What Is Mask Mouth?

Masks help prevent the spread of infectious diseases — like the Covid-19 virus — protecting both you and those you come in contact with. The simple barrier helps stop respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when a person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. However, wearing a mask for an extended period can create unwanted side effects, such as mask mouth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask in public settings, and studies show masks play a crucial role in slowing the virus’s spread, so getting rid of this protective measure is not the answer. Instead, learn all about mask mouth — what it is, what causes it, and how you can prevent it — so you can find relief.

What Causes Mask Mouth?

Mask mouth describes the variety of oral side effects from wearing a mask for an extended time. Mask mouth might include dry mouth, bad breath, tooth decay, and even gum disease. Dental professionals attribute these side effects to a few factors:

• Disrupted breathing patterns. A study conducted by PNMedical shows how wearing a mask can impact your breathing, causing more rapid, shallow breaths using your mouth, chest, and neck instead of your diaphragm. Breathing out of your mouth decreases the amount of saliva, which plays an important role in your oral health — washing away food debris and defending your teeth from cavities.
• Dehydration. Wearing a mask also causes you to drink less water than usual. Dehydration can lead to dry mouth, increasing your risk of tooth decay and bad breath.
• Recycling air. When you wear a mask, you trap more carbon dioxide in your mouth than usual, according to Aerosol and Air Quality Research. This amount of carbon dioxide does not have a toxicological effect on your body. However, it can increase your oral microbiome’s acidity, which might put you at risk for infections or inflammatory conditions like gum disease.

What Are Mask Mouth Symptoms?

The severity of mask mouth symptoms varies for each person, but the condition most commonly presents itself as:

• Dry mouth. Xerostomia, or dry mouth, occurs when you don’t have enough saliva to keep your mouth moist. Not only does dry mouth make it difficult to eat, swallow, and speak, but it also increases your chance of developing tooth decay and other oral infections.
• Bad breath. What you eat, your oral hygiene habits and dry mouth can all cause halitosis, more commonly known as bad breath. Prolonged mask-wearing can intensify dry mouth, but it also traps the stench caused by poor oral hygiene or eating smelly foods like garlic and onions.
• Bleeding gums. If you notice your gums are swollen or bleeding, it could be a sign of gingivitis. Wearing a mask may impact the type and amount of bacteria in your mouth, which can cause plaque build-up and advance that to your gum tissues.

How Do You Prevent Mask Mouth?

Even if you experience some of these symptoms, keep wearing your mask. Wearing your mask slows the spread of the virus and helps protect the vulnerable in your community. Instead, implement some of these preventative measures:

• Focus on your oral care routine. Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day and clean between your teeth with floss or other inter-dental devices once a day. Make sure you use the proper brushing technique to clean all your mouth’s nooks and crannies.
• Freshen up between cleanings. Keep a mouthwash on hand to freshen your breath and fight bacteria between cleanings. Ask your dental professional to recommend a mouthwash that does not exacerbate dry mouth. Chewing sugar-free gum can also help remove food debris and fix bad breath.
• Keep an eye on tooth and gum health. Because mask mouth increases your chances of infection, watch out for sensitive teeth and gums. If you notice any discoloration, pain, bleeding, or tenderness, see your dentist as soon as you safely can for treatment.
• Stay hydrated. Drink water throughout the day to help prevent dry mouth. It might also help to limit alcohol and coffee consumption, which can cause dehydration.
• Use a clean mask. Regularly replace or clean your mask to prevent bacterial growth. The CDC recommends washing your mask daily or throwing your mask out after each wear.

Mask mouth might create an inconvenience, but it’s easy to address with the right tools. Plus, the price of paying extra attention to your oral care is worth protecting your neighbors and friends from the Covid-19 virus. So mask up and keep up with your oral hygiene!

The post WHAT IS MASK MOUTH? appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

Your oral health can provide clues to your overall general health. Sometimes, conditions which occur in the mouth can also affect the rest of your body. Bacteria live in your mouth just as they do in other parts of your body. Most of the time, the bacteria is harmless and under normal circumstances your body’s natural defenses keep the bacteria from causing problems. Daily brushing and flossing can keep these bacteria under control. Unfortunately, if proper home care is neglected the bacteria can reach levels that may lead to infections including decay and gum disease.

Some over-the-counter AND prescription drugs can reduce the amount of saliva your mouth produces. These medicines include decongestants, antihistamines, pain relievers, diuretics and antidepressants. One of the purposes of saliva is washing away food. It also neutralizes acids produced by bacteria. A normal presence of saliva protects you from an overgrowth of bacteria.

Modern medical research correlates a greater occurence of bacteria and inflammation assiciated with periodontitis (several gum disease) with instances of some diseases. Some diseases such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS, can also lower the body’s resistance to infection and oral health concerns can be greater.

Several major health conditions have also been linked to oral health: Endocarditis (infection of the lining of the heart) and other cardiovascular disease may be linked to inflammation and mouth infection. Periodontitis has also been linked to permature birth and low birth weight.

Diabetes can create your gums at risk since this disease lowers resistance to infection. Research indicates that gum disease makes it more difficult to control blood sugar levels. Regular perodontal care can improve control of diabetes.

Protecting your oral health is as easy as practicing good oral hygiene every day: Brush your teeth at least 2x per day – use fluoride toothpaste. Floss every day. Pursue a health diet and limit between-meal snacks. Get a new toothbrush every 90 days. Schedule regular dental exams and cleanings. Avoid tobacco use (all forms).

Be sure to share your health concerns with your dentist. Make the dentist aware of medications you are taking and changes in your overall health. Taking care of your teeth and oral health is an investment in your wellbeing.

The post Oral Health: A Reflection of Your Overall Health appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

• Excessive drooling and difficulty speaking. Mouth jewelry can cause excessive saliva production and can affect your ability to pronounce words clearly.
• Bad breath. Bacteria breeding around your piercing can cause bad breath.
• Damage to teeth and gums. Teeth may be chipped or cracked from contact with the jewelry. Lip and tongue piercings that rub against gums can cause the gums to pull away from the teeth, exposing the root.
• Infection.  Your mouth contains millions of bacteria, and the site of oral piercings may easily become infected. Food particles that collect around the pierced site are breeding grounds for bacteria.
• Allergic reactions. The metal may cause an allergic reaction at the pierced site. You can develop sensitivity to metal even though it has not bothered you in the past.
• Swelling. Your tongue – the most popular piercing site in the mouth – could swell large enough to block your airway.
• Prolonged bleeding and nerve damage. Piercing can cause uncontrollable bleeding. Some people report temporary or permanent nercedamage after a mouth piercing.
• Choking. You can choke on any studs, barbells or hoops that come loose in your mouth.

If you already have a piercing, keep the following tips in mind:

• Contact your dentist or physician immediately at any sign of infection.
• Keep the piercing site clean by using a mouth rinse after every meal.
• Minimize clicking jewelry against teeth.
• When taking part in sports, take out the jewelry and use a mouthguard.
• Consider removing the jewelry before it causes a problem.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Bearable Dentistry. We can also check your mouth during your next dental visit if you have concerns.

The post Oral Piercing appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

The post SOME PATIENTS MAY NEED A LITTLE EXTRA CARE appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

“In continuing efforts to keep prescription opioid pain medications from becoming a source of harm in communities, the ADA is supporting several proposals highlighted in the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018.

The Opioid Crisis Response Act, Senate Bill 2680, is a bipartisan legislation package containing more than 40 proposals from six Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (known as HELP) hearings on the opioid epidemic. The hearings produced testimonies from the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state governors, expert witnesses and families touched by the crisis. The committee unanimously passed the legislation on April 24, 2018.”

The American Dental Association recently expressed support for mandatory continuing education for opioid prescribers, limits on the number of pills that can be prescribed for initial acute pain and mandatory use of prescription drug monitoring programs.

Your Bearable Dentistry dentists are participating members in the American Dental Association and the Idaho State Dental Association. They support the efforts of these professional associations to keep opioid pain medications use limited to those patients who will benefit from their use and to avoid the damaging effects of opioid misuse in our community. Your Bearable Dentistry oral health professional can help you understand pain management for dental pain.

The post ADA Prioritizes 7 Sections of Opioid Crisis Response Act appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

Why It’s Important

Even routine dental procedures, such as cleaning, can cause bleeding in the mouth, which then allows oral bacteria to enter the bloodstream and possibly travel to the heart. For a patient with a heart condition this bacteria poses the potentially dangerous risk of endocarditis, or inflammation of the heart valves or tissue. Because of this, for patients with cardiac issues, antibiotics are recommended prior to any dental visit, even routine cleanings.In general, patients who have suffered a heart attack should wait six months before undergoing any type of dental treatment, and must communicate any medications they are taking, especially any anticoagulants, or blood-thinning drugs. Patients with stable angina (regular chest pain) should consult with their doctors, but those with unstable (irregularly occurring) angina are usually advised not to undergo non-essential dental procedures. Emergency dental care should be performed either in a hospital setting or an office with cardiac monitoring capabilities.Other things to keep in mind to protect your heart health before visiting the dentist include:

• Learn what your dentist can do in the case of medical emergency, and find out if there is oxygen and nitroglycerin available if needed.
• Be sure your dentist has your complete medical history, including any relevant bloodwork, and names and contact information for other healthcare providers with whom they may need to consult.

Always be sure to let your dentist know if you have any health concerns before an appointment, and particularly if you might have a heart condition. Your continued good health depends on it!

The post Dental Care for the Patient with Heart Disease appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

Diagnosing cavities early allows your dentist to perform restorations in a minimally invasive way. They can also perform minimally invasive esthetic procedures like no-prep veneers and diastema closures with composite filling material – less expensively than other cosmetic procedures. Besides spending less time in the dental chair, minimally invasive treatment offers another benefit – cost savings. Identifying dental concerns early on can help you avoid costly procedures. See your Bearable Dentistry dental hygienist and dentist regularly to keep your smile healthy and looking it’s best.

The post Less Is Often More appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

The post E-Cigarettes Pose Health Risk appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

Hypodontia is often familial and can also be associated with genetic disorders. Possible causes are genetic, hormonal, environmental and infectious. It is one of the most common anomalies of the human dentition and is characterized by the developmental absence of one or more teeth. Many studies have reported that the prevalence of congenital absence of permanent teeth varies from 3% to 11% among European and Asian populations.

There are several ways to deal with hypodontia (missing teeth). Dentures, partial dentures, bridges and implants can be used to restore the space(s) left by missing teeth. Closing the space will help keep the remaining teeth from shifting out of place and will preserve the patient’s bite. A correct bite helps ensure jaw alignment and prolongs the life of your teeth.

Ask your Bearable Dentistry professional about ways to improve your bite and preserve your teeth by replacing missing teeth.

The post Missing Permanent Teeth appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.

The team approach to dentistry promotes continuity of care that is comprehensive, convenient, cost effective and efficient. Members of the team include dental assistants, lab technicians and dental hygienists. Leading the team is the dentist, a doctor specializing in oral health who has earned either a Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree or a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree, which are essentially the same.

Dentists’ areas of care include not only their patients’ teeth and gums but also the muscles of the head, neck and jaw, the tongue, salivary glands, the nervous system of the head and neck and other areas. During a comprehensive exam, dentists examine the teeth and gums, but they also look for lumps, swellings, discoloratioins, ulcerations – any abnormality. When appropriate, they perform procedures such as biopsies, diagnostic tests for chronic or infectious diseases, salivary gland function, and screening tests for oral cancer.

In adition, dentists can spot early warning signs in the mouth that may indicate disease elsewhere in the body. Our dentists are trained to recognize situations that warrant referring patients for care by dental specialists or physicians.

The team of oral health care at Bearable Dentistry provides comprehensive care to patients in all stages of development. Dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and our experienced office staff work together as a team to provide our patients with complete care. From that first phone call, the Bearable Dentistry staff will get you the care you need. Your comfort is our first concern.

The post Dentists are Doctors of Oral Medicine appeared first on Bearable Dentistry.