Your Oral Health = Your Overall Health

Sounds surprising, but it is true! Your oral health reflects details of your current overall health. Your oral health also could be a contributing problem to your overall health. This is why Dr Tony Ancell and his team at Woollahra Dental Practice have a holistic view. They look beyond just your teeth and gums to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

Did you know that a reduction in salvia flow occurs when you are taking certain medications? Often it is taking antihistamines, diuretics, painkillers or decongestants that are to blame. When we produce less saliva we are not able to protect our teeth from an overgrowth of bacteria. Saliva is a very powerful tool in our oral health system as it neutralizes acids and helps wash food away. 

Did you know that what you eat and drink, such as sugar (not just sweets but fruits and breads too) can play a harmful role in the formation of tooth decay? Did you know that by having red or inflamed gums you are putting your overall health at risk? It halts your immune system.

When our oral health defence system is down, oral bacteria, plaque and biofilms start to reek havoc on our systemic health.  Systemic is defined in The American Heritage Medical Dictionary as; “of, relating to, or affecting the entire body or an entire organism especially the nervous system”.  Numerous amounts of research has shown that your oral health might be affected by, or contribute to various systemic diseases and conditions.

Conditions/Diseases	Oral Health Affected/Contributed
Cardiovascular disease	Twice as likely to suffer a heart attack if you have periodontal disease.
Diabetes	The immune system is compromised and infections such as gum disease occur. Gum disease has been linked to disrupting the ability to control blood sugar levels.
Endocarditis	When bacteria from another part of the body enters the bloodstream, such as from periodontal disease, risk is increased.
Alzheimer’s disease	The American Psychological Association research showed tooth loss before the age of 35 (often due to  periodontal disease) puts you at a higher risk of experiencing  Alzheimer’s
Stroke	Research published in Clinical Advisor has shown the oral bacteria makes a person more susceptible to developing blood clots.
Osteoporosis	Has been linked with periodontal bone loss.
HIV/AIDS	According to WebMd oral mucosal lesions are often present.
Premature birth/low birth weight	Data gathered by the Australian Dental Association on mothers with periodontitis showed an increase risk of premature birth/low birth weight than mothers who had good oral health.
Sjogren’s syndrome	An immune system disorder that causes dry mouth.

Acid Reflux and Sleep Apnoea Go Hand in Hand!

 There have been numerous studies and data collected on people who experience acid reflux. The medical term for acid reflux that occurs frequently is called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In a study of sixty million Americans who were diagnosed with GERD, 80% of them reported their symptoms were worse at night, according to WebMD.

The College of Gastroenterology is always searching for reasons to discover why there is such a strong correlation between sleep apnoea and acid reflux. Turns out, according to gastroenterologist Ken DeVault, MD of the Mayo Clinic, “with sleep apnoea, people tend to breathe harder because their breathing has stopped, and that could induce reflux to flow into the oesophagus”.1  In other studies by physicians, night-time reflux  was discovered as often being a primary cause of sleep disruption.

 
If you suffer from both problems, there is good news. There are treatment options that the team at Woollahra Dental Practice can help you with because they have a holistic approach.
Dr Tony Ancell has a special interest in Dental Sleep Medicine and can provide you with an at home sleep study and a sleep appliance, such as an Airway Ease dental appliance, to help you manage your sleep apnoea. Managing your sleep apnoea may be a solution to reducing/eliminating your night-time acid reflux as well. At required times referral to respiratory sleep physician can be made to our allied network of health practitioners.

Give Woollahra Dental Practice a call today 02 9363 5690, to book your initial consultation to improve your oral health and your overall health. Learn how it is possible to have a restful night’s sleep again.

Figure 1: Stomach acid travels up the oesophagus causing sleep disruption, especially when the airway is already narrow, making night-time breathing difficult. 

Attack by Acid!

There is a cause of permanent and severe loss of tooth structure you need to know about. The culprit: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also known as “heart burn” (1).

The name alone sounds threating, which it is. Even scarier than the name, is the fact that it is a common condition that occurs when stomach acids travel upward into the esophagus, which leads to acid reflux-induced erosion of your teeth!

According to the National Science Foundation, acid in the stomach is extremely low (meaning highly acidic), having a pH level ranging from of 1.0-3.0.

The Australian Dental Association states tooth enamel becomes soft and can be easily damaged when the pH level in your mouth drops below 5.5.

Our teeth are constantly being exposed to food and beverages with a low pH level (2) that put our enamel at risk of erosion.


Every time we enjoy a sports drink, fruit juice, or caffeinated beverage the pH level in our mouth drops dramatically. Ironically, it’s those same beverages that often prompt acid reflux to occur.  WebMD states, fatty foods, dairy, citric fruits, tomatoes, alcohol and even chocolate are the biggest triggers of reflux.

When you experience acid reflux, your teeth are at higher risk of chemical erosion occurring. Over time the root surfaces of your teeth can become exposed. If left untreated the tooth  
structure itself becomes compromised and could require complex dental treatment such as veneers, crowns, fillings or potentially a root canal treatment.

Luckily, the team at Woollahra Dental Practice can help detect early signs of acid reflux-induced erosion during your regularly six monthly hygiene appointments. Taking pro-active measures for the wellbeing of your teeth is vital to the longevity of your smile. At your appointment you will be given valuable information on what you can do at home in between visits to keep your enamel strong.    

Chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory gum disease, influences prognosis and the severity of heart attacks

Woollahra Dental would like to share a journal from the University of Granada about chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory gum disease, influences prognosis and the severity of heart attacks.

The researchers from the University of Granada have demonstrated for the first time that chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory gum disease which provokes gradual teeth loss, is closely related to the severity of acute myocardial infarction, commonly known as heart attack.

In a pioneering research, published in the Journal of Dental Research, and titled "Acute myocardial infarct size is related to periodontitis extent and severity," this team has demonstrated that the extent and severity of chronic periodontitis is related to the size of acute myocardial infarction through seric levels of troponin I and myoglobin (biomarkers of myocardial necrosis).

This research results in part from the conclusions of Rafael Martín Marfil Álvarez's doctoral dissertation, which was directed by UGR professors Francisco Mesa Aguado (Stomatology Department), José Antonio Ramírez Hernández (Medicine Department), and Andrés Catena Martínez (Experimental Psychology Department). This research analysed 112 patients who had suffered from acute myocardial infarction, at the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital Cardiology Unit. They all underwent a series of cardiological, biochemical and periodontal health checks and tests.

According to professor Francisco Aguado, one of the authors of this research (which will have to be confirmed through further research), "chronic periodontitis appears as a death risk factor and it plays an important role in the prognosis of acute myocardial infarction."

Researchers point out that it will be necessary to conduct follow-up checks with periodontal patients who have suffered myocardial infarction in order to determine the severity (or lack of it) of their clinical evolution (new coronary events, cardiac failure, or even death).

"If that happens to be the case, chronic periodontitis should be considered as a predictor in the development of myocardial infarction, and be therefore included in the risk stratification scores," according to Mesa Aguado.

For more information about how to prevent gum diasease make an appointment today 02 9363 5690.
Woollahra Dental 27 Queen Street - Woollahra NSW 2025


Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Granada. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
_______________________________________
Journal Reference:
R. Marfil-Alvarez, F. Mesa, A. Arrebola-Moreno, J. A. Ramirez-Hernandez, A. Magan-Fernandez, F. O'Valle, P. Galindo-Moreno, A. Catena. Acute Myocardial Infarct Size Is Related to Periodontitis Extent and Severity. Journal of Dental Research, 2014; 93 (10): 993 DOI: 10.1177/0022034514548223

Your Secret to Keeping a Great Smile

In our website, we have described the procedures for Preventative care.
Preventative care is vitally important for overall dental health. Maintaining a thorough oral health routine will keep your smile fresh, your teeth and gums healthy, and is important for looking after your overall well-being.

Gum disease can begin for no apparent reason and can remain unnoticed for a considerable amount of time. Occasional bleeding during home care or sore gums may be only symptoms you get of gum disease that can lead to receding gums and loose teeth. Recent research has shown links between gum disease, cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and premature births. Uncontrolled gum disease can also destabilise treatment for diabetes. Healthy gums help to maintain a balance in all these medical conditions.

Have you visited a Dental Hygienist before? The mission for our Dental Hygienists is to deliver tailored preventative dental care to our patients in a gentle and caring way, to help our patients maintain the health of their gums, strengthen their teeth and keep their smiles looking beautiful.


Dental Hygienists perform:

• Cleaning and scaling teeth to remove all plaque and calculus (tartar)
• Removal of surface stains from the teeth
• Apply pit and fissure sealants to help prevent decay
• Saliva testing to assess your risk of gum disease and decay
• Help monitor the strength of your teeth
• Whiten and brighten your teeth with in-surgery teeth whitening
• Help prevent dental Injuries using mouth guards
• Instruction in tooth brushing and flossing
• Counselling in proper nutrition
• Presentation of prescribed dental treatment
• Recommending future treatment (orthodontics, periodontal therapy, etc) in consultation with your dentist.

Oral Health care

A Dental Hygienist visit is routinely performed every six months depending on the patient’s requirements and is usually between 45 minutes and 60 minutes. The process is very gentle and comfortable and your dental hygienist will recommend a suitable timeframe to keep your gum in healthy state.

"Frequent Dental Hygiene visits are the best way to maintain the health of your teeth and gums and prevent the need for complex dental procedures"


Fissure sealant

Fissure Sealants are the best non-invasive preventive measure against dental decay on the biting surfaces of the teeth where decay is common.
The grooves on the biting surfaces of most molar teeth are too deep and too narrow to be completely cleaned with a toothbrush.

Fissure sealing is a preventive procedure that involves the placement of dental resin or glass ionomer cement in these deep grooves to prevent the accumulation of food and decay-causing bacteria.

Fissure sealants are great in that they require no drilling, are painless, and are less expensive than fillings.

at Woollahra Dental we usually recommend them in younger patients at risk of tooth decay.

Contact us for more information and to find out how we can help you keeping a Great Smile!

Teach me how to brushy... and more

At Woollahra Dental we have been looking for videos and ideas to get children (and even some adults) to brush their teeth. We also have a guide on how to brush.

Study: 'Fat tongue' may be a factor in sleep apnea

at Woollahra Dental - we would like to share a very interesting article from Health Day about Sleep apnea and a disorder called "fat" tongue:

Sleep apnea is a potential health risk for millions of Americans, and a new study points to a possible culprit behind the disorder: a "fat" tongue.

"This is the first study to show that fat deposits are increased in the tongue of obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea," study senior author Dr. Richard Schwab, co-director of the Sleep Center at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, said in a news release from Sleep, which will publish the findings Oct. 1.

Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which the airways constrict during sleep, leading to repeated stops and starts in breathing. The telltale signs include chronic loud snoring, with periodic gasps or choking -- and, for many people, daytime drowsiness because of poor sleep.

But the effects go beyond fatigue. Studies suggest those pauses in breathing stress the nervous system, boosting blood pressure and inflammation in the arteries.

Obese people tend to be at higher risk for sleep apnea, and Schwab's team say the new findings may help explain the link between obesity and the breathing disorder.

The study included 90 obese adults with sleep apnea and 90 obese adults without the disorder.
The participants with sleep apnea had significantly larger tongues, tongue fat and percentage of tongue fat than those without sleep apnea, the researchers found. The tongue fat in the people with sleep apnea was concentrated at the base of the tongue.

In addition to increasing the size of the tongue, higher levels of tongue fat may prevent muscles that attach the tongue to bone from positioning the tongue away from the airway during sleep, Schwab's group explained.

While the study found an association between tongue fat content and sleep apnea, it could not prove cause and effect.

However, the researchers believe future studies should assess whether removing tongue fat through weight loss, upper airway exercises or surgery could help treat sleep apnea.

"Tongue size is one of the physical features that should be evaluated by a physician when screening obese patients to determine their risk for obstructive sleep apnea," American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler added in the news release.

"Effective identification and treatment of sleep apnea is essential to optimally manage other conditions associated with this chronic disease, including high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and depression," he said.

Nearly 35 percent of U.S. adults -- 78.6 million people -- are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: Robert Preidt, HealthDay -  October 2, 2014

Let's discuss your concerns today Woollahra Dental

New Year - Fresh Start!

At Woollahra Dental Practice, we strive to provide the best service of care for our patients and we appreciate being chosen by our patients to be part of their journey to better health. We understand that life gets busy sometimes and we always try to accommodate your needs as best as we can.

We would like to help you fulfill your New Year's Resolutions. Everything about looking your very best includes a healthy and beautiful smile!  ans we would like to offer our “appointment Request” service is an easy way to let us know about your preferred time to visit us.

If you would like to visit one of our Dentists or Hygienists at Woollahra Dental Practice, Please Simply fill in the appointment request form and one of our friendly staff will get back to you shortly to create an appointment time.

A Holistic Dental Practice in Woollahra

We are glad you are one of the people who take the initiative to invest in their health. We would like to welcome you to our community at Woollahra Dental Practice and thank you for letting us be a part of your journey. It is important to note that this is your journey and we are here to help you through it by guiding you in the right directions to the best of our ability.

From the moment you walk through our doors you will feel welcomed and relaxed. Our friendly staff will look after you with upmost care and make your visit a comfortable and memorable one.

We serve our patients with compassion, excellence and value. We understand that all our patients are individuals, each of whom has his or her own personal needs and concerns.

We encourage preventive techniques - helping you to understand how to maintain good oral hygiene and therefore preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

When treatment is required, we practice minimal intervention dentistry using research-based techniques and materials chosen on merit, not cost.

We are here to help our patients enjoy a lifetime of complete dental health.

Our Dentists attend regular courses on the latest techniques in cosmetic dentistry. They will work with you to create a natural smile that harmonizes with your facial aesthetics.

Our dedicated practitioners will ensure that your time spent with us is as comfortable, relaxed and as stress free as possible.

For more information about specific details for Initial appointments please visit the Woollahra Dental Website

Bite reconstruction

When teeth are lost or can’t be replaced, they start to wear down. Chipped and shortened teeth can compromise the face. These effects result in aging. Bite reconstruction or full mouth reconstruction is a dental treatment to improve patient's bite and the jaw position.

The dentist builds up or replaces the teeth to improve the appearance of the face and provide harmony between the jaw and bite. If you have worn, broken, decayed or missing teeth, or if you suffer from a bad bite and the appearance of the entire smile is letting you down, then arrange an appointment for one of our dentists to discuss your options.

http://www.woollahradental.com/procedures.nuromuscular.php 

The top 5 exercises you should be doing

Heidi Dawson
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Woollahra Dental would like to share some information published by the Heidi Dawson  to provide her top five exercises that everyone should be doing. The aim of these exercises is to address common muscular issues that so often lead to muscle imbalances, poor posture and subsequent pain or injury.


Few of us perform exercises regularly with the aim of preventing pain or injury. In fact, few of us perform any exercises regularly with injuries in mind — even ones we have previously been prescribed to help rehabilitate an old injury. Once the pain has gone, the exercises often stop.

As the old saying goes, "prevention is the best medicine," and this is definitely true when it comes to the training and development of our bodies. There are so many injuries I see on a daily basis that stem from the same few causes — causes that can so easily be addressed in just a few minutes a day, before they become a problem or cause a problem somewhere else along the chain.

So, with this in mind, here are my top five exercises that everyone should be doing. The aim of these exercises is to address common muscular issues that so often lead to muscle imbalances, poor posture and subsequent pain or injury.

1. The clam

The clam is an exercise designed to strengthen the abductor and external rotator muscles of the hip, such as gluteus medius and minimus. This exercise is important for a number of reasons, but the most common reason I prescribe it is in knee pain rehabilitation.
If these muscles are weak, it allows the knee joint to fall inward when we are weight-bearing or landing predominantly on a single leg, as occurs when walking, running, jumping, etc. This creates a valgus force at the knee and dramatically affects the biomechanics of the knee joint.
The most frequent complaint caused by this pattern of movement is known as patellofemoral pain syndrome — a condition characterized by a vague pain at the front of the knee which often comes and goes, moves around and is usually worse when walking down hills and stairs.
The reason so many of us suffer with this weakness is because we don't move laterally. Ever. Everything we do is straight forward and occasionally backward (in the sagittal plane as it's known). These muscles specialize in moving us sideways, and as the saying goes "use it or lose it." If we don't train laterally, we can't expect our bodies to do it well when it comes to daily situations.
The clam exercise can help strengthen the muscles which are responsible for preventing the knee falling inwards like this. Here's how to do it:
Lay on your side, knees bent to a right angle, feet together and in line with the spine and hips stacked one on top of the other.
Keep the lower back and pelvis still and the feet in contact, as you lift the top knee up, away from the bottom knee.
Ensure you don't roll backward through the pelvis as you lift the knee. This means the movement will probably be smaller, but it will be isolated to the hip joint.
Slowly return to the start position, under control and repeat.



2. Gluteus maximus isolation

The gluteus maximus is the biggest of the "glute" muscles found in the butt. Its role is to extend, abduct and externally rotate the hip. This muscle is often known as the powerhouse of the hip, and its role is vital within the gait cycle.
However, for too many of us, the Gmax doesn't work as efficiently as it should and becomes "inhibited." This basically means it doesn't fire when required.
The most common cause of Gmax inhibition is a shift in the pelvic position into an anterior tilt. What this means is that the front of the pelvis is pulled down (usually by tight hip flexors — more on this later), resulting in a forward rotation of the pelvis.
This in turn actually lengthens the Gmax and can cause it to "switch off." This places a bigger demand on the hamstrings and other, smaller bum muscles that can then become overworked, leading to injuries such as hamstring strains, lower back and sciatic pain and even calf and Achilles problems.
This exercise is really useful in order to "switch on" the Gmax:
Lay on your front, both legs straight and the leg you want to work turned out a little (so the foot points outward)
Simultaneously lift the whole leg (knee straight) off the floor and out to the side, in a diagonal movement.
Don't lift the leg so high that the back arches — a small lift is sufficient
Rest and repeat

These three movements are all of the ones that the Gmax performs and no other muscle can do all three, so it has to fire here. Repeating this movement pattern helps to re-establish the connection between the brain and the biggest of butt muscles.






3. Scapula stabilizer strengthening
The scapula stabilizers are muscles that connect the scapula (shoulder blade) to the rib cage and spine. They include little gems such as serratus anterior and the lower fibers of trapezius.
Without these muscles functioning efficiently, our scapulas move about all over the place when we move our arms. The scapula is the point onto which many muscles in the upper body attach, and we need this to be a stable base of attachment to produce the most effective and powerful movements we can. 

Without strong scapula stabilizers, you put yourself at risk of injuries such as shoulder impingement and rotator cuff or labrum tears, to name just a few. The scapula stabilizers are also important in maintaining good posture, which in turn can reduce the risk of tight, aching neck and shoulder muscles, neck pain and headaches.
There are several exercises out there that are recommended to work the lower trapz and serratus, and it's hard to pick just one. But this scaption exercise has been shown to produce the combined highest muscle activation of both muscles. Here's how to do it:  

Perform this exercise one arm at a time — hold a dumbbell or the end of a resistance band in one hand
Start with the thumb pointing up and the scapula retracted (pulled back)

Raise the straight arm upward at a 30-45-degree angle in front of the body. Think halfway between lifting the arm straight up in front and straight out to the side. This is the scapula plane.

Lift the arm up above shoulder height, as far as is comfortable and then slowly come back down, maintaining a retracted scapula. Repeat.

There is lots of debate ongoing at the moment concerning the best exercises for promoting scapula stability, and that has made it hard to choose just one. Other ones you could try include a push-up plus and the dynamic hug exercise.




4. Pec minor stretching
The majority of us spend a large part of our day sitting down, hunched over something like a computer, desk, steering wheel, etc. Even with the best intentions, posture often slips into that atrocious curved spine, rounded shoulders position that feels so natural. But constantly adopting this posture can cause problems due to the shortened length of the pectoralis minor muscle.

The pec minor is the smaller of the two main chest muscles (the other being pectoralis major). It attaches to ribs 3-5 and travels upwards to insert into the coracoid process — a forward-facing bony protrusion of the scapula. If shorter in length than it should be, it can effectively pull the shoulder blade forwards, creating a protracted (rounded) shoulder position.

As we learned from the hip flexors and gluteus maximus earlier, shortening on one side of the body leads to lengthening and potential inhibition on the other side. In this case, the inhibition often manifests in the scapula stabilizers (see above).

Stretching the chest muscles in a conventional way doesn't really target pec minor due to it having no attachment on the arm. Therefore moving the arm into extension, abduction and external rotation (as most chest stretches do) will have no effect. Instead you need to find a way of increasing the distance between the upper ribcage (origin) and the scapula (insertion). Cue the foam roller method:
Place a foam roller on the floor and lie on your back, with the foam roller along the length of your spine.
Ensure your head is rested (either on the roller or a pillow) and the knees are bent with feet flat on the floor.
Allow the shoulders to drop down towards the floor and relax.

This reverses the hunched over position we often adopt which leads to a shortened pec minor. It probably won't feel like as strong of a stretch as a hamstring stretch, but it should feel like a subtle pull and like the chest and shoulders are opening up.





5. Hip flexor stretching 

Again, often due to being seated for long periods, tight hip flexors are a common issue. The rectus femoris and iliopsoas muscles at the front of the hip and thigh are in a shortened position when we are seated. If sitting for long periods, this becomes their natural resting length, and this is where the problems can start.
As discussed above, increased hip flexor tone can cause an anterior pelvic tilt. This plays havoc with the way the pelvis moves and affects other muscles such as the gluteus maximus, abdominals and hamstrings, as well as smaller, deeper hip muscles.

Injuries and pain conditions resulting from an anteriorly-tilted pelvis can range from lower back and sciatic pain, to hamstring and groin strains, and even as low as the ankle or as high as the neck and shoulder due to further compensatory biomechanical adjustments.

Stretching the hip flexors regularly throughout the day is a simple way to help reduce this natural shortening:
Kneel on the floor on one knee, with the other foot on the floor in front of you, knee bent to 90 degrees.
Tilt the pelvis posteriorly. This can be achieved by trying to tuck the tailbone underneath yourself or by trying the flatten the lower back.

Hold this tucked pelvis position, as you gently shift your weight forward over the kneeling knee, until a stretch is felt in the front of the hip.

To more specifically target the rectus femoris, perform the same stretch, with the toes of the back leg tucked under the foot — this increases knee flexion slightly and the stretch shifts down the thigh.




Stretching these muscles should be performed regularly, ideally 3-5 times, spread throughout the day to lengthen the muscle after a period of sitting.
This is by no means a definitive list of preventative exercises that any individual may want to adopt. But it is a good starting place for many people who fall into a fairly "typical" daily pattern of sitting for long periods and then undertaking sudden bursts of activity/exercise.

Spending just 10 minutes a day working on these most common imbalances, can save a lot of time (and money) on treating an injury further down the road.

www.woollahradental.com




More about the author Heidi Dawson is a graduate sports rehabilitator based in the United Kingdom. She runs two successful sports injury clinics and the injury website Rehab4Runners.

Proper dental care linked to reduced risk of respiratory infections in ICU patients

New research shows vulnerable patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) who received enhanced oral care from a dentist were at significantly less risk for developing a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), like ventilator-associated pneumonia, during their stay. The study was published in the November issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

"Bacteria causing healthcare-associated infections often start in the oral cavity," said Fernando Bellissimo-Rodrigues, MD, lead author of the study. "This study suggests that having a dentist provide weekly care as part the ICU team may improve outcomes for vulnerable patients in this setting."

Brazilian researchers utilized an observer-blind randomized clinical trial design to analyze data from 254 adult patients who stayed in a general ICU for at least 48 hours. Patients were randomized to receive enhanced dental care provided by a dentist, or to receive routine oral hygiene performed by the ICU nurse staff.

Enhanced dental care included teeth brushing, tongue scraping, removal of calculus, atraumatic restorative treatment of caries, tooth extraction and topical application of chlorhexidine corresponding to each patients' needs four to five times a week. Comparatively, regular treatment consisted of mechanical cleansing using gauze followed by topical application of chlorhexidine three times a day.

Patients provided enhanced dental care were 56 percent less likely to develop a respiratory tract infection during their ICU stay compared to the control patient group. Researchers note that enhanced dental treatment, including oral antisepsis routinely performed in ICUs could be more effective in reducing the oral bacteria and help prevent migration of these bacteria into the lungs.

www.woollahradental.com/


Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

TMJ Next Generation Device FDA Approved for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

Woollahra Dental would like to share some information published by the AACP written by GAURAV KRISHNAMURTHY to provide information a device (FDA Approved) for Temporomandibular Joint Disorders .

TMJ Health (Farmington Hills, MI) has received FDA clearance for the TMJ NextGeneration Device to alleviate temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) pain. TMJD affects the jaw joint, surrounding muscles, and nerves, leading to chronic pain and poor quality of life. According to the NIH, more than 35 million Americans suffer from TMJD, which includes symptoms such as pain in the face, jaw or neck, jaw muscle stiffness, and sharp pain around the ears. TMJD has conventionally been treated with bite splints to reduce the amount of grinding of the teeth that causes the sharp pain. These splints cannot be worn while eating, are known to affect speech, and cause long term damage to the joints.


The TMJ NextGeneration device treats the TM joint pain in the ear canal, which happens to be near the temporomandibular joint. The device consists of two hollow ear canal inserts that rest in the outer part of the ear canal and allow full transmission of sound due to their hollow construct. The device is also easy to remove thanks to the retraction posts that are built into it.  The device is discreet, not noticeable from the outside, and makes use of the dynamic change in the ear canal geometry when the jaw is opened or closed through movements such as chewing and smiling. The device is 20% larger in size compared to the ear canal when jaws are closed, and this change in ear canal space applies light pressure against the walls of the ear canal to encourage the patient to return to the open jaw position while reducing the inclination to clench the jaw. All TMJ Next Generation devices are custom built to match the patient’s unique anatomy.

www.woollahradental.com.au 
press release source