Author: Paul Ganjian

At New York's Next Generation Dental,

Coronavirus and Breastfeeding: What Nursing Moms Should Know About COVID-19

by Paul Ganjian, posted in dental blog

From whether the coronavirus can be transmitted through breast milk to how to clean your pump, here’s the latest information for nursing moms.

It’s no secret that we’re living in a confusing time right now. Cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have been increasing by about a thousand each day in the U.S. If you’re currently breastfeeding (or pregnant and planning on doing so when baby is born), it’s natural to have questions about what the coronavirus outbreak means for you as a nursing mom.

Keep in mind: Because the novel coronavirus is so new, the guidance from experts continues to change. As of now, here’s everything health officials know about breastfeeding and COVID-19.

Can the coronavirus be transmitted through breast milk?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges that there’s a lot health officials don’t yet know about how the coronavirus is spread. Right know, here’s what they believe right now:

  • It’s thought that the coronavirus spreads from person to person mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu and other respiratory viruses are spread.
  • Studies that have been conducted on women with COVID-19 have so far not detected the virus in breast milk, the CDC says. In one small study of nine pregnant women in Wuhan, China, with confirmed COVID-19, researchers found no evidence of the virus in their breast milk, cord blood or amniotic fluid.

Emergency or Non Emergency? ADA Offers Guidance for Determining Dental ProceduresIn a statement issued on March 16

by Paul Ganjian, posted in dental blog

Emergency or Non Emergency? ADA Offers Guidance for Determining Dental ProceduresIn a statement issued on March 16, the American Dental Association (ADA) called upon dentists nationwide to postpone elective dental procedures for three weeks in order for dentistry to do its part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Concentrating on emergency dental care only during this time period will allow dentists and their teams to care for emergency patients and alleviate the burden that dental emergencies would place on hospital emergency departments.

The ADA recognizes that state governments and state dental associations may be best positioned to recommend to the dentists in their regions the amount of time to keep their offices closed to all but emergency care. This is a fluid situation, and those closest to the issue may best understand the local challenges being faced.

The following should be helpful in determining what is considered “emergency” versus “non emergency.” This guidance may change as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, and dentists should use their professional judgment in determining a patient’s need for urgent or emergency care.

1.  Dental emergency

Dental emergencies are potentially life threatening and require immediate treatment to stop ongoing tissue bleeding, alleviate severe pain or infection, and include:

  • Uncontrolled bleeding
  • Cellulitis or a diffuse soft tissue bacterial infection with intra-oral or extra-oral swelling that potentially compromise the patient’s airway
  • Trauma involving facial bones, potentially compromising the patient’s airway

Urgent dental care focuses on the management of conditions that require immediate attention to relieve severe pain and/or risk of infection and to alleviate the burden on hospital emergency departments. These should be treated as minimally invasively as possible.

  • Severe dental pain from pulpal inflammation
  • Pericoronitis or third-molar pain
  • Surgical post-operative osteitis, dry socket dressing changes
  • Abscess, or localized bacterial infection resulting in localized pain and swelling.
  • Tooth fracture resulting in pain or causing soft tissue trauma
  • Dental trauma with avulsion/luxation
  • Dental treatment required prior to critical medical procedures
  • Final crown/bridge cementation if the temporary restoration is lost, broken or causing gingival irritation 

Other urgent dental care:

  • Extensive dental caries or defective restorations causing pain
    • Manage with interim restorative techniques when possible (silver diamine fluoride, glass ionomers)
  • Suture removal
  • Denture adjustment on radiation/oncology patients
  • Denture adjustments or repairs when function impeded
  • Replacing temporary filling on endo access openings in patients experiencing pain
  • Snipping or adjustment of an orthodontic wire or appliances piercing or ulcerating the oral mucosa

2.  Dental non emergency procedures

Routine or non-urgent dental procedures include but are not limited to:

  • Initial or periodic oral examinations and recall visits, including routine radiographs
  • Routine dental cleaning and preventive therapies
  • Orthodontic procedures other than those to address acute issues (e.g. pain, infection, trauma)
  • Extraction of asymptomatic teeth
  • Restorative dentistry including treatment of asymptomatic carious lesions
  • Aesthetic dental procedures

The ADA is committed to providing the latest information to the profession in a useful and timely manner. Please visit ADA.org/virus for the latest information.

CANKER SORES AND THE GENERAL DENTAL HEALTH

by Paul Ganjian, posted in dental blog

Canker sores similar to ulcers are small and shallow wounds that appear in the mouth, it makes eating, drinking and talking hard. The two types of canker sores include:

Simple canker sore: Occurs to people mostly between the age of 10 and 20 years about three or four times a year, lasts for at least a week.

Complex canker sores: Occurs mostly to people who have previously had them, but it is less common.

Believed to caused by stress or tissue injury, certain foods like lemons, pineapple, apples, figs, tomatoes and strawberry somewhat trigger the occurrence of simple canker sore, hence worsening it. External factors such as sharp dental appliances like braces, bad fitting dentures can still cause canker sores.

Complex canker sore is mainly caused due to an impaired immune system, lack of nutritional supplements such as: Vitamin B-12, zinc, folic acid and iron deficiency. Having gastrointestinal tract diseases such as Crohn’s or Celiac disease could lead to this mouth sore.

Canker sore has been linked to cold sore, similar yet different in some ways. Cold sores are blister which have also been identified as fever blisters/ herpes, caused by a virus they are mainly located at the external part of the mouth and highly contagious. 

Symptoms of canker sores

Below are some of the symptoms of canker sores:

• Painful sores located inside the mouth mainly on the soft palate, tongue, or inner cheek.
• Sores usually appear to be round, white or grey.
• The sores appear to have a red edge.
• When severe canker sores can cause fever, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.

 

 

How to treat canker sores

Canker sores usually take a few days to heal with a little pain, but if you want lessen the symptoms quick you can opt for dental laser. Hence, you might have to consult your dental physician to guide you about the whole process. Canker sores have no immediate cure and the chances for occurring again are high, therefore to prevent reoccurrence you need to do the following:

• Avoiding foods that cause irritation in your mouth such as acidic vegetables, citrus fruits and spicy foods.
• Avoid irritating your mouth by chewing gum.
• Using a soft-bristled brush twice a day and flossing daily.
• Avoid sweets and candy that cause wounds in your mouth leading to sores.

Consult your dentist in case of:

• Uncharacteristically larger sores.
• Spreading sores.
• Sores that have lasted for long, which is more than a week.
• Having drinking difficulties.
• Having intolerable pain even though you have consumed pain relieving medicine.
• Having high fever together with canker sores.

In conclusion, do not be terrified when you notice that you have canker sore. Like any other dental problem it can still be prevented, you need consider your oral hygiene. Remember to brush your teeth and most importantly making regular visits with your dentist, it will enable them to evaluate the problem immediately to help you sort out the problem as soon as possible.

Technical treatment updates in dentistry.

by Paul Ganjian, posted in dental blog

Technical treatment updates in dentistry.

In this time of technological development in the medical line, as well as the field of dentistry which has gotten new gadgets for offering the best mouth/tooth medication to patients and one such machine is dental digital imaging machines. These technical instruments will be of extraordinary use to the dental practitioners to offer the right sort of treatment once the proper analysis has been made since they are equipped for identifying the main cause of the bad oral conditions of the patients. Notwithstanding how cost it is , numerous dental experts, especially cosmetic dental specialists wish to buy this kind of modern machines for offering the best treatment to their patients. 

It has turned into a system for dental medical centers to keep in pace with the most recent development on digital intra-oral cameras, machines for digital radiology, laser dentistry, and many more… Thus, now, the inquiry in the matter of what is the most recent technology in the field and in the late years, it is about dental digital imaging. For such a variety of years now, the radiologists were stressed for seeing the digitized images and this issue has now been solved by the most recent progressions in radiological instruments implied for oral treatment. 

Without a doubt, present day field of dentistry is diagnosing and treating every single issue relating to oral wellbeing right from obtaining dental treatment instruments online to diagnosing ofthe oral cavity, gingivitis and for knowing whether a patient will need to experience root trench treatment. There are organizations managing this new dental treatment gadgets and these organizations are keeping themselves informed when another gadget enters the dental sector. In this way, dental specialists keeping in steady touch with these sorts of associations can keep their medical center upgraded with most recent innovatively modern equipment to help them track down the proper cause of pain in the mouth/teeth and can undoubtedly treat the same with no problem. This will likewise empower them to develop their dental treatment job and they will have the capacity to get increasingly patients because of the right sort of treatment offered by them. 

These days, the significance of dental treatment has been enormously known by individuals and especially the people visiting dental specialists. Here, a large portion of the general population who has some dental issues that affects their appearance, wish to get it revised and when going to a dentist atthe same, an expert with a digital imaging framework can offer a good picture of what should be addressed to help them to get an incredible face expression. 

The most moderate technique for getting medical digital images is conceivable through Computed Radiography. As it is adaptable for use in many specialization zones.

DENTAL EXAMS: IS IT NECESSARY?

by Paul Ganjian, posted in dental blog

Visiting your dentist for a dental examination regularly is very important because it keeps your teeth and gums healthy. Most people do not like visiting the dentist maybe because of the pain experienced during the sessions, or they just get that uncomfortable feeling whenever they are the office, either way it is not recommended. According to the American Dental Association, it is recommended that you at least visit a doctoronce after every six.
As the saying goes, better safe than sorry and the reason for this recommendation, is to prevent further risks which might occur in years on not visiting your dentist. Other problems linked to dental issues include heart diseases, and that is why having a dental examination every once in a while is very necessary.

Why a dental examination is necessary

To prevents major medical issues: During any dental examination they ensure to check for any decay and illness on your teeth and gums. Not only do they pay attention to your general oral hygiene, but also show concern to other body parts such as your neck, face, throat, saliva and how your jaw moves.
These examinations will help enable your dentist to determine whether you require any dentistry work performed or any signs of major issues such as oral cancer, diabetes, vitamin deficiency or joint problems.

To prevent tooth decay: After a detailed examination on various parts of your body, regular cleaning will be done to your teeth. Routine cleaning your teeth prevents accumulation of tartar or plaque on the teeth surface, decay and gum irritation is mainly caused by soft plagues which harden the tooth making it more difficult to get rid of, at the same time also staining your teeth.
Regular routine checks up together with a proper home care routine prevent the buildup of plaques leading to cavity formation, hence teeth decay. The dentists will also make sure to fill up all fillings and all teeth are intact with no visible decay.

Fix problems: During regular cleanings the dentist usually determines if there is any problems that need immediate effect, they might carry out an X-ray, check your bite during jaw movement, gum examination or using major dental devices to view around your mouth. In case of anything such as a cavity or damaged roots make an appointment to get them repaired.

Dental examination is important because it maintains the usefulness of your replacement teeth, and before you go to any dentist for a teeth checkup consult with your friends, loved ones or doctor for a suitable recommendation. Before being treated ensure that the dentist is in a suitable location and whether they are willing to adhere to your health, and make sure you consider the payment options and consultation fees.
In case of anxiety try to talk to your dentist or physician, they will obviously find a way to keep you at ease. Dental examination also includes main discussions about your diet, smoking cigarettes plus other dangerous lifestyle that could lead to oral problems, after every check-up your dentist will make a follow-up visit appointment.