Archives for July 2021

I Can Smell My Husband’s Implants

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Annmarie Worthington.

I have a pretty severe chemical sensitivity. the problem I’ve run into is that my husband is in the process of getting dental implants. He has the posts in and they are screwed into his teeth. Right now he only had temporary dentures placed on top and they are made of acrylic. I can smell a rubber smell coming from his implants. A have to sleep well on the other side of the bed from him and keep my face covered with a separate blanket. I want him to take out the titanium implants and get the zirconia ones, but the dentist told him that is not a good idea. So, what am I supposed to do? It’s like dentists do not even consider holistic care.

Monica

Dear Monica,

implant overdentures

You mentioned you have a chemical sensitivity and that you can smell rubber, but you did not mention what type of reaction you are having. I would be interested to know that as it may help pinpoint the problem. I say that because I do not believe his dental implants are what is causing the smell. Titanium doesn’t really have a smell as such. It is inert. Plus, they are implanted deep in his jawbone. I’d be surprised, even if it had a smell that you’d be impacted by it. One thing you can do is ask his dentist to let you smell one that is not implanted. He’s bound to have some fixtures on hand. Give them a sniff. I’m willing to bet you won’t get a rubber smell from them.

It is possible you are getting a scent from the acrylic. Make sure when they make his permanent restoration that it is made out of porcelain and that will help with that issue. Another possibility is that food is getting trapped under his temporary fixture. You could try getting a water pic to help clean out under there. He could also rinse with some hydrogen peroxide. However, if he uses it more than once a week, he could develop an oral yeast infection.

You will not want him to switch his dental implants. It is not that they are just screwed into his jaw and can be easily unscrewed. Instead, the implant itself is integrated with the bone. To remove the implant requires surgery and you would have to take a portion of his jawbone with it. Then, in order to get those zirconia implants you want, he’d have to have another surgery as well to do a bone grafting procedure. After that, he would need yet another surgery to implant the zirconia implants.

That is a lot for your husband to go through unnecessarily.

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Can a Dental Crown Cause a Yeast Infection?

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Annmarie Worthington.

Ever since having a dental crown put in I have had weird symptoms. I have extra saliva, sores in my mouth at the corners, bitter taste, and bad breath. Is it possible that the dental work caused a yeast infection I cannot get rid of?

Laurie

Dear Laurie,

A porcelain crown being placed on a tooth

There are quite a few possible causes because each of them can have different reasons. For example, the yeast infection and sores are signs of stress, which could have happened during your appointment for your dental crown. Sometimes stress during a dental appointment can cause something called burning mouth syndrome. However, that usually causes dry mouth and you have the opposite problem with increased saliva.

The bad breath is sometimes a sign of an infection such as strep throat, but the bitterness combined with the other issues makes me think it may be an oral hygiene issue. This sometimes happens when people get sores in their mouths. They are going gently on the brushing, which hinders their oral hygiene. This becomes a way of increasing the problem.

So, what is the solution? Usually, when a person realizes they can brush and floss as normal, they solve the problem on their own. For a time you need to brush and floss after every meal despite the soreness, which will help with the bad breath and bitter taste. It should knock out the yeast infection as well. If it does not and the yeast infection persists, your dentist can provide you with an antibiotic called Nystatin which should knock it out.

I hope this helps.

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Premium Home Whitening

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Annmarie Worthington.

I keep getting advertisements for Premium Home Whitening. I have always wanted to get my teeth whitened. It is a little lower in price than what my dentist charges but not quite low enough that I am willing to take a risk on it. Do you know if it is a legitimate product?

KellyAnne

Dear KellyAnne,

teeth whitening trays

After looking over this product I see their teeth whitening ingredient is 35% carbamide peroxide. This is a completely valid teeth whitening ingredient and it will whiten your teeth. That is great news. I do have some things for you to consider, though, before you make a decision.

The bleaching tray is my main concern. The image above is similar to what you would get from your dentist for professional teeth whitening. It is custom fit to your specific bite. The tray with Premium Home Whitening is more of a DIY type thing. It will not be a custom fit. This will lead to some issues.

The biggest issue will be leakage. That means the teeth whitening gel will leak out some. It will take more gel to whiten your teeth. A second issue with the leakage is that your saliva can get into the tray. This will lessen the effectiveness of the gel. Both of these issues will end up costing you more money in the long run.

One other thing which concerns me about this kit with the tray is the risk to your gums. Because the trays are not fit as snugly as they should be the gel will reach your gums. There are documented cases of people needing a root canal treatment as a result of using an over-the-counter whitening treatment. It is always safer for a patient to have their teeth whitened under the care of a dentist.

As the price is fairly close to what your dentist would offer and you would need to use several kits to equal what professional teeth whitening could do, I would simply speak to your dentist and see if he would let you do payments or even come down a little on his price so you could afford to get your teeth whitening done under his or her care.

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