating to the mental, emotional, and physical health of the people who struggle with them. They impact the entire body, including the mouth. The dental health effects aren’t always the first ones people think of when discussing eating disorders, but as dental health professionals, we want to give our patients as much information about this as possible.

How Anorexia Starves the Oral Tissues

The eating disorder anorexia nervosa is characterized by extremely limited food consumption, sometimes paired with purging, compulsive exercising, or both. Anorexia harms oral health through malnutrition. Without enough nutrients, osteoporosis can develop in the jaw bones, increasing the likelihood of tooth loss. The salivary glands may not be able to produce as much saliva, leading to dry mouth, which in turn increases the risk of tooth decay. Gums are also more vulnerable to bleeding.

Bulimia Brings Stomach Acid into Contact with Teeth

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, but it is vulnerable to erosion by acid. This is what makes bulimia (an eating disorder characterized by overeating followed by forced purging of food by vomiting or laxatives) so dangerous to oral health. Frequent exposure to the strong acid in the stomach can erode the enamel, leading to discoloration of the teeth, decay, and tooth loss.

Promoting Good Oral Health

A good oral hygiene routine is important for everyone, but particularly for anyone fighting or recovering from an eating disorder. In the case of purging by vomiting, the best way to minimize enamel erosion from acid is to wait at least thirty minutes before brushing so that saliva has a chance to neutralize the mouth’s pH and begin remineralizing the teeth.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, and for many who struggle with them, recovering isn’t as simple as deciding to stop and then stopping. It’s important to get the right help, which can be everything from a supportive family and friend group to the advice of licensed psychologists.

A good first step to take down the road of recovery would be to contact the National Eating Disorders Helpline. No matter what stage of recovery someone is in, they can always turn to the dentist for help keeping their teeth and gums healthy during and after this fight.

The dentist is your best ally for good oral health!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

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]]> Sleep Apnea, Jaws, and Gums https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/dental-blog/sleep-apnea-jaws-and-gums/ Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:03:20 +0000 https://www.greenwaysmiles.com/?p=1799 IN JUST THE UNITED STATES, sleep apnea affects over 18 million adults and up to 20 percent of children who...

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IN JUST THE UNITED STATES, sleep apnea affects over 18 million adults and up to 20 percent of children who habitually snore. Sleep apnea is a disorder involving brief, repeated interruptions to normal breathing during sleep. In addition to being potentially life-threatening, this disorder can be very harmful to oral health.

The Different Types of Sleep Apnea

There are different ways sleep apnea can occur. The most common is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), caused by a blocked airway — typically the tongue collapsing against the soft palate, which then collapses against the back of the throat, leaving no space for air to get through. A rarer form is central sleep apnea, in which the brain fails to signal the respiratory muscles to keep breathing. Some people experience a combination of the two, which is called complex sleep apnea.

In any type of sleep apnea, the brain reacts with alarm to the lack of air and forces the person to wake up and take a breath. Even though this process is over in seconds and they usually remember nothing, it can happen hundreds of times in a single night. We need uninterrupted sleep in order to be fully rested, so even tiny interruptions can have a very detrimental impact on quality of sleep.

Okay, But How Does That Affect Oral Health?

On top of struggling with the effects of sleep deprivation like exhaustion, morning headaches, and trouble concentrating, sleep apnea affects oral health in a number of ways. People with OSA are more likely to struggle with moderate to severe periodontitis (gum disease), but they are even more likely to develop temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD).

A sleep apnea episode happens when the throat relaxes, and studies have shown that the jaw tends to reflexively clench in an effort to keep the airway open. This TMD issue leads to other problems, including pain when chewing, chronic headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and even damaged teeth.

The Dentist Is Your Best Ally

Dental side-effects are so common in sleep apnea cases that the dentist is often the first one to recognize the signs and diagnose it. That’s only one way keeping up with your regularly scheduled dental appointments can benefit your overall health, not just your oral health. Common treatment options for sleep apnea patients include nighttime dental devices that push the tongue or lower jaw forward and CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines.

Sleep Healthy, Smile Healthy!

We all need good sleep in order to feel our best, so if you’ve been living with sleep apnea symptoms, your next dental appointment could change your life. Stop by our practice today or give us a call to schedule a dental exam, and we’ll be able to discover if sleep apnea is the cause. Then you’ll be on the path to a better night’s sleep and a healthier smile!

Sleep tight, wonderful patients!

Top image by Flickr user anoldent used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.
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