Sjögren’s Syndrome and Dry Mouth

It’s important to maintain good oral hygiene, but people with certain conditions are at greater risk of developing caries and yeast infections even when they brush and floss regularly. Among those most at risk are people with the autoimmune disease Sjögren’s Syndrome. Although it is estimated to only affect about three million people in the United States, dentists are often the ones who first recognize each case. Therefore, we at Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs wanted our patients to be aware of it.

Sjögren’s Syndrome is characterized by the immune system attacking the body’s secretory glands. This means it interferes with the production of tears and saliva. When a person’s saliva production slows down, they are said to develop xerostomia and will incur dry mouth. The absence of saliva allows food debris and sugary residue to remain on the teeth, feeding oral bacteria. It also allows fissures to develop at the corners of the mouth, where fungus can colonize. A person is also likely to develop bad breath as plaque builds on their tongue.

Because people with Sjögren’s Syndrome have additional oral health problems, they are often advised to have more regular professional cleanings. They may also depend on artificial throat moisturizers and need to increase their fluid intake while cutting back on sugar. It is often difficult to tell the difference between Sjögren’s Syndrome and xerostomia caused by other things, but it occurs most frequently in women over fifty who have recently suffered another infection. If we suspect a patient has Sjögren’s Syndrome, we may refer them for additional counseling to address their eye symptoms.

Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Pericoronitis

If you have a child nearing their teenage years, you may have heard us discussing the risk of impacted wisdom teeth. At Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs, our goal is to preserve a patient’s teeth, but the wisdom teeth often encounter problems that require us to remove them. One of the most common problems when they are unable to erupt completely is pericoronitis, so we wanted our patients to better understand it.

An impacted tooth is one which is partly or entirely unable to push through the gum line. As the largest teeth and the last to erupt, the wisdom teeth frequently are impacted, with a portion of them sticking through the gum and most of them still inside it. The part of a dental crown that breaks through the gum line may still be covered by a flap of gingival tissue called an operculum. Food debris and bacteria can easily get stuck in between the operculum and the crown, leading to recurring infections. “Pericoronitis” is the phrase we use to describe inflammation around a dental crown.

It is difficult for a person to clean an impacted tooth. They should still brush and floss regularly and may also want to try swishing salt water in their mouth, but they will probably need our professional help to remove build-up. We may have to cut away the operculum, and because impacted wisdom teeth often cause misalignments and jaw pain in addition to pericoronitis, we will often extract them.

Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Gum Abscesses

Do your gums often bleed when you brush your teeth? Do you sometimes suffer from fevers and a bad taste in your mouth? If the answer to all those questions is yes, you may have a gum abscess. This condition is extremely serious, not to mention painful, and it develops from gum disease. We at Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs can provide treatment for it, but we encourage all of our patients to understand why they should prevent an abscess from forming.

Abscesses are pockets of pus, which is a mixture of bacteria, dead tissue, and acid. A gingival abscess is one that forms near the gum line, often as a result of poor oral hygiene. A periodontal abscess is one that forms deeper in the gum pocket when gum disease is severe. Periodontal disease causes the walls of a gum pocket to recede from around a tooth root, leaving the tooth loose and bacteria with more space to colonize. When periodontal disease gets bad enough, it can also cause recession in the jaw bone.

After administering local anesthesia to a patient, we can treat gum abscesses by draining them and removing the dead tissue. We will also determine whether any of the teeth’s pulp chambers are infected or if they have abscesses at their roots. After removing the dead tissue, we’ll plane down the tooth root so that it will be easier to clean in the future. The patient will also take antibiotics in the days following the successful treatment of an abscess.

Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Dental and fill out a contact sheet.

 

National Diabetes Awareness Month

If you have diabetes, you are at elevated risk for gum disease. But this fact doesn’t mean that you can’t have good oral hygiene and retain healthy teeth throughout your life. This National Diabetes Awareness Month, we at Southern Cross Dental in Colorado Springs want to share some information about the particular challenges people with diabetes face and what can be done about them.

People with uncontrolled diabetes have a harder time than other people fighting off infections. They have more extreme responses to bacteria, including oral bacteria, so their gums tend to become inflamed more easily and for longer. If the bacteria that trigger gingivitis are allowed to remain, gum disease may progress to periodontitis. When this happens, the teeth come loose and parts of the jawbone deteriorate. People with diabetes also commonly suffer from dry mouth as a side effect of their medication, which means they can’t rely on saliva to neutralize the acid produced by oral bacteria.

Redness, pain, bleeding, and swelling are all symptoms of gum disease. A patient should take these as warning signs that they need to brush and floss more thoroughly. They may also want to consider coming to our office for professional below-the-gum cleaning. People suffering from dry mouth can stimulate more saliva production by sucking sugar-free candy and drinking more water. Chewing sugar-free gum can also dislodge some food debris following a snack, but it is not a substitute for brushing.

Drs. Navid and Faranak Rahimpour operate Southern Cross Dental at 1855 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80905-2516. To schedule an appointment, call 719-471-1717 or visit Southern Cross Dental and fill out a contact sheet.