Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

That baby teeth are not permanent does not mean they shouldn’t be kept clean. We at ProSmiles Dental want families with young children to know how they can help their children avoid toothaches and be set for a lifetime of oral health. One of the biggest problems facing toddlers is a pattern dentists refer to as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay.

Incisors, the front teeth, are usually the first to erupt, and their fronts are where the sugar from bottled fluid tends to accumulate. The longer sugar remains on a tooth’s surface, the more likely the tooth is to experience decay. Unfortunately, toddlers are often allowed to drink milk or formula from a bottle over a period of an hour or more, keeping their teeth coated in sugar, and because they are unable to access their own drinking water, they have no means of washing away residue.

Parents can prevent Baby Bottle Tooth Decay by teaching their children to drink from cups as soon as possible, ensuring they are getting enough water to drink, and taking away milk bottles once a child is done feeding. (Children should only be given fruit juice and other sugary drinks after they have graduated to cups.) It is also important to begin brushing a baby’s teeth as soon as the first one begins to erupt.

Dr. Archana Lankupalli operates ProSmiles Dental at 9400 Clifford Street, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas, 76108. To schedule an appointment, call 817-369-8000 or visit WhiteSettlementDentistTX.com and fill out a contact sheet.

 

What are Mini-Implants For?

With her advanced post-graduate training in implants, Dr. Archana Lankupalli of ProSmiles Dental is able to secure her patients dentures in place with mini-implants. Although full-sized implants have improved the lives of many patients by providing them with permanent replacement teeth, there are situations in which it may be preferable for them to have a removable denture mounted mini-implants to prevent mishaps.

Like full-size implants, mini-implants fuse with a patient’s jaw bone. Their smaller size allows them to be placed without an incision, but because they don’t have as much bone support, most dentists don’t use them to anchor permanent fixtures in the mouth. Sometimes they are used to bolt the gel base of a denture directly to the patient’s ridge, other times they have ball-shaped abutments or support a bar which the denture is snapped onto.

Other advantages of mini-implants are that they help to stabilize the jaw bone and keep the denture better fitted to the patient’s jaw. Patients should be sure to remove their denture on a nightly basis and to brush in between the mini-implant abutments, but they need no longer worry about the denture falling out or that their breath will smell like adhesive. For people whose bone tissue is too weak or crowded for full-sized implants, mini-implants provide an alternate means of restoring their smiles.

Dr. Archana Lankupalli operates ProSmiles Dental at 9400 Clifford Street, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas, 76108. To schedule an appointment, call 817-369-8000 or visit WhiteSettlementDentistTX.com and fill out a contact sheet.

 

How to Clean Dentures

At ProSmiles Dental, we value our relationships with our patients and want to ensure they have as easy a time as possible adjusting to changes in their oral hygiene needs. Getting dentures is one such major transition, and to get the most use out of them, patients need to understand how to clean their new teeth.

Natural teeth are coated in the hardest substance in the human body and produce their own protective film. But artificial teeth do not, and they may be scratched by ordinary toothpaste. Patients should brush their dentures with toothpaste designated specifically for that purpose and brush the whole denture, not just the bits which mimic teeth. Like all oral hygiene, this should be done with a soft-bristled brush.

Even if dentures are supported by implants, they should be removed every night. While outside the mouth, they need to be kept moist by being soaked in cleaning solution or water. It is important that the soaking solution not be too hot, as this may warp the denture’s thin plastic. Removing dentures will give patients an opportunity to brush the inside of their mouths, which should be done in the morning to stimulate blood flow before putting the denture back in.

Dr. Archana Lankupalli operates ProSmiles Dental at 9400 Clifford Street, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas, 76108. To schedule an appointment, call 817-369-8000 or visit WhiteSettlementDentistTX.com and fill out a contact sheet.

 

HPV and Oral Cancer

April is oral cancer awareness month. One of the most interesting developments in oral cancer this past year is that, for the first time, the rate of new human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated cancers has outpaced the rate of new cases caused by tobacco and alcohol. While the Center for Disease Control’s recent recommendation that boys, as well as girls, receive HPV vaccinations is encouraging, there is not yet proof that the vaccine works on oral HPV.

HPV-associated oral cancers usually occur in the oropharynx, which is the medical term for the region encompassing the back of the mouth, top of the throat, and tonsils. Oropharyngeal cancers are harder to detect than front-of-mouth cancers, although they are easier to treat once caught. Of the nearly two hundred strains of HPV, only nine are known to cause cancer, and only one is known to cause oral cancer. However, there is no way of testing for oral HPV infections, and 80% of American adults will have one at some point in their lives.

Patients should be aware that swelling, pain, and numbness in their throats, jaws, and ears are reasons to get screened for cancer. While public education has helped combat tobacco-associated cancer, many people are unaware of the risk posed by HPV. It is important for the public to stop thinking of oral cancer as something that only affects elderly smokers.

Dr. Archana Lankupalli operates ProSmiles Dental at 9400 Clifford Street, Suite 110, Fort Worth, Texas, 76108. To schedule an appointment, call 817-369-8000 or visit WhiteSettlementDentistTX.com and fill out a contact sheet.