Dental plaque identification

Dental Plaque Identification at Home

The home dental plaque identification test identifies plaque, a sticky substance that collects around and between teeth. The test helps show how well you are brushing and flossing your teeth.

Plaque is the major cause of tooth decay and gum disease (gingivitis). It is hard to see with the naked eye because it is whitish colored, like teeth.

How the Test is Performed

There are two ways to perform this test. One method uses special tablets that contain a red dye that stains the plaque. One tablet is chewed thoroughly, moving the mixture of saliva and dye over the teeth and gums for about 30 seconds. The mouth is then rinsed with water and the teeth are examined to identify pink-stained areas (unremoved plaque). A small dental mirror may help to check all areas.

The second method uses a plaque light. A special fluorescent solution is swirled around the mouth. The mouth is rinsed gently with water, and the teeth and gums are examined while shining an ultraviolet plaque light into the mouth. The advantage of this method is that it leaves no pink stains in the mouth.

In the office, dentists are often able to detect plaque through a thorough examination with dental instruments.

Normal Results

No plaque or food debris will be seen on the teeth.


What Abnormal Results Mean

The tablets will stain areas of plaque dark-red.

The plaque light solution will color the plaque a brilliant orange-yellow.

The colored areas show where the brushing and flossing have missed. These areas need to be brushed again to get rid of the stained plaque.

Considerations

The tablets may cause a temporary pink coloring of the lips and cheeks. They may color the mouth and tongue red. Dentists suggest using them at night so that the color will be gone by morning.

Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis

Osteomyelitis is an acute or chronic bone infection.

Causes

Bone infection can be caused by bacteria or fungi.

* Infection may also spread to a bone from infected skin, muscles, or tendons next to the bone, as in osteomyelitis that occurs under a chronic skin ulcer (sore).
* The infection that causes osteomyelitis can also start in another part of the body and spread to the bone through the blood.
* A current or past injury may have made the affected bone more likely to develop the infection. A bone infection can also start after bone surgery, especially if the surgery is done after an injury or if metal rods or plates are placed in the bone.

In children, the long bones are usually affected. In adults, the feet, spine bones (vertebrae), and the hips (pelvis) are most commonly affected.

Risk factors are recent trauma, diabetes, hemodialysis, poor blood supply, and IV drug abuse. People who have had their spleen removed are also at higher risk for osteomyelitis.


Symptoms

* Bone pain
* Fever
* General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill-feeling (malaise)
* Local swelling, redness, and warmth
* Nausea

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

* Chills
* Excessive sweating
* Low back pain
* Swelling of the ankles, feet, and legs

Treatment

The objective of treatment is to eliminate the infection and prevent it from getting worse.

Antibiotics will be given to destroy the bacteria that are causing the infection. You may be given more than one antibiotic at a time. Often, the antibiotics are given through an IV (intravenously, meaning through a vein) rather than by mouth. Antibiotics are taken for at least 4-6 weeks, sometimes longer.

Surgery may be needed to remove dead bone tissue if you have an infection that does not go away. If there are metal plates near the infection, they may be removed. The open space left by the removed bone tissue may be filled with bone graft or packing material that promotes the growth of new bone tissue.

Infection of an orthopedic prosthesis may require surgical removal of the prosthesis and infected tissue surrounding the area. A new prosthesis may be implanted in the same operation or delayed until the infection has gone away.

If the patient has diabetes, it will need to be well controlled. If there are problems with blood supply, surgery to improve blood flow may be needed.

The mouth

Oral cavity

The mouth, also called the (oral cavity) or buccal cavity is the entranceway into the digestive system containing both primary and accessory organs of digestion.

The mouth is designed to support chewing, (mastication) and swallowing, (deglutition), and speech (phonation).

Two rows of teeth are supported by facial bones of the skull, the maxilla above and the mandible below.

Teeth are surrounded by gingiva, or gums, part of the periodontium, support tissue of oral cavity protection.

In addition to the teeth, other structures that aid chewing are the lips, cheeks, tongue, hard palate, soft palate, and floor of the mouth.

Teeth

Humans normally will produce two sets of teeth called primary dentition, or deciduous teeth, and secondary dentition, or permanent teeth.

A tooth is the toughest known substance in the body exceeding bones in density and strength. Tooth enamel lends great strength to the tooth structure. The formation of a developing tooth includes the process of dentin formation, (see: Dentinogenesis) and enamel formation, (see: amelogenesis). As the tooth breaks through the gum into the mouth, the process is called eruption. The formation of teeth begins in early fetal development and goes through six stages:

* (1) initiation stage, 6th - 7th week
* (2) bud stage, 8th wk
* (3) cap stage, 9th-10 wk
* (4) bell stage, 11th-12th wk
* (5) apposition
* (6) maturation stage

Tooth enamel is white initially but is susceptible to stains from coffee and cigarette usage. A tooth sits in a specialized socket called gomphosis. The tooth is held in location by a periodontal ligament, with the assistance of cementum.

The white visible part of a tooth is called the crown. The rounded upper projections of the back teeth are cusps. The hard white exterior covering of the tooth is the enamel. As the tooth tapers below the gumline, the neck is formed. Below the neck, holding the tooth into the bone, is the root of the tooth. The inner portions of the tooth consist of the dentin, a bonelike tissue, and the pulp. The pulp is a soft tissue area containing the nerve and blood vessels to nourish and protect the tooth, located within the pulp cavity.

There are various tooth shapes for different jobs. For example, when chewing, the upper teeth work together with the lower teeth of the same shape to bite, chew, and tear food. The names of these teeth are:

* (1) Incisors, there are eight incisors located in the front of the mouth (four on the top and four on the bottom). They have sharp, chisel-shaped crowns that cut food.
* (2) Cuspids (or canine tooth), the four cuspids are next to each incisor. Cuspids have a pointed edge to tear food.
* (3) Premolars (or bicuspids), the four pairs of molars are located next to the cuspids. They crush and tear food.
* (4) Molars, there are twelve molars, in sets of three, at the back of the mouth. They have wide surfaces that help to grind food.

Adults have 32 permanent teeth, and children have 20 deciduous teeth.

Salivary glands

There are three sets of salivary glands: the parotid, the submandibular and the sublingual glands. The (exocrine) glands secrete saliva for proper mixing of food and provides enzymes to start chemical digestion.

Saliva also helps to hold together the formed bolus which is swallowed after chewing.

Saliva is composed of primarily of water, ions, salivary amylase, lysozymes, and trace amounts of urea.

Periodontium

The periodontium includes all of the support membranes of the dental structures surround and support the teeth such as the gums and the attachment surfaces and membranes.

This includes epithelial tissues (epithelium), connective tissues, (ligaments and bone), muscle tissue and nervous tissue.

Tongue

The tongue is a specialized skeletal muscle that is specially adapted for the activities of speech, chewing, developing gustatory sense (taste) and swallowing.

It is attached to the hyoid bone.

Terms meaning tongue include "glosso" and "lingual."

Mucosa

The protective tissues of the oral cavity are continuous with the digestive tract are called mucosa or mucous membranes.

They line the oral, nasal, and external auditory meatus, (ear), providing lubrication and protection against pathogens.

This is a stratified squamous epithelium containing about three layers of cells.

The lips are also protected by specialized sensory cells called Meissner's corpuscles.

The cells of the inner oral cavity are called the buccal mucosa.