All infections are caused by bacteria, and the mouth is full of microbes, both good and bad. In fact, it is bacteria that are responsible for cavities. So it’s not uncommon for patients to experience an oral infection. When they do, it’s important to contact a Duncan dentist right away. Symptoms may worsen and bacteria can spread, causing greater damage. 

At Chisholm Trail Smile Center in Duncan, OK, Dr. Matthew Bridges treats a variety of oral infections. If your tooth is damaged, he offers state-of-the-art restorative dentistry to repair your smile and renew your bite and speech. 

If you believe you may be suffering from an oral infection, contact our office today.

1. An Abscessed Tooth

A dental abscess is a pocket of pus located in the gums near the tooth root. Abscesses often result because of untreated dental decay, though they can also develop due to injury. Symptoms can include pronounced pain, swelling, redness, bad breath, and a visible draining sore. 

It’s important to seek treatment for an abscessed tooth right away. Otherwise, the infection could spread to your jaw or sinuses. It could even enter your bloodstream, leading to life-threatening sepsis. Your dentist will first drain the sore. He may be able to save your tooth with root canal therapy, or you may need an extraction.

2. Gum Disease

Gum disease is not only one of the most common types of oral infection. It’s one of the most common types of infection in general. In fact, gingivitis or periodontitis affects nearly half of all adults over age 30. 

The condition develops when bacteria accumulate in the gums, causing bleeding and dental sensitivity. Over time, your gums could recede, and you could experience tooth loss. Treatment may consist of a general cleaning for mild gingivitis or a full scaling and root planing for more advanced cases.

3. Thrush

Thrush is an easily treatable fungal infection that most often affects babies and young children. Certain medications, pregnancy, and age also increase the risk of thrush. The oral infection causes white, creamy-looking sores inside the mouth, particularly on the tongue and insides of the cheeks. 

Most cases of thrush can be diagnosed solely with a visual exam. The most common treatment is a prescription antifungal medication. Symptoms usually clear up in a week or two.

4. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot, and mouse disease is a scary sounding name for a relatively harmless, though highly contagious, condition. It most often affects children under age 5. Symptoms include sores on the inside of the mouth, a rash on the palms and soles of the feet, and a fever.

There is no specific treatment for this type of infection, but it usually goes away on its own in a week to ten days. Make sure you or your child is drinking enough water and getting plenty of rest.

Contact Us If You Are Suffering the Symptoms of an Oral Infection 

Though rare, mouth sores could also be signs of something more serious, like oral cancer. If you have any symptoms of an oral infection, contact Chisholm Trail Smile Center right away.

Reach us online or call us at 580-255-4880.

 

This blog is a continuation of last week’s post: The Knockout Punch for Oral Infection. We’ll pick up where we left off, adding information about when to remove teeth and how to replace them with comfortably functioning, long-lasting prosthetics. 

We’ll explore:

• • Re-claiming good oral health
  • Tips to prevent oral infection
  • When to remove teeth
  • Contemporary replacement teeth
  • How to find professional help

How to Re-claim Good Oral Health

Most oral infections are the result of poor oral hygiene practices. If you don’t brush and floss daily, and also visit Dr. Bridges and our hygienists every six months for an exam and cleaning, you’re more likely to develop oral infections.

However, you may brush and floss daily, and see the dentist every six months for preventive care. You may go to the dentist when you notice abnormalities in your mouth. Still, you can develop cavities, gum disease, and other oral infections.

If you have oral infections or any other oral issues that require attention, Dr. Bridges can evaluate, diagnose, and treat the conditions. He offers full mouth restoration (FMR), which involves a phased treatment plan to cure oral infections and dental damage, while also establishing healthy oral function. We offer options to remove teeth and replace teeth with modern prosthetics, including dental implants for single and multiple teeth.

Tips to Preemptively Fight Oral Infection

Before diving into topics about teeth removal and replacement, let’s spend a minute reviewing best practices for oral home hygiene. 

Every day, without fail, you should follow this simple home hygiene routine:

• • AM: Brush teeth with fluoridated toothpaste. 
  • PM: Floss teeth. Brush teeth with a fluoridated toothpaste.

When you brush, hold the toothbrush at a 45% angle to the teeth and use up and down, side to side, and circular motions. Floss teeth before brushing. You may add a tongue scraper to your brushing sessions, to clean bacteria off the tongue. This helps fight bad breath, too. A mouthwash with fluoride can fight bacteria, freshen breath, and strengthen teeth.

Children under three years of age should use UN-fluoridated toothpaste. 

Denture wearers and braces patients can use special tools to help make brushing, flossing, and cleaning more effective. 

Every six months, you need to visit Dr. Bridges for an exam and cleaning. If gum disease is present, you may need a deep cleaning, which can involve a few visits to complete. 

If you notice anything unusual in your mouth, please call our Duncan dental office so that we can schedule an exam.

When to Remove Teeth

Our goal as your dental care provider is to help you avoid dental issues. A solid oral homecare routine and twice-a-year preventive visits at Chisholm Trail Smile Center will go a long, long, long way toward preventing dental issues. However, if you need dental treatment, Dr. Bridges will provide a complete treatment plan to re-establish your good oral health. 

• • Impaction
  • Crowding
  • Gum disease
  • Tooth infection
  • Irreparable tooth damage
  • In preparation for dentures

In some cases, we must remove teeth due to:

Dr. Bridges may remove teeth due to impaction or crowding, in which case replacement teeth aren’t necessary. When he removes teeth because of gum disease, infection, irreparable damage, or in preparation for dentures, the patient will need replacement teeth. Patients who neglect replacing teeth should expect the remaining teeth to drift toward the spaces left behind. This can negatively impact appearance, as well as occlusion (how upper and lower teeth fit together).

Contemporary Replacement Teeth

Dr. Bridges provides patients with traditional replacement teeth, as well as implant-secured prosthetics. A prosthetic is a replacement. This overview of options will help you understand dental prosthetics. 

Single Teeth

Traditional bridge: a prosthetic made with crowns on one or both ends and solid replacement teeth in the center; non-removable

Single-tooth implant: one biocompatible implant installed in the jaw holds a single crown; non-removable

+ Teeth in a Row

Traditional bridge (see above)

Implant-secured bridge: two biocompatible implants installed in the jaw to hold a bridge of two or more teeth; non-removable

All Teeth on Top and/or Bottom Arch

Traditional dentures: a full arch of teeth; top dentures are secured with suction or adhesive; lower dentures require adhesive for stability; removable 

Implant-retained dentures: four or more implant posts installed in the upper or lower jaw to retain a denture; permanent or removable implant-retained dentures are available

How to Find Professional Help

Dr. Bridges and our team take great pride in how we care for our patients. All restorations and replacement teeth we use are carefully constructed to look natural, feel solid, and function comfortably. Whether Dr. Bridges needs to remove teeth and replace them or simply provide fillings, crowns, and periodontal treatment, you’ll find the services you need at Chisholm Trail Smile Center, your Duncan, OK, dental practice. Give us a call at 580-255-4880 to schedule your exam today.

 

An infection is what happens when one or more microorganisms (like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoans) attack healthy tissues in or on a host. Oral infection is the result of microorganisms establishing themselves in or on the mouth. 

All of the infections that can occur in or on the parts of the mouth qualify as oral infections. From cold sores to cavities to gum disease to oral cancer, they’re all oral infections. Since only 1% of the human population avoids cavities, you’ve probably experienced oral infection at least once.

In today’s blog and next week’s blog, you’ll learn how to FIGHT oral infection proactively, which will reduce your risk of overall health problems. We’ll explore the following topics, so after reading this blog, stay tuned for next week’s continuation.

• • Symptoms of oral infection
  • Types of oral infections
  • Oral cancer facts
  • Re-claiming good oral health
  • Tips to prevent oral infection
  • How to find professional help

Symptoms of Oral Infection

Your mouth is a complex system made up of hard tissues, bones of the jaws and teeth, as well as soft tissues, gums, tongue, interior of cheeks and throat, and the upper and lower palates. Therefore, if you experience abnormalities in the appearance or feel of any of these components, you should see Duncan dentist Dr. Matthew Bridges at Chisholm Trail Smile Center in Duncan, OK. 

You might experience some of these symptoms if you have an oral infection:

• • Chronic bad breath (halitosis)
  • Loose permanent teeth
  • Pain in the teeth, gums, or jaws
  • Sores in or on the mouth, lips, or gums
  • Sore or bleeding gums (when brushing teeth)
  • Swollen gums, jaw, or lymph nodes

Types of Oral Infections

This list of oral infections is not comprehensive. Instead, these are some of the most common oral infections:

• • Tooth decay (AKA dental caries, cavities)
  • Gum disease (gingivitis, periodontitis, advanced periodontitis)
  • Thrush (yeast infection on soft tissues)
  • Canker or cold sores
  • Oral herpes
  • Tonsil stones (tonsilloliths)
  • White tongue (oral papillae on tongue swell and trap food debris, and bacteria)
  • Coxsackie and herpangina viruses (usually occur in children and causes blisters)

Oral Cancer

Approximately 54,540 new cases of oral cancer or oropharyngeal cancer will be diagnosed this year. About 11,580 people will die as a result of oral cancer this year. These cancers account for 3% of diagnosed cancers, annually. People over 40 are at greater risk, and men develop oral cancers twice as often as women.

Of course, smokers and tobacco users run a high risk of developing oral cancer. However, an untreated oral infection can also prompt the development of oral cancer at that site. Denture wearers whose dentures cause oral sores should see the dentist for relining and instructions to cure the sores.

The good news is, if you stop smoking and using tobacco now, you’ll reduce your risk. Other good news: 67% of people who develop oral cancer have a 5-year survival rate, overall. 

The best way to survive oral cancer is to find and treat it early. Mouth sores that bleed easily and don’t heal over the course of 14 days should be screened by Dr. Bridges. You may need a biopsy to determine whether oral cancer is present.

At every dental exam, Dr. Bridges inspects the mouth for oral infection, as well as oral cancer. The exam is comfortable and quick. The dentist will bring your attention to any suspicious areas. That requires a biopsy.

We Want to Help

We welcome new patients of all ages. If you live in the Duncan, OK, area, call Chisholm Trail Smile Center at 580-255-4880 and schedule an appointment with Dr. Bridges. He’ll make you feel welcome and respected, regardless of the state of your oral health. Dr. Bridges has helped many people overcome poor oral health to reclaim comfortable oral function and good oral health.