links

  http://www.hydrofloss.com

  http://www.waterpik.com/  

  http://www.oralbreeze.com/

                  Oral Water Irrigators

The other type of oral health devices are the water irrigators. There are several brands. The key to a good irrigator is the unique ability to deliver different anti-bacterial solutions into the gum collar. 
Water Pik 

The oldest water irrigator is Water Pik. It has a new tip called a Pik Pocket that is superb at flushing out hard to reach areas. The tiny rubber tip irrigator can be worked in between the back teeth easily. The rubber end prevents injury. Research shows that this tip will flush fluids up to 7 millimeters deep. 

The Pik Pocket tips may be purchased separately. If you already have a water Pik these new tips will fit your old machine. 

The least expensive Water Pik and the travel model are not recommend for use with salt or baking soda and therefore should be avoided. 

Hydro Floss 

The Hydro Floss machine is a promising new entry into the market. It ionizes the water with small magnets and reduces the adherence of plaque. Studies show that there is a 40% benefit in this approach over the conventional irrigator. 

Using Anti-bacterial Agents
The purpose of antibacterial irrigation is to kill disease causing bacteria and flush them from around your teeth. Irrigation with water alone has only limited effectiveness. Most of the early research was done using water and at first only few studies found a significant improvement with Water Pik use over conventional cleaning methods. Since the addition of anti-bacterial agents into the irrigator reservoir the benefit had dramatically improved. We encourage our patients to brush and irrigate twice a day as long as they still have symptoms of gum disease and harmful bacteria visible (microscopically). Then they can reduce the frequency to once a day as long as the bacteria or symptoms do not return. 
Think of this like washing the car. First you rub it down all over then you hose it off. Most people forget to rinse the teeth after they brush and as a result they have just smeared the bacteria around. They soon go back to their nasty deeds. Once the brush has loosened the plaque it is a simple thing to rinse them off the teeth and very beneficial I might add. 


A Great Success Story
A few years ago a middle aged man paralyzed from the neck down came to me for care of his gum disease problem. He was in danger of loosing his only gripping tool and had been advised to have extractions and surgery. Microscopically the gums were teeming with bad disease causing bacteria. Because of his injury he could only move his upper arms and his hands were clenched fists. Fifteen years of no flossing and allowed the bacteria to eat into the gums deeply and the teeth were beginning to loosen. 

So, we taught his care giver to do the necessary procedures of brushing and irrigating his teeth. Now some five years later his gums look great. No more loose teeth or gum problems and no more bad bugs either. I suggested that the care giver we had trained was certainly doing an excellent job. He explained that care givers come and go in his life and his approach to oral health is for the care giver to pry open his hand and stick the electric Interplak toothbrush in it. He does the rest himself. He still comes in every 90 days for us to deep clean and irrigate any spots that might get missed. 

Some Cautions
1. Generally speaking this kind of machine is very safe, however, there is one place you should not attempt to blast into with high pressure. If you have an active gum infection or a deep pocket you should medicate these areas with anti-bacterial agents like you would a wound or cut. Gently pack the infected area with baking soda or similar anti-bacterial agent with a rubber tip. Only use the lowest pressure setting to rinse and never attempt to blast the bacteria out with pressure. It could spread the bacteria into the wound and have the opposite effect. 
2. If you have mitral valve prolapse or a heart murmur consult your Keyes dentist before you begin a new vigorous oral hygiene program. Your condition might warrant protection with an antibiotic when you start this program. Heart valve problems often becomes infected by bacteria from the mouth. As gum disease progresses bacteria can get into the bloodstream and lodge on the heart valve. Even chewing will spread bacteria in to the blood stream and toothbrushing will too. The best approach is to get your gums so healthy that they never bleed when brushing and flossing. That is the only certain protection against this kind of infection. 




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