Oral health remains a serious issue after you’ve lost your teeth. You might not be worried about tooth decay if you have dentures , but there are still problems with painful sores caused by gum disease and the fungal infection thrush, also known as denture stomatitis.
For some denture wearers, maintaining oral health can be a major challenge. Of course, you don’t have to do it alone. Your dentist is on your side, of course, but you can also enlist an army of helpers in the form of probiotics.
Understanding Probiotics
Probiotics kind of sounds like it’s just a health catchphrase, but it’s actually a sound scientific concept. Probiotics are any microorganism that can be beneficial to your health. There are many of these already in your body, especially in your gut, where they help you digest your food–in fact, there are many foods we couldn’t digest at all without them!
But there are other probiotics that we can enlist to help us deal with issues like oral health. In this case, there are “friendly” bacteria that we can introduce to our mouths that will fight off the bacteria that seek to infect our gums and bones.
How Probiotics Can Help Your Oral Health
Lactobacillus has a long history of fighting with other bacteria and fungus, include those which act as parasites in your mouth. It can help keep down the population of the Candida fungus that causes denture stomatitis. Regularly introducing Lactobacillus to your mouth can help reduce your risk of Candida infection.
Lactobacillus can also help with your digestion. If you are among the denture wearers who experience heartburn or upset stomach more often since getting dentures, Lactobacillus might help.
But perhaps the biggest impact of Lactobacillus is in helping reduce the risk of gum disease. This is most important if you have implant dentures, because gum disease affecting your dental implants, called peri-implantitis, is the most common cause of dental implant loss.
For all these reasons, it can be worth it to add more yogurt to your diet or try a probiotic supplement if you’re a denture wearer.
If you have more questions about living with dentures or if you are looking for great-looking dentures in Columbia, SC, please call (803) 781-9090 for an appointment with a denture dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry.
