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Self Dental Care Tips For Special Needs

Maintaining good oral hygiene can be a challenge, especially if you have developed a health condition that makes brushing and flossing more difficult, or have been in an accident that created new limitations. Dentists want to help all dental patients keep their mouths healthy, and they offer these suggestions about performing oral hygiene and home dental care .

Brushing Tips

Problems in hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders can hinder a person's ability to brush, floss, and perform oral hygiene. While each situation is different, there are some suggestions that have been effective in making dental care easier:

• Use a wide elastic band to attach the toothbrush to your hand for extra gripping power.
• Attach a small rubber ball, a sponge, or a rubber grip to the toothbrush handle with strong tape. This enhances gripping power and is often useful when hand or arm movement is weakened or limited.
• Use a longer wooden dowel, a ruler, or plastic rod to lengthen the toothbrush handle, wrapping it securely with strong tape. This longer length may help in more easily reaching your mouth.
• Use an electric or sonic toothbrush.

Flossing Tips

If limitations make brushing harder, flossing may be an even bigger challenge. Depending on your limitations, try these techniques:

• Use a piece of floss, about 18" long, and wind one end of floss around each finger instead of holding it. This will increase your grip and prevent the floss from dropping out of your fingers with each tooth you floss.
• Hold the floss tightly and seesaw it back and forth between the teeth, instead of pushing the floss right through.
• Tie the floss into a long circle instead of using one long piece, which may make it easier to hold and less likely to drop from your hands.
• Try using a floss holder, available wherever oral hygiene products are sold.

By Danine M. Fresch, DDS

Your Dental Visit

When you first visit a new dentist, part of your initial exam is an assessment of your "bite" - the way teeth meet as the jaws close. Later, after a filling or placement of a dental crown, your bite will be tested again to be sure the tooth restoration fits well with other teeth. Nearly all dental patients have "been there." And there's good reason for this attention to bite.

Chewing, tooth wear and joint function all depend on the balanced opposition of teeth in each jaw. Any disruption of a good bite, either by broken, loose, or lost teeth, is trouble in need of repair. In the worst-case scenario - the jaws themselves present skeletal problems - orthodontic treatment is considered. However, most malocclusions (bad bites) are treatable right in your dentist's office.

Your dentist will first locate ill-fitting teeth by routine bite analysis. You will bite down on a sheet of special paper that marks teeth with uneven wear. If this doesn't tell your dentist enough, he or she may take impressions, from which study models are built. This gives your dentist a very visual demonstration of what's wrong.

High points in enamel that interfere with normal contact may be filed away. Eroded fillings call for replacements. Lost teeth need a bridge or dental implants to prevent opposing teeth from overgrowth. There are any number of solutions to a bad bite, all important to your dental health.

Anytime you notice a change in your chewing habits, or feel more pressure than usual on a solitary tooth, bring it to your dentist's attention. You'll notice the abnormality, maybe before your dentist detects it. Since you'll be working together, tell your dentist your suspicions and, if it's broken, it can be fixed.

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