What is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS: the brain and spinal cord) that most commonly affects young adults. Sclerosis means “hardening’; multiple sclerosis means that there are multiple area of hardened tissue in the brain and spinal cord due to scarring.
It is a progressive disorder, an autoimmune condition wherein the central nervous system gets attacked by the body's immune system; these later results in demyelination and paralysis. Demyelination is the general term for diseases of the nervous system where the myelin sheath, the substance that serves as the covering of the nerve fibers, gets damaged. This in turn results disorders or impairments in muscle functions, cognition and sensation.
Multiple sclerosis is just one form of demyelination and also the most common type.

Oral health care and challenges of a Multiple Sclerosis Patient :
The primary correlation between multiple sclerosis and the patient's oral health is the loss of muscle control. This condition makes it harder for the patient to brush his own teeth. In cases where the patient can at least manage to brush, due to the twitching and the less muscle control, it only results to poor brushing of the teeth. Patients with severe multiple sclerosis symptoms may require the assistance of another person just to clean his teeth.
Multiple sclerosis patients may also have a hard time relaxing in the dentist's chair. This makes it quite difficult for the dentist to properly check the patient's teeth as well as to conduct any necessary dental procedures or operations.
And also, people suffering from multiple sclerosis are not advised to wear dentures. This is due to the fact that the patient may regularly experience uncontrollable muscle movements on the face which in turn may result to the dentures accidentally getting dislodged.
Among the concerns as to why it is necessary for a multiple sclerosis patient to have consistent oral hygiene are the typical disorders associated with not brushing, flossing and not going to the dentist. These are tooth decay, halitosis or bad breath and even gingivitis. All of these are easily avoided just with proper oral hygiene.

While there is still no cure for the disorder, doctors and other health professionals only set the following goals to improve the quality of life of their patients:
1. Maintain oral function and as much as possible, for the patient to be able to take care of his own dental hygiene
2. Keep patient from acquiring further diseases and disorders
3. Maintain a desirable appearance to improve self-esteem and self-image for a better interaction with society