The Marine Parade Community Club is organizing a dental talk for the public which will take place on Saturday, 4th September, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm at the Marine Parade Community Club Theatrette.
Specialist Dental Group is supporting this worthwhile event as part of our community outreach activities. Members of our dental team will be present to share their knowledge on the latest developments in dentistry and educate the community on how oral health is closely linked to their overall health.
Dr. Helena Lee, our Periodontist, will be speaking on “The Mouth and Body Connection”. Most people do not know that diabetes, heart disease, lung infection, miscarriage and pre-term child birth can be detected early by just looking at the patients’ gums. If you want to find out more, do not miss the opportunity to listen to her presentation.
Another topic that will be covered is “Solutions for Missing Teeth.” This is a joint Mandarin presentation by our Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Ho Kok Sen, and our Prosthodontist, Dr. Elvin Leong. For those particularly with missing teeth, you may want to set aside some time to attend this presentation and discover various methods to replace your missing teeth and restore their functional and aesthetical aspect.
To register, you may contact Ms. Lynn Tan at (65) 6346 4900 – free registration exclusively for PAssion Card Members.
Dr Ho Kok Sen of Specialist Dental Group was recently interviewed by Daniel Martin of “Body & Soul” on 938LIVE FM Radio. The interview was part of a series of events to launch the Sjogren’s Syndrome Club in Singapore. Dr Ho, an Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon, was one of the speakers at a public seminar, and spoke on “Managing Dry Mouth (Xerostomia) for Sjogren’s Syndrome patients.
For your convenience, we have uploaded the radio interview and selected slides from Dr Ho’s presentation on YouTube, Facebook and our website.
Dr Ho Kok Sen from Specialist Dental Group was recently interviewed on 938LIVE radio on the Body & Soul show about a dry mouth condition known as Xerostomia and is currently available on Youtube. You may listen to it at http://bit.ly/9bBKbd. Read on to find out more about Xerostomia.
What is Xerostomia?
Xerostomia is the medical term for dry mouth. It is also known as salivary gland hypofunction. Dry mouth as the name refers to a subjective feeling of oral dryness due to a lack of saliva. It is not a diagnosis but a symptom. For this symptom to appear, the person’s unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate must be depressed to a certain level.
How does Xerostomia impact dental care?
Xerostomia is not a normal condition. Other bodily fluids like blood, urine and even tears have been widely used as indicators of health and disease. Saliva, however, has been largely ignored. Saliva protects our teeth and oral tissues. It also aids in digestion, taste and speech and is also a sensitive indicator of serious systemic conditions and diseases. Having a dry mouth is not normal and the general public needs to recognize this condition and bring it to the attention of their doctors and dentists.
Patients with dry mouths who do not seek preventive dental care in the early stages will usually present with severe dental caries (decay). This may be accompanied by mucositis or general inflammation of the oral tissues. Saliva with its immunoglobulins and other protective enzymes helps with food clearance thus preventing tooth decay. It also lines and protects the oral mucosa thus preventing recurrent oral infections.
How do you know that your Xerostomia is getting worse?
Our salivary glands are like factories. They need raw materials, machines and electricity to function and produce the end-products. If there is any disruption in this production line, the end-products get affected. Applying this to our salivary glands, we know that if there is any interference in the supply of metabolites including water, damage to the glands or failure in neural transmission can result in a reduction in the synthesis of saliva.
Xerostomia may present early with little or mild symptoms. Symptoms worsen when there is increased difficulty in speech and eating, This may be coupled with halitosis or bad breath. To determine if xerostomia is getting worse, we can test the salivary gland function. This can be done by collecting saliva and determining the amount produced in a five minute period. Other objective evidence of salivary gland involvement is tested through ultrasound examinations and/ or a parotid sialography.
Studies have shown that 1 in 4 adults complained of dry mouth and its associated symptoms. This coupled with the fact that about 40% of the elderly complained of dry mouth goes on to show that it is quite a common condition.
What can you do prevent and treat Xerostomia?
Treatment involves finding any correctable causes and fixing those if possible. In many cases it is not possible to correct the xerostomia itself, and treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms and preventing cavities.
Tips for patients with Xerostomia
avoid the use of decongestants and antihistamines,
pay careful attention to oral hygiene.
Sipping non-carbonated sugarless fluids frequently, chewing xylitol-containing gum, and using a carboxymethyl cellulose saliva substitute as a mouthwash may help.
The use of an enzymatic product such as Biotene toothpaste, mouthwash, and dry mouth moisturizing liquid has been proven to reduce the rate of recurrence of dental plaque resulting from dry mouth.
Ensure that you see your dentist regularly for check-ups to maintain your oral health
What is Sjogren’s Syndrome?
Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disorder in which immune cells in our body system attack and destroy the exocrine glands that produce tears and saliva. The exocrine glands concerned are the tear or lacrimal glands and the salivary glands, It is named after Swedish ophthalmologist Henrik Sjögren (1899–1986) who first described it.
The hallmark symptoms of the disorder are dry mouth and dry eyes. In addition, Sjögren’s syndrome may cause skin, nose, and vaginal dryness and may affect other organs of the body, including the kidneys, blood vessels, lungs, liver, pancreas, and brain.
Public Seminar on Xerostomia and Launch of Sjogren’s Syndrome Club in Singapore
If you have xerostomia / Sjogren’s Syndrome or know of someone who has xerostomia/Sjogren’s Syndrome, Dr Ho will be speaking on “Managing Dry Mouth in Sjogren’s Syndrome”
Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010
Venue: Marina Mandarin Hotel (Taurus Ballroom)
Time: 2pm to 4pm.
Fee: Registration fee is $12 (Goodie bag worth $70 will be provided). Payment by cheque or credit card only.
See below for more details or contact: Shawn Chong at (65) 6232 8335 / 9227 1771 or email shawn.s.chong@gsk.com.
Dr Elvin Leong from Specialist Dental Group was among several leading medical specialists invited by Parkway Health to participate in the “In Conversations” segment of the 4-day Health Carnival organized by Great Eastern Insurance and supported by Parkway Health from September 17-20, 2009
Based on the theme “Looking Good, Feeling Great”, Dr Leong answered questions on a number of dental topics including Dental Implants,Veneers, Braces and Gum Health.
Thank you to supporting sponsors, Asia Implants – Biomet 3i and Lion Corporation (Systema) for contributing the useful gifts in the Great Eastern goody bags.
Great Eastern’s Health Carnival takes place this week – September 17-20, 2009 at the Tropics Atrium, Suntec City in Singapore. ParkwayHealth, Singapore’s leading healthcare provider, has teamed up with Great Eastern for this 4-day event.
Specialist Dental Group is supporting this worthwhile event as part of our community outreach activities. Members of our dental team will be present to provide short consultations on each day of the Health Carnival. Consultations will take place at the Specialist Dental Group Booth.
The details of the short consultations are as follows:
In addition, Dr Elvin Leong will be participating in an “In Conversations” session with the emcee on Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 4pm covering a range of dental solutions. There will be a question and answer session during this time.
Dental Sponsors participating in the Health Carnival include Lion Corporation which will generously provide Systema Sensitive Toothpastes, Systema Toothpastes and Systema Toothbrushes for the goody bags. Biomet 3i, a leading dental implants company based in the USA, is also a sponsor and will provide a special toolkit for the goody bag.
There will be other health Q&A (question and answer) sessions at the carnival by leading medical specialists as well as quizzes, lucky draws and other activities for the whole family.
Especially for children, Dr Sunny Lion from Great Eastern and his health train will be present – there will also be educational activities for the little ones Other sponsors of the event include OCBC, Brands, and F&N Magnolia, among many others.
Drop by and say Hello! We look forward to seeing you there.
It has been about three weeks since our last blog posting…. and it has been a very hectic period for the team at Specialist Dental Group (SDG).
On August 25, Dr Ansgar Cheng was a guest on 938LIVE FM, on the Body & Soul show hosted by Daniel Martin. We were impressed with how knowledgeable Daniel Martin was on a wide range of health issues and he had certainly done his homework on dental issues. Dr Cheng answered questions from Daniel on dental implants and oral health. Several listeners also called in – questions were very diverse, covering abscesses in the mouth, teeth grinding, consumption of carbonated drinks and toothbrushing.
The week of September 2-5 was a busy one with Singapore playing host to the FDI World Dental Congress. Dentists from all over the world congregated in Singapore for several days of learning, sharing professional and clinical developments and of course, eating! We were privileged to host colleagues from Canada, Malaysia, USA, Germany, Hong Kong and Switzerland over the course of that period. More photos can be viewed from our Photo Album on our Facebook Fan Page.
On September 2, SDG did an unprecedented thing – we closed one of our clinics for the day to enable our staff to attend a full day training workshop during the FDI. We believe in continuous learning for our dentists and staff and are always striving to improve our knowledge and skills in order to serve our patients better.
Dr. Ansgar Cheng spoke on the Latest Technology to Help you Smile with Confidence at a public seminar, Your Mouth: More to it than you know which was organized by the Singapore Dental Association and Sensodyne. Several hundred people attended the talk at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. Other dental topics which were presented included Oral Cancer, Healthy Gums, Teeth Whitening, and the Link between Oral Health and Kidney Disease.
We are now gearing up for another community event – the Great Eastern Great Life, Great Health Carnival from September 17-20, 2009 at Tropics Atrium, Suntec. Look for more details in our next blog posting!
The dental public forum also coincides with the 2009 FDI Annual World Dental Congress which will be held in Singapore from September 2 to 5. The FDI World Dental Congress is one of the few mega conventions in the world that attract more than 10,000 foreign delegates.
Make yourself available on Saturday, September 5 for an informative afternoon of all things dental, from aesthetics, oral cancer, latest technology and the relationship between dental problems and kidney disease.
* “Are you Growing a Litte Cancer in your Mouth? Oral Cancer – What you need to know”
* “Get your teeth into kidney disease”
* ” Healthy Gums: A strong foundation for long lasting teeth”
* “Teeth Whitening – Myths & Truths – is it for you?”
Details
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009
Time: 2 pm to 6 pm
Venue: Marina Mandarin Hotel, Leo Room, Level 1
Fee: $10 (inclusive of tea break & goody bag)
To register
- You can download the form from http://www.sda.org.sg/pdf/responseform.pdf
- sms (text “your name”, “contact number” and “number of people attending” to 8300 1151) or
- call 6232 8232 during the office hours
We were delighted to find that one of our patients, and an attendee of our Putting the Sparkle Back into your Smile seminar, has posted a review of her experience on her blog, Seniors Aloud.
The Marine Parade Community Club is organizing a dental talk for the public which will take place on Saturday, 4th September, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm at the Marine Parade Community Club Theatrette.
Other sponsors of the event include 
