Beginning the Best Response – Dental Home Care and Parkinson’s Disease
As a patient, family member or caregiver, you have just received the sad diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. After you understand the symptoms, treatments and prognosis, you may remain confident that you can and should take an active part in developing a positive and productive part in minimizing its effects on your family.
Consider the entire diagnosis and treatment process a journey rather than a destination. No matter what your role in this journey, the first step will be to understand this disease and its consequences.
You can easily find substantial information in your local library, medical literature or Internet resource. Once you do so, you’ll recognize Parkinson’s as a progressive disease of the central nervous system. Its primary effect is on movement, often including tremors. This status is generally followed by stiffness and slowed mobility. Currently, there are no available cures but various medications can positively affect the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Regardless of the stage of this disease, maintaining proper oral hygiene must become a priority for patients, family members and caregivers. Difficulty with movement often results in an inability (or resistance) to routine brushing, flossing and overall oral hygiene.
You will also notice that medications prescribed for Parkinson’s often result in dry mouth and enlargement of the gums. This condition can make chewing more difficult while contributing to denture discomfort.
Behavior issues are easily identified but more difficult to manage. With the progression of Parkinson’s, any and all movements become frustrating or impossible, with the consequence of imminent poor oral health.
One of the bright spots emerging in the health care arena has been that of mobile health care services. Throughout the past several years, organizations are furnishing nurses, physicians, personal support workers, pharmacists, dental hygienists, denturists and dentists for private residences.
Whether you or your loved one live alone, with relatives or in the residential care setting, health care professionals are immediately available to you. The advantages are obvious and substantial. You can eliminate the inconvenience of transportation while adding the comfort and convenience that are inherent to the home setting.
EPICITI Mobile Dental Care offers extraordinary solutions to the most common conditions associated with Parkinson’s disease. The staff at EPICITI has distinguished themselves as premier caregivers for the entire spectrum of oral health and denture needs and concerns. Your greatest advantage is that these services are provided in the patient or resident’s home environment.
The EPICITI approach is to deliver the same high quality of dental and denture attention as you receive in the traditional office setting. They have the most effective and space-efficient equipment available. As a result, their tools are easily transported and removed without occupying space or inconveniencing members of your home setting.
More importantly, EPICITI is practiced at the specific needs and priorities of the home-based community. Very often, these are patients who have suffered the effects of stroke, dementia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. EPICITI responds compassionately to these patient conditions while addressing the components of overall health and oral hygiene.
In the instance of Parkinson’s disease, for example, EPICITI will address the complexities specific to this neurological condition. Patients presenting Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremor, abnormal posture and some degrees of rigidity, typically make it difficult for a dentist to conduct routine examinations. With the advantages of expertise and practice, EPICITI Mobile Dental Care has created methods for completing these examinations while minimizing complications and confusion. Burning mouth syndrome has also been reported to occur much more frequently in Parkinson’s patients than the general population and Parkinson’s medications also often cause extreme overgrowth of the gums, both impediments to traditional dental care. And due to challenges in communication that make it a problem to communicate the occurrence of pain, dentists and denturists often perform treatments that do not allow them to assess how the patient is reacting.
EPICITI’s extensive experience with senior patients has made it possible to address these unique circumstances and respond accordingly. They will assess the impact of Parkinson’s on each patient, record the types of medications that are being used, assess the degree of the disease’s impact on oral health and hygiene and develop a plan that is consistent with the patient’s unique needs.
Because of the home setting, the PD patient will usually experience less anxiety than in the office setting, combined with the reduced needs for sedation. As a complete patient-centered treatment program, the EPICITI mobile dental professional will identify the course of treatment; schedule them according to the patient’s schedule; and account for the unique requirements of the PD conditions.
Take a moment to contact EPICITI to schedule a consultation and begin an oral health management program that will benefit your senior loved one and his or her family. Doing so can minimize the chances of developing additional health problems while enhancing the well being, restfulness and happiness of the PD patient.
You will be able to begin enjoying the benefits of excellent oral health, reduction of pain and the convenience of remaining in the best of settings – personal residence.
By Daniel Subbotin BSc, BA, DD
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EPICITI Mobile Dental Care is a Toronto-based company with a focus on mobile denture clinic services and in-home dental cleaning services for seniors in nursing homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and private residences. Their mobile house call denture and dental cleaning services are available to residents in Toronto and surrounding area, including Oshawa, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Brampton, Thornhill, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket. To book your dental home visit or to inquire about any dental concerns please feel free to contact their office.
Address: 561 Edward Ave. Unit 15, Richmond Hill, ON, L4C 9W6
