Category: Blog

There are currently about 29.1 million people in the US living with diabetes. That totals about 9.3% of the entire US population. There are about 1.7 million new cases diagnosed each year, and about 8.1 million people out there have diabetes and don’t even know they are effected. Diabetes ruins your body’s ability to process sugar. Type I diabetics have the problem of not producing insulin, which is a hormone that carries the sugar to the cells of the body for energy. Type II diabetes is when the body quits responding to the insulin that is stored. Both cases result in severely heightened sugar levels being present in the blood, which in turn results in problems with various parts of your body. One problem a lot of people don’t consider that they may have is complications with their oral health.

Symptoms of Untreated Diabetes:

There are many warning signs that an individual may be suffering from diabetes and they can come from every part of your body. These are all signs that may point to you having high blood sugar and they include the following symptoms including the need to urinate excessive thirst, the need to urinate frequently, weight loss, excessive fatigue, and even loss of consciousness if blood sugars fall too low at any given time.

There are also problems that you can have with your oral health if you become diabetic. These problems include producing less saliva (dry mouth), gingivitis, problems tasting food, experience slower wound healing (especially in the mouth), higher susceptibility to infections, and teeth may erupt through the gum line at an earlier age than they should in children (usually Type I diabetes).

Why Are People with Diabetes More Prone to Gum Disease?

We all have tiny bacteria living in our mouth, and if these bacteria are not occasionally cleaned out (i.e. brushing and flossing) they can work their way into the gum line which can eat away at the bone structure underneath the teeth and cause periodontal disease. This chronic condition inflames and can destroy your gums and the tissues holding your teeth in, which in extreme cases can result in tooth decay or even loss.

Periodontal disease is much more relevant to people who are diabetic as it is estimated that about 22% of all diabetics have some form of periodontal disease. The risk of this condition increases with age, poor blood control tactics, and poor oral hygiene. This makes diabetes harder to control if the person cannot eat the foods they are supposed to eat to help keep their diabetes in check due to poor oral health and a lack of teeth.

How Can My Dentist Help Me Fight Diabetes?

Your dentist can help by seeing you for regularly scheduled appointments. Most people see the dentist at least every 6 months, but sometimes people with diabetes may need to go see their dentists even more frequently. Talk to your dentist about a good visitation plan for your individual needs, and be sure to stick to that schedule. Regular visits can help catch problems before they become more advanced and can save you a lot of trouble, headaches, and problems in the future.

Your Action Plan:

To control your diabetes and any orally-related problems there are some things you can continually do to ensure that your oral health is at a premium. Those things include controlling your blood sugar levels by ensuring you are using your blood-sugar medications as directed, avoid smoking, cleaning your dentures every day, brushing 2x a day/flossing 1x per day (good oral habits), and seeing your dentist for regular checkups.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”

Diabetes is a condition that millions of Americans are living with every single day. There are millions of new cases diagnosed every year, and this disease may also cause problems orally for the person that is diagnosed. It’s not the first thing people think of when they are diagnosed with diabetes, but it is a very real problem that can result from diabetes if it’s not controlled properly. Some of the problems that people may experience with their oral health after being diagnosed as diabetic include tooth decay, periodontal disease, salivary gland dysfunction, fungal infections, inflammatory skin reactions, infection/delayed healing, and tasting impairment can name a few conditions that you may experience.

Diet & Tooth Decay:

When diabetes is not controlled properly there will be higher levels of glucose in the saliva that will help bacteria thrive more than they would if there wasn’t this level of glucose present. Ensuring that you are brushing 2x per day with a fluoride-based toothpaste and flossing at least 1x per day will help remove plaque that comes from this glucose and can help limit the problems you experience dentally. If you do not remove this plaque it will eventually harden and turn into tartar which is much harder to remove from the mouth than the plaque before would have been to remove. Diabetes is a resistance to the body getting infections, so the most advanced stages of tooth decay from diabetes can result in periodontal disease and eventually a corroding of the bone structure under the teeth which can result in the loss of the teeth.

However, the good news is that most people who have control of their diabetes will not have these problems. It’s when the blood sugar constantly spikes and leaves the glucose in the saliva for extended periods of time, and there are poor oral hygiene habits that this problem is the most prevalent. If you notice any of the following symptoms see your dentist immediately: gums that are bleeding easily, red/swollen/tender gum, gums peeling back from teeth, pus between teeth/along gum line, persistent bad breath, permanent teeth that are lose/separating, any change in the way your teeth fit together when biting/chewing, and any change in the fit of partial dentures.

Fungal Infections:

While some bacteria and fungi naturally occur in the mouth, the body has a natural defense that keeps the amount of these various bacteria in check. Conditions like diabetes, however, can inhibit the body’s ability to control such bacteria or keep them in check. Individuals with diabetes often have something called oral candidiasis which is a condition where fungal infections appear in the mouth. Smoking while having diabetes is again likely to increase the level of bacteria in the mouth making it more likely a fungal infection can start.

Diminished saliva flow in the mouth (dry mouth) can also play a role in how many bacteria can grow in there as well. The most common condition you can develop is thrush, which is a red, scaly, patchy type of fungus that grows in the mouth and causes difficulty swallowing, and can even compromise your ability to taste foods you are eating.

Caring for Your Teeth:

Preventative oral care including regular cleanings at the dentist office can help ensure that you are not getting a fungal infection in your mouth. This way you can treat your initial fungal issues before they grow into full-blown oral health problems. Watch for signs and symptoms of any issues, and your dentist immediately if you notice anything different in your oral health patterns.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”

Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder that interrupts the sleep of millions of Americans every night, and moreover, if left untreated, can be very dangerous. There are many things that can help people with sleep apnea find permanent relief, and some of those are not always the easiest solutions. One solution is for people who are overweight or obese that are suffering from sleep apnea is for them to lose weight. Another option is using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or a similar machine can help keep the airway open while someone sleeps to help them breathe. Oral breathing devices such as nasal dilators can be worn at night to ensure breathing is regulated. There are medications that people can take to help them stay awake during the day when there is no device on their body to help them breathe. There are also surgeries in some cases that can help relieve the pressure and restore breathing while the person is sleeping.

The first steps will usually come with lifestyle changes (for weight loss) and CPAP devices to see if that helps treat the sleep apnea as those are the least invasive and least costly options overall. Surgery will only be the case in a situation where there is a blockage that is causing the problem that can be easily fixed.

In almost every case, CPAP will be the first treatment the offer someone with sleep apnea. Using CPAP means that the person has to use a breathing device at night while sleeping to keep the airway from closing while they sleep. CPAP can help decrease a person’s daytime sleepiness (due to fewer interruptions to their rest during the night due to not being able to breathe) and can lower both daytime and nighttime blood pressures. It may take time for you to get used to the CPAP machine while sleeping, but with adjustments made to the mask to allow it to fit comfortably, you should be able to adjust to the machine in a few weeks or less.

Oral breathing devices are also available for conditions in which they fit the situation. These devices simply reposition your tongue during sleep so the airway is left open so breathing is made easier. This is for people who have more mild-to-moderate sleep apnea. People who have severe sleep apnea will often find that this does not work as well for them. Your doctor may also suggest you use a nasal dilator in conjunction with the oral breathing device to ensure that airways are open and allowing you to breathe freely and fully while sleeping. Many of these devices are able to be purchased at medical device stores and you likely won’t even need a prescription for such devices.

Sometimes, these are not the only solutions for sleep apnea, and other conditions may be implicating your sleeping patterns. Sometimes people will find out that they are having inflamed nasal passages (rhinitis) and a nasal spray to help decrease the inflammation is the answer to their issues. People may also possess an underactive thyroid gland that is causing this problem and they will need some medication to restore the function of the thyroid to normal.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”