Dental Care and Treatment When You Have Dementia

Improved oral health promotes general health in some way or other. It boosts self-esteem, general nutrition and social integration too. Oral health and hygiene is absolutely important for good quality of life and overall wellbeing. Degraded oral health is profound and affects the normal oral function and self-esteem severely. This blog entails specific dental care and treatments for Dementia patients.

Dental diseases

Dental diseases are of 2 types- tooth decay (dental caries) and periodontal (gum) disease. Both of them result in utmost pain and discomfort accompanied by infection. Infection and pain exaggerate poor thinking ability, a common issue related to Dementia.

Gum disease

This can lead to bad breath, premature loss of teeth, gum recession, bleeding and inflamed gums. Gum disease takes place because of deposition of dental plaque. It is the combination of bacteria and food debris in the mouth which needs efficient cleaning to remove.

It accumulates on teeth surface mainly at margin of the gums. Proper oral care, hygiene and chlorhexidine tooth gel and mouth wash can mitigate the risk of gum disease.

Tooth decay

You put your oral health at risk when you consume excessive sugary foods and beverages. The bacteria start feeding on the dental plaque secreting acid that invades the dental health resulting in decay. We recommend you to limit the sugar intake in order to protect the teeth from decay including hidden sugars and bag sugars.

You must have healthy diet, practice good oral care hygiene and use fluoride-based mouth rinse or toothpaste to diminish the risk of decay. Certain energy food supplements have high content on sucrose, a type of sugar.

If you are taking any such supplement then maintain the cleanliness of the teeth to alleviate the risk of cavities. Receding gums heighten the probability of decay at the neck of teeth unless you retain proper hygiene and care.   

How Dementia affects regular oral hygiene and care

With the progress of Dementia, the affected person is unable to:

• Clean teeth properly
• Understand the importance of dental health
• Express their dental treatment needs and preferences
• Explain their dental concerns and symptoms, like pain
• Participate in decision-making
• Give consent for dental treatment
• Comply with the dental treatment

Regular dental care

Early stage of Dementia

In the initial stage, patients can clean their teeth and mouth. But, they need reminder to carry out regular cleanings. With increased inability of manual dexterity, electric toothbrush can be helpful. They can use toothbrush equipped with adapted handle for better grip. Your dental hygienists or dentists can provide valuable advice on it.

Later stage of Dementia

With progression in Dementia stages, the patients lose the ability of cleaning the teeth, maintaining oral hygiene and other basic jobs. Our dental hygienists in Bromley can offer necessary guidance and support for taking care of oral health. You can seek professional help on the right technique of brushing and flossing and other important instructions to improve the oral health and hygiene.

How Dementia medication affects oral health

Patients having Dementia need to take sedatives, antipsychotics and antidepressants. As a result, most patients experience dry mouth that in turn cause issues with dentures like looseness and discomfort. You can seek temporary help with artificial saliva and dentures fixatives. Saliva possesses a cleaning effect and less production causes plaque accumulation, dental decay and gum disease.

Decay at neck of tooth leads to breakage of crown. If you are taking syrup-based medication then there is a high risk of decay. So, you must ask the dentist to prescribe sugar-free alternative. Dental hygienists may apply fluoride and chlorhexidene alternative for prevention of decay.

You can alleviate the risk of decay by limiting the intake of sugar in diet. You can feel an increase in jaw and tongue movements with antipsychotic drugs. Hence, you may find denture wearing a tough job. Unfortunately the impact of jaw tremor remains even after you stop taking the drug. 

Significance of regular dental checkups

Those having Dementia cannot express or understand their dental health requirements, especially while they experience pain. Therefore, it is essential to go for regular dental checkups despite the oral condition and previous dental works. Our dental hygienists in Bromley will carry out professional cleaning and detect potential problems that need immediate treatment.

They will look for potential signs of oral cancer as it is quite common in aged people and often emerges as small and painless ulcer. Early detection leads to early treatment and enhanced oral health in the long run.   

If you have dentures then it can become loose and damage the mouth. So, you need to change the dentures after wearing it for a few years. Remember, it starts damaging the mouth progressively and hence you may not know that your oral health is at risk.

Moreover, root caries can take place that is completely painless and dormant when you have crowns. You can notice the decay at tooth neck only after falling of the crown.

Dental treatments while having Dementia

Early stage

In this stage of Dementia, almost every kind of dental treatment is possible. Our dental hygienists in Bromley will assess the overall oral health status before recommending any treatment. The dentist will offer personalised treatment while keeping in mind that the patient cannot take care of their dental health.

They will restore the teeth with advanced treatment like implants, bridges and crowns. These are only suitable if the patient can still brush and floss daily to prevent further gum disease and tooth decay.

Middle stage

In this stage, person loses their cognitive skill yet stays physically healthy. So, dental treatment shifts from restorative dentistry to preventative for protection against further oral complexities. Some patients get anxious or nervous and they need general anaesthesia or sedation for the dental treatment. However, the ultimate decision relies on the cooperation ability of the patient, individual requirement of dental treatment and general health condition.

Later stage

As the person becomes cognitively impaired, physically frail and disabled, the dental treatment during this stage emphasises on maintenance of oral comfort and oral disease prevention. By this way, you can keep emergency condition at bay.

Book an appointment at our clinic

The people with Dementia should go for regular dental checkups too. They are unable to express their oral care needs and hence our dental hygienists in Bromley can evaluate their oral health and determine the necessary care and treatments. We provide tailor-made treatment solutions as per the patient’s requirements. However, we recommend every dental patient to come for check up and professional cleaning at an interval of 6 months.

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