West Calgary Dental Group

Helping with mouth-care for family members who may be critically and/or chronically ill in a hospital or nursing home is important to their quality of life. Two important considerations are i) whether the individual has had good dental health prior to entering the facility and ii) whether or not they wear dentures.

If the patient has had regular dental care in the past a visit from an available dental unit representative will likely not be necessary. The institution’s regular protocol will usually be enough. There are often dental personnel who rotate through the facility who may from time to time be useful in answering questions or doing adjustments, etc. For those who have not had regular care or those who Tare at higher risk or who have obvious oral disease, the dental unit (if one exists) will likely be involved on request from the host nursing unit. They will manage all concerns from that point.

If the patient wears dentures the caregivers/nurses should be made aware of this. We recommended hat dentures be removed at night and cleaned with a soft brush and soapy water twice a day. The patient’s name should be on the dentures as well; if desired, we can arrange for this at our office without the patient in attendance for a small fee.

Other things that affect a patient’s oral health will likely include the side effects of various medications, depression, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and changes in physical abilities including mobility.

Top Ten Things To Remember:

1) Have a look at the teeth, lips, gums, tongue and quality and quantity of saliva
2) Notify the staff of unusual findings and make them aware of regular dental needs
3) Use a very soft brush to clean the teeth or denture
4) Floss the teeth using aids, if necessary
5) Rinse or swab the gums with a specialized mouthwash
a. Peridex by prescription, Biotene or other fluoride preparation from pharmacy
6) Use other aids to remove plaque such as gauze, a proxibrush or sulca brush
7) Consider a saliva replacement if suffering from a very dry mouth
8) The use of baking soda instead of toothpaste (eg. During chemotherapy) is acceptable
9) Visit the local pharmacy for other formulations/materials that may be available and those described in this article.
10) Remember that our dental team cares about your situation and can provide more tips along the way as necessary.

How You May Feel
Most patients remember nothing about their treatment. A few will remember a little, usually at the end of the appointment when we are getting them ready to go home. You will need someone to bring you to our office on the day of your sedation appointment and you MUST have someone take you home afterwards.

Safety of Sedation
The reason that we use oral sedation is because of its safety. We use monitoring equipment to monitor your pulse and blood pressure. You’ll be done before you know it, completely unaware of the time passing, totally relaxed.