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EEN and Dental Health

Anyone have issues with dental health after doing a course of EEN? I'm wondering if I should rinse my mouth with saline solution after every "meal." I can feel this weird build-up on my teeth that's really unpleasant. :LOL:
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Een
There are chewy sticks (occupational therapy aides)
Crushed ice
Brushing teeth after every meal
And some Gi permit gum to chew (sugarless or otherwise )
Some permit pure sugar cane (to sprinkle on crushed ice , as sugar cane candy (sugar water boiled ) or as cotton candy
Others permit dum dum lollipops (similar to EoE diet )

Een can cause SIBO the longer your on it
So your breath stinks no matter how much you brush /rinse

everything has draw backs ....
 
EEN (exclusive enteral/elemental nutrition) is the course of treatment I'm using right now for my Crohn's. I'll be finishing on Tuesday. It consists in drinking exclusively a very sugary meal replacement formula, and it's just gross on the teeth and mouth. So yes, I've been chewing ice and just brushing like usual. But I get paranoid that might not be enough. I've always had really good teeth, it'd be tragic to get a cavity now! 😂 When this is over I'm going to schedule a routine cleaning.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
@jadegreen
If you are finishing een what is your maintenance med ?
Een is similar to steriods
Both reduce the inflammation while on them and promote healing (especially een)
But once stopped and normal food is started the inflammation comes back
So most use een as a treatment while starting a maintenance med so when it’s time to stop the een the maintenance med has kicked in
Maintenance meds can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 12 months to be effective-depends on the medicine .

Other option as a long term treatment they do with kids is
90/10 or 80/20
90% of your nutrition is formula and 10% food
Same with 80/20
Some need it to be 100% een to be effective other don’t
Hopefully you have a plan in place as maintenance
 
The plan is to do 50% elemental, 50% SCD or CDED for 6 weeks and then 25% elemental and 75% special diet. And then the diet for a while. I'll get rescoped after the 50/50 portion is over.
 
Hi there, I did EEN for 6 weeks over the summer and then I did partial EN for much longer, probably closer to 12 weeks, because I became pregnant and couldn't keep much in the way of food down at all. The nutritional shakes went a long way then. ;) I did have blood and stool testing done, and my inflammatory markers plummeted to a mid-normal range.

Because of my pregnancy, I haven't been able to have follow-up imaging done. I'm due in April, and then I will probably wait another 6mos if I don't have any obvious symptoms. I don't like to leave my babies with anyone until 6mos old. If I really need imaging sooner, then I'll do the whole pumping thing, but that's just not my favorite.

All that said, I've been in apparently good health, and I'm mostly complying with the SCD. It's very hard to get calories on the SCD, so I've added a few gluten-free grains here and there (I've learned that I really can't tolerate gluten, even in trace amounts), and I'm learning that I do get joint inflammation if I have grains more than one or two days in a week, even if in small amounts. I've seemed to tolerate potatoes in moderation okay, and I'm also doing chiropractic for the first time, and it's been life-changing (at least for my pregnant self; I have to wonder if it would help the joint pain that I have had in the past when not pregnant).

So, I have nothing definitive to say, just a general experience, which has certainly been better than my last pregnancy.

In reference to my OP, I still haven't seen my dentist, everything has been so busy at our house, but it's on my to-do list to schedule this week, because I'm sure I'm in need. ;) I believe I chipped a molar...but it's not too bad.
 
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