Cerebral palsy is that clinical entity consisting of a series of consecutive brain alterations, which occur before the organ reaches its growth and development, resulting in multiple alterations of muscle tone, and presenting pictures of motor alterations accompanied by non-motor alterations.
There are several types of paralysis, according to their classification we find:
- Topological classification: Zone or areas of the body that can be affected by hemiplegia, tetraplegia, paraplegia, triplegia …
- Clinical classification: linked to the expression of muscle tone, spasticity, athetosis, ataxia, or mixed.
- Classification according to the alteration of the development: motor, intellectual, emotional, sensory or language.
The main oral alterations that are detected in these patients are caries, malocclusions, gingivitis or periodontal gingival changes, trauma and bruxism and hypoplasia, below we will explain each of them more carefully and why they are given:
- Caries: is the most prevalent dental gold infection and is caused by bacterial action combined with the absence or deficiency of adequate oral hygiene and the diet rich in carbohydrates and / or sugars.
- Bruxism: usually occurs more in Athetoid type paralysis, as a rule there is an alteration of the jaw joint with respect to the skull, also by excessive tooth tightening and predominant muscle tone, causing pain, fracture or excessive tooth wear .
- Periodontal disease: occurs equally in all types of cerebral palsy, this is due to the action of drugs used for treatment especially antiepileptics, in combination, with little or no oral hygiene, leading to bleeding inflammation, halitosis and pain of the gums.
- Hypoplasia of the enamel: it consists of a decrease in the quantity and / or quality of the enamel, causing more aggressive caries, fractures, pain sensitivity … the cause is usually congenital / hereditary and is more pronounced in the milk dentition.
- Malocclusions: it consists of an alteration in terms of the ideal or correct position of the teeth in the oral cavity, being intimately linked with the patient’s muscle tone and the position of the tongue.
- Injuries: they are frequent in patients with athetosis-like paralysis because when they present exaggerated muscle movements, they favor falls and traumas, with the most damaged areas being the superior antero.
- Salivary incontinence is due to the alteration in swallowing and the lack of awareness of the deglutory act itself, combined with an alteration of the facial gold musculature, this continuous pool of saliva causes erythema and perioral wounds.
The treatment of different types of oral pathologies is possible as long as the patient is a collaborator or we have specialized oral care units to assist them through anesthesia and / or general sedation techniques.
At SJD Dentistas we have the collaboration of the most appropriate specialists to treat oral pathologies in a safe and hospitable environment, being able to provide a solution to all the mentioned processes from a conservative point of view, (making caries general sanitation and hygiene), if you are in this situation or you know someone who may need help do not hesitate, go to our clinic so that our professionals can guide you and help you by giving you the best possible solution.