Condition: Scleroderma
Common Dental Problems and Considerations for Provision of Dental Care:
- Xerostomia (dry mouth) placing at increased risk of tooth decay)
- Microstomia, making access to cleaning both by patient and dentist challenging
Recommendations for Dental Care:
- Regular dental recalls
- Proper oral hygiene including use of daily applied topical fluoride
- Diet low in sweets including soda pop
- Make sure dentures are checked and adjusted regularly
- Gentle, frequent brushing
- May need to modify grip of denture or use smaller brushes, either child-sized or "end-tufted" brush where access is difficult
Dental Specialties Typically Involved in Care:
- All, including prosthodontist for difficult restorative siutations
Recommended Resources
Chaffee NR. CREST syndrome: clinical manifestations and dental management. J Prosthodont. 1998 Sep;7(3):155-60. PMID: 9807098. Abstract.
Spackman GK. Scleroderma: what the general dentist should know. Gen Dent. 1999 Nov-Dec;47(6):576-9. Review. PMID: 10687451. Abstract.
Zandman-Goddard G, Tweezer-Zaks N, Shoenfeld Y. New therapeutic strategies for systemic sclerosis--a critical analysis of the literature. Clin Dev Immunol. 2005 Sep;12(3):165-73. PMID: 16295521. Abstract.
Scardina GA, Messina P. Systemic sclerosis: description and diagnostic role of the oral phenomena. Gen Dent. 2004 Jan-Feb;52(1):42-7. PMID: 15055670. Abstract.