Medication side effects on your oral health

Taking a lot of medicines and tonics to treat various disorders or psychological illness may also harm your health. The interaction of many organic and chemical compounds present in the medications you intake is powerful to compromise your dental health as well. 

Whether it is over the counter drugs or a prescribed one, herbal medicine or other, overexposure of those medications to your mouth stimulates various oral health disorders. 

Medication side effects on dental health

The drug-drug interaction aggravates the tissues inside the mouth that leads to the following issues:

• Cavities

• Dry mouth

• Taste altering

• Teeth and gum discoloration

• Abnormal bleeding

• Gum inflammation

• Oral Thrush

You can prefer an alternative to those medications but should not stop the treatment. Hence our Dentists have shared some prevention tips to get rid of the side effects.

1)  Cavities

Most of the liquid medications are sweetened with sugar to make it easier to ingest. This is commonly found in tonics given to children, cough drops, antacids, and other chewable tablets. The sugar present in these fluids deposits on the teeth surface. 

Prevention Tips

• Take the drugs during mealtime

• Don't consume the tonics before going to bed

• Consult your Doctor to replace tonics with medicines

• Gargle your mouth with water after consuming tonics

2) Dry Mouth

Dry mouth (or) Xerostomia is a common dental problem and it might be occurred due to medication. This is because the chemical substances in some medicines are powerful to absorb the saliva and leave our mouth dry. The shortness of saliva or reduced salivary flow can lead to various oral problems like cavities, Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS), etc.

This is commonly caused by anti-anxiety medications, narcotic painkillers, asthma inhalers, antihistamines, muscle relaxants, diuretics, decongestants, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants.

Prevention Tips

• Drink more water

• Chew sugarless chewing gums

• Avoid acidic, salty and spicy foods

• Limit the intake of beverages like tea, coffee.

• Reduce smoking and alcohol consumption

3) Teeth and Gum Discoloration

The chemical compounds in medications that are prescribed to treat acne and allergies have teeth staining agents. Long term intake of those medications deposits a black colored pigmentation over the teeth and gums.

Prevention Tips

• Consult your doctor to get a replacement for such medicine or drug.

• Otherwise, visit a dentist to get cosmetic dentistry treatments like teeth whitening and gum whitening.

4) Abnormal Bleeding

Medicines like aspirin and anticoagulants that are recommended to treat heart diseases and stroke are blood thinners. Regular intake of those medications alters the actions of blood cells and palettes to clot the blood while bleeding. This will turn out to be a serious problem when you need oral surgical procedures like fixing dental implants, gum flap surgery, and others.

5) Abnormal taste

Antibiotics, nicotine patches to stop smoking, drugs to treat heart problems and some respiratory inhalants are powerful to alter the taste we sense. They make the people who intake these drugs to sense bitter or metallic taste in their mouth.

6) Soft-tissue reactions

As mentioned earlier, the organic or chemical compounds aggregate the soft tissues that lead to some discomforts. For instance, mouth sores, tissue discoloration, swelling or inflammation in gums. 

It is often possible with medications prescribed for blood pressure, anti-seizure medications, chemotherapy medications.

Prevention Tips

Such problems require appropriate oral care treatments to cure. Consult your Dentist to get rid of those dental discomforts. 

7) Oral Thrush

Oral thrush is a condition that causes white patches or lesions over the tissues. It occurs because of the overgrowth of cells that leads to yeast infection inside the mouth. This primarily happens with the intake of medications taken after radiation therapy treatments like Chemotherapy.

Prevention Tips

• Get dental consultation to get antifungal and anti-thrush drugs.

• Prefer natural mouthwashes to swish your mouth.

Bottom line

The long term intake of certain medications will be problematic and causes havoc on our health. It can be treated or cured by adjusting the dose taken or changing them after discussed with your Doctor. We have explained the common dental problems that arise as a side effect of the intake of the medicine.

Are you suffering from those dental disorders? Book your appointment with us to get proper dental consultation.

5 Post care instructions to care for your implant teeth

The artificial teeth fixed with dental implants also need care and cleaning like the natural teeth. Even though they are the artificial teeth that are placed with titanium posts, the gum tissues around the implants are vulnerable to infection. Plaque on the implant teeth also occurs with poor implant care and leads to serious infectious conditions over implants called Mucositis and Peri-Implantitis.

The dental implants patients are advised with the necessary aftercare instructions for the longevity of the teeth fixed. This post focuses on such post-op care actions recommended by the dental implant surgeons.

Aftercare instructions for the teeth implants

Whether you fix the implants to restore a single tooth or entire set of the jaw teeth, the surgical site should not be touched for a few days. Likewise, the patient should not smoke for a few days following the surgery. 

This is recommended because smoking and touching the gum with bare hands will taint the treated region and affects healing. The healing process involves a new bone developed around the implant post that assures the success rates of implants.

Once the bone is developed that makes the implant interacts well with the jaw bone, the following actions will help you to extend the implant's durability:

1) Clean the implant teeth 

Effective brushing and cleaning are mandatory to get the implant fixed teeth free from stains and bacterial infection. The following appliances are highly helpful in clean the implants at home:

• Toothbrush – While cleaning toothbrush, don't prefer hard-bristled brushes as they may abrade the fake teeth implanted. Likewise, don't use abrasive toothpaste to clean implants. Get a soft-bristled toothbrush or nylon coated interdental brushes or electric toothbrush for implants.  

• Flossing Wire – Flossing is also indispensable for the well-being of the fixed implants. The tiny spaces around the implants and the teeth should be excluded. Flossing wire helps you to clean such minute gaps.

• Water Flossers – Water flossers have a tip which projects the flow of water with force. When the flow of water irrigates over the teeth and implant teeth, the chances are higher for loosening of the dental calculus around the implant tooth.

• Gum Stimulators – The appliance is provided with a handle and a rubber tip which helps in massaging the gums.  Such massaging streamlines the blood flow inside the gums which in turn reduces bleeding and inflammation.

2) Take soft foods

Chewing hard, crunchy and sticky food items with the implant teeth are really bad for the implant teeth. It is because the intense pressure exerted on the implant will lead to leakage or compromise the implant teeth structure. Hence it is better to switch to soft foods for the betterment of implant teeth.

3) Avoid Tobacco and Alcohol

Smoking cigarette is vulnerable to the health of the implants fixed. Tobacco and other chemical substances in cigarette introduce toxic agents in the gum surfaces around the implants. Likewise, alcohol also affects the implants in the same manner. 

Besides stains, the harmful products exposed to the gum surfaces via tobacco and alcohol will deteriorate the bone formed and weakened the tooth implant fixed.

4) Take plaque disclosing tablets

It is quite harder to analyze the areas on teeth surfaces where plaque is forming. If you take plaque disclosing tablets, they will stain or discolor the regions where the dental calculus is present. Then you can clean and loosen the plaque with the help of teeth cleaning appliances, 

5) Prefer Professional dental implant cleaning

Besides home care actions, Professional maintenance is also essential for the artificial teeth fixed. Visit your dentist who fixed the implant teeth at regular intervals for check-ups. If he/she recommend the dental office implant cleaning, then go for it.

To keep your implant teeth far away from the bacterial invasions, effective oral hygiene actions in the home and Professional care are needed. 

To know more about the implant teeth post-care tips, contact our Dental clinic in Mogappair Chennai.

Why do you remove your wisdom teeth?

Dentists recommend the removal of wisdom teeth because they are detrimental to your oral health. In general, the wisdom teeth appear in early adulthood, especially during 18-25 years of age. They are also termed as third molar teeth as they begin to erupt after the permanent teeth are fully developed.

The wisdom teeth are always problematic because they intervene in the rooms available for the erupted permanent teeth. It occurs because of the reduced jaw size and face over the past 2000 years. The jaw size of our generation is small when compared to our ancestors who have sufficient room for the third molar teeth.

Extracting the erupted wisdom teeth will help you in several ways. In this post, Dr. Sendhilnathan one of the prominent dentists in Chennai has listed the benefits.

1) Prevent Teeth misalignment

When a tooth erupts out of space, it will begin to incline towards the adjacent tooth. This leads to alignment issues and causes crowded teeth. If it is left untreated for a while, it will cause serious teeth misalignment problems that affect facial aesthetics. Then you have to wear dental braces or Invisalign to retain the teeth alignment.

Similarly, the tooth skew over the neighboring teeth puts additional force on them. It weakens the bone support of the teeth and makes them fall out.

2) No risk of impaction

A wisdom tooth becomes impacted if it does come out from the gums properly. Such partially erupted teeth or teeth erupted in sideways do not expose the crown. Likewise, the chances are higher for the food debris trapped in the smaller space around the impacted tooth.

Hence it is quite harder to clean them. It makes the gum regions prone to bacterial infection. It ends in infection in the gum tissues that cause gum diseases like Periodontitis. 

Note: People who are suffering from periodontal (gum) diseases have higher chances of developing diabetes, heart diseases, etc.

3) Minimize the Orofacial pain

The force applied by the third molar teeth induces pain in the surrounding facial muscles and tissues. This stimulates other complications like teeth sensitivity, pain in gums, sensitive feeling in gums. Removing the wisdom teeth reduces the pressure which in turn alleviates the orofacial pain.

4) Avert jaw bone damage

Apart from the gum infections, the accumulation of bacteria around the impacted teeth is powerful to develop cysts, tumors in the oral region. Besides these, the bacterial invasion is effective to cause infections in the jaw bone. This lead to pain in the jaw bone joints and serious conditions like Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ).

5) Lessen chronic headaches

The extra pressure applied to the teeth by the third molars causes teeth mobility. Such movement of teeth ends in crowded teeth. We have already seen this one of the above sections. You need to know that the additional force and teeth drifting cause severe headache. 

Wisdom teeth extraction provides a way to get rid of the pressure and their consequences.

Conclusion

Similar to untreated missing teeth, unremoved impacted teeth also cause serious issues including cosmetic problems.

In most cases, people do not aware of their wisdom teeth. Regular dental checkups will help one to detect whether the person has wisdom teeth or not. On the other hand, it can be identified through pain in the teeth with no reason. Other symptoms that show the wisdom teeth removal include cyst, unidentified pain around the jaw and neck.

The link between Bruxism and Dental Implants

Implant Dentistry is the next big thing in the modern dental world. Dental implants are the ideal choice to replace a missing adult tooth because of their exact match of the real tooth and restoring a real tooth's functionalities like biting and chewing force, speech, etc. Besides these, the implant teeth are firmly anchored with the underlying jaw bone. Likewise, the implants can be used with other restoration appliances like dentures and bridges.

Even though the teeth implants are not natural, they are also prone to certain complications which put the real teeth at risk. The habit of Bruxism will deteriorate the implant teeth as well as the natural teeth.

What is Bruxism?

Bruxism is a movement disorder of the stomatognathic system which is identified with the grinding, clenching of the teeth when a person sleeps and wakefulness. It might occur because of excessive stress or depression.

Whether the cause is, frequent grinding of teeth will leave you with complications like wear down of enamel, weakening jaw bone, etc. Similarly, it will influence the implant dentistry treatments and fake teeth fixed with implants.

In this post, you can come to know how bruxism affects dental implants, explained by Dr.Sendhilnathan, an eminent implantologist in Chennai.

Problems caused by Bruxism on Teeth Implants

1)    Affects Osseointegration

When an implant is fixed, the tissues present in the jaw bone and gum tissues should integrate with the metal post. This process is known as Osseointegration which will take a few months. Teeth grinding will extend the healing period and prolong the process of implant fusing with the jaw bone.

In such cases, the chances are higher for the tooth implants to mobilize. It obstructs the amalgamation of the implant with the bone and leads to implant failure.

2)    Implant Fatigue Fractures

The prosthetic appliance like crowns, bridges and dentures which mimic the shape and structure of a natural tooth have a fatigue curve. Such curves can endure a sufficient force magnitude for a certain time. If it encounters an intense force or force with minimum magnitude repeatedly or a prolonged time, it will cause cracks over the prosthetic appliance or false teeth.

3)    Loosen the implant components

The stress applied on the implant teeth for a prolonged time will cause implant overload. This is the main reason behind the loosening of implants, loosening of the prosthesis and abutment screw (which adjoins the implant and tooth-like substance placed) loosening.

Effects on Treatment planning

It is quite complicated to fix dental implants to a bruxing patient when compared to a person who does not grind his/her teeth. The habit is effective to influence the treatment preparations as described below:

1)    Implant Design

In general, the metallic cylinder implant posts should be wider in order to get a wider root for better contact with bone. Likewise, the implants are fixed with minimum length. If an excess of force is applied over the implant post due to clenching teeth, it will push the metal post to increase the width by 1 mm or more for better placement and reduce strain in the cordial bone.

2)    Prosthesis Design

The prosthetic appliances are designed in the manner of distributing the stress on implants. The contact between the teeth on the upper and lower jaw should be minimum to prevent cracks on the prosthesis. Hence the occlusal surfaces need to be reduced.

Conclusion

It is not a new thing to reveal that bruxism also known as teeth grinding will affect your dental health by weakening the jaw bone, lead to gum recession, tooth loss and other dental discomforts. This habit is powerful to wreck the teeth fixed with implants.

Wearing occlusal guards and night guards over the teeth will help the bruxing persons to avert this habit. We recommend the people who have the habit of grinding their teeth to consult their Dentist.

How does smoking affect dental implants?

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for our health. The oral region with which the tobacco products are inhaled is highly vulnerable to serious infections and diseases. Do you know cigarettes and other tobacco products will affect the false teeth fixed with implants?

Dental implant is the widely used missing teeth replacement solution. Teeth fixed with implants are highly durable and assures 90% of success rates. An implant replaces the missing tooth root and requires ample support from the jaw bone. An implant tooth should be surrounded by healthy jaw bone and gum tissues to stand rigidly. Smoking is powerful to loosen the implants and fall out. 

How smoking is related to implant failure?  The facts are explained by Dr. Sendhilnathan an expert implantologist in Chennai.

1)Smoking shortens the blood flow

Nicotine is the chemical compound present in cigarettes. It can constrict the blood vessels present in mouth and skin. This results in the oral regions do not get sufficient blood supply and antibodies carried by the blood. When the implants are fixed, the implant site is injured because of the surgery. During the healing process, the implant gets fused with the jaw bone.

In contrast, smoking prolongs the healing period. The chances are higher for bacterial accumulation in the surgical site during healing. Bacteria's entry in the implant region interferes the bonding of the implant with the jaw bone. It ends in the false tooth falls down within a short period after implantation.

2)Affects Salivary Glands

Smoking cigarette and consuming tobacco in any form will affect the salivary glands. It results in less production of saliva.

Apart from keeping the moist condition of our mouth, saliva plays a dominant role in excluding the bacteria and other harmful microorganisms in our mouth. If there is a lack of salivary production, it will end up in the dry mouth which is taken advantage by the oral bacteria and cause various oral complications including gum diseases.

Remember that gum diseases like Gingivitis and Periodontitis have the same effect on dental implants like natural teeth. It weakens the bone with the implants and leads to implant failure.

3)Peri-Implantitis

Teeth implants are highly prone to an infectious disease called peri-implantitis. It causes inflammation in the gum tissues and loosen the osseointegrated bone followed by the bone loss and ends in the tooth implants fall out.

As the implants do not have the ligaments possessed by a natural tooth, when an implanted tooth is infected with the infectious disease, it will become easily loosened. 

Dentists say that infectious disease has been caused by oral bacteria. If you are a smoker, then you are highly vulnerable to peri-implantitis.

Conclusion

The durability of implant teeth depends upon how you take care of it. Apart from keeping the fake teeth clean with dental hygiene, you have to skip things that are harmful to the implants. Cigarettes and tobacco products are the prime things to avoid after fixing implants.

If you cannot abstain this habit, at last try to lower the consumption. But you should not smoke for a week before fixing implants. Similarly, avoiding smoking for one week after fixing dental implants is also important. If you smoke immediately following the implantation, bacterial accumulation over the site may occur and leads to further complications.

Have queries on dental implants? Contact the best dental implant centre in Chennai.