June 25, 2022
Did you know that the types of medication that you take can affect your teeth? Medications for high blood pressure, depressions, allergies, congestions, acid reflux and heartburns can all cause changes in your mouth. This main change is the amount of saliva that your mouth excretes. This decrease in saliva or dry mouth can increase the acidity in your mouth leading to an increase chance of tooth decay. Dry mouth leads to the inability of your mouth to get rid of the plaque or bacteria and increases the pH in your mouth. People taking these types of medications can protect their teeth by changing their diet to less sugars/carbohydrates, more water consumption, and by using products/medications that can help combat dry mouth. Sucking on ice cubes as well as sugar free candies that contains xylitol may also be helpful. Practicing good oral hygiene at home such as flossing and brushing after every meal to decrease the amount of plaque in the mouth will be the key to decreasing plaque production in the mouth and decreasing tooth decay. There are many stages in life and changes are inevitable. It is important to evaluate the situation and make some necessary improvements so that we can live a long, healthy life.