The Dry Toothbrush Syndrome

An Easter Holiday Children's day at York Place today - great fun with some nice families.

We usually find that there are several common issues on these days, and today was no different. Todays big topic was :

"How on earth can I get (insert name) to brush his teeth. In fact how on earth can I get him anywhere near his toothbrush. He's 11 years old and its a constant running battle..."

Ring any bells? Here are some tips:

1. Firstly - have some comfort - its rife! You are not an inadequate parent and you are doing your best, which is fine. It will continue for about two more years until he discovers girls and hair gel.

2. Try good old fashioned nagging and ask your dentist to back you up at appointments. And stick at it.

3. Supervised brushing - get in there yourself with the brush

4. Mums - do as Mrs H does and threaten to kiss them in public - because nobody else will :-)

Here's a little bit of background from an excellent website - check out the link at the bottom if you want to know more...

How can I prevent tooth decay in my child?

The main cause of tooth decay is not the amount of sugar or acid in the diet, but how often it is eaten or drunk. The more often your child has sugary or acidic foods or drinks, the more likely they are to have decay. It is therefore important to keep sugary and acidic foods to mealtimes only. If you want to give your child a snack, try to stick to cheese, vegetables and fruit. Try to limit dried fruit as it is high in sugar and can stick to the teeth. It is also worth remembering that some processed baby foods contain quite a lot of sugar. Try checking the list of ingredients: the higher up the list sugar is, the more there is in the product. Sometimes, these are shown as fructose, glucose, lactose or sucrose.Thorough brushing for two minutes, twice a day, particularly last thing at night, will help to prevent tooth decay. http://www.dentalhealth.org/tellmeabout/topic/CaringforTeeth/Childrensteeth

Teeth and Tarmac - again

Heres an unfortunate picture of a delightful young lady. Lets call her Lucy. She's eight years old and I bet she likes pink things.

Lucy was at her dad's on Saturday. She tripped over and landed right on her teeth - just like the young lad I mentioned in a previous blog.

She scabbled her top lip and dented her pride. Dad quickly took her to the emergency dentist who patched Lucy up and sent her on to us for treatment.

Lucy's mum and gran came in with her - looking worried. Would Lucy lose her teeth? What will happen in the future? Does she have to have lots of nasty treatment and will it frighten her?

All legitimate questions. I'd do the same.

You know, its such a good feeling when you can look the parent, the grandparent and the child in the eye and say - "Its going to be alright, its going to be fine".

What did we do?

We took digital X rays to check the roots were intact - they were.

We told Lucy that we were going to put some numbing cream on her gums to make them go all cold.

We then explained that she would feel two tiny pinpricks, no more than a pinch.

And then her lip and nose would go tingly and numb - which they did.

Which would mean that I could make her teeth better again.

And today Lucy had her teeth back - it took just 30 minutes, no pain, and a bit of George of the Jungle on the ceiling to take her mind off what was going on.

In fact Lucy was so good I took the chance to have a bit of a play with the appearance of the teeth.

Heres a picture of a numb Lucy Smiling.

Thanks Lucy for being such a delight to care for!

Unsung Heroes #1: The Technician

The latest ten year survey of dental health in the UK shows what we all kind of know - more people are keeping their teeth for longer. Which is great if you're one of them.

But if you're not one of those fortunate people and have missing teeth, what do you do? Most of us have got, or have known, elderly relatives who went to their dentists and had false teeth made.

But here's a trade secret - the dentist didn't "make" them.

The dentist did check the mouth, plan the treatment, take the impressions and the measurements, did dictate the aesthetics and check the results, but actually they worked with a Dental Technician who crafted the final result. And it is these latter Heroes I want to give a big Up to today.

Dental technicians make precision stuff that we can't make in the surgery.

So that might be :

• Acrylic teeth to replace your missing teeth, from one tooth to a whole mouthful.
• Gumshields to protect your teeth when thumping round a rugby field.
• Ceramic teeth and veneers to create your fantastic new smile.
• Highly technical bits of precision engineering to sit on top of your new dental implants.
• Braces to straighten your teeth.
• Splints and plates to fix fractured facial bones.
• Mouth appliances to relieve your headaches.
• Bleaching trays to whiten your teeth.

And some of them have studied long hours to be qualified to actually make dentures directly for patients.

And they are in the most part entirely dependent on those prima donnas called dentists for their living and they run their own businesses to boot. Its not easy!

I can assure you, they're good. A bit like secret jewellers. Massive advances in dental technology, more post qualification training, new ways of team working, and more face time with the patient have pushed back the limits of the possible and its an exciting field to be in right now.

I have the pleasure of working with some fantastic technicians, locally and nationally, who produce little marvels on a daily basis. One of whom is in Carlisle and was in surgery with me yesterday working on a denture project with a patient. Its looking very, very good and we should be seeing a great result in a week or so. If you're interested, take a look at Rob Taggart's website:

http://www.roberttaggartdentallaboratory.co.uk/

...and lets not forget Steve, Andy, Melvyn, Lee, and all the others - thank you!

York Place Tips: Spit - Don't Rinse!

Most people use toothpaste when they clean their teeth (you'd be surprised how many don't......).

Most people are aware that there's usually some fluoride in there, along with little cleaning granules and some minty flavour.

Most toothpastes even have something to kill mouth bugs and some have stuff that stops sensitivity.

Some even claim to whiten your teeth - which they don't, so save your cash.

But none of the above works if it doesn't have time to soak in to your teeth. So, it follows that the toothpaste must remain in contact with your teeth long enough to have the desired effect. Even if you do brush for the recommended two lots of two minutes twice daily, you won't get the benefit if you then take a big old mouthful of water and rinse it all down the sink - think about it!

So - spit the excess toothpaste out at the end of brushing, but don't rinse! Better still, make sure your toothbrush is the last thing that goes through your mouth before you hit the sack.

Does that make sense?

The Power of Plastic...

Over the years, I've found that most people are genuinely surprised at what a dentist can do for them - right when they don't expect it.

At events where maybe we've been promoting our more "headline" services - such as tooth whitening and invisible braces - we also get into conversations about things which we don't realise that people don't know about and as a profession maybe take for granted......

So, heres an example: Invisible repairs to teeth.

How many people do I end up talking to whilst having to force myself to look at the floor, because they've got an alleged white filling on a front tooth that is the colour of vegetable soup and in dire need of retirement?

If this is you - rejoice - it needn't be like that. Neither do you need wall to wall veneers or a remortgage. You know how you can get stone chips in your windscreen fixed with that big sucky thing and some clever clear resin? I think its someone like Autoglass.....Well, this the toothey equivalent - we can repair the damaged bits and leave what is good well alone.

I spent an great day with a superb teacher in London last week building teeth, which to me is about as good as it gets - yes, sad I know. If you're brave you can check out the pic on my FB page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62792&id=100000194880472&l=79d3fd0f7b

Using the latest plastic resin techniques, built up in tiny layers with coloured tints and spots to mimic tooth structure, we made the teeth of 20 year olds, of 50 year olds, and 70 year olds. All different, all constructed to reflect the effects of time on our little enamel friends.

The benefit? Simply that a properly trained dentist can make good the bits of a natural tooth that are missing or damaged, leaving the good bits alone - and you can't see the join.

I don't refer this work as "doing fillings" - its art.

How does that sound?

Teeth and tarmac don't mix....

A young lad , lets call him Zak, came in as an emergency with his mum this afternoon.

Zak’s eleven, and he’d taken a flyer over a skipping rope at dinnertime. Sadly, the inevitable impact was right on the end of one of his top front adult teeth, and the tooth snapped.

The school rang mum, and she quickly phoned us. Within an hour he was with me and we did what we needed to do.

We fixed the broken bit – you can’t see the join. Importantly we repaired the damaged nerve, which was there for all to see in all its glory and not a Good Thing at all. Zak didn’t complain because he didn’t feel a thing…..

Mum was distraught but bravely hiding it. After we’d finished, and no doubt feeling all the guilt that mothers feel in situations like this, she asked me what would happen to Zak’s tooth in the future.

I said that it’s not certain, but the chances of the tooth recovering, remaining healthy and staying put for life were massively improved by the quick actions of both the school and mum. She cheered up and smiled.

So:

If you have a kid who falls over and cracks a tooth, or worse, knocks it out – remember this:

If the tooth is right out, be brave, put it right back in the socket and get to your dentist fast.

If the tooth’s not out, but has snapped – get to your dentist fast – the nerve might just be damaged.

Nuff said

Throwing the (Forests) out with the Bathwater

A short one from the heart today. Like millions of the population I've spent many happy days mucking round in forests.

I grew up just over the water from the Forest of Dean and we walked, camped, caravanned, climbed (yes - there are rocks there too) and generally had a good time in a great resource.

I now have a choice of Mountain biking some of the best purpose built trails anywhere, here in the Lakes, at Whinlatter or Grisedale forests. I was out on the bike yesterday, and like hundreds of others we were enjoying a prize asset that is the result of some inspired thinking. Not to mention the walks for people of all ages, great cafes, and the opportunity for people from urban areas to get out into wild places for free.

So...the government think its a great idea to sell it all off.

I understand about economics. I understand about national debt.

I'm not at all certain that selling off national forests is going to save the economy.

And I don't believe that there would be anything to motivate a new private landowner to keep the existing facilities either in good condition or in fact open at all.

So - if you've got this far - how do you feel about it? If you're interested, follow the link below to 38 Degrees' website and sign their petition opposing the selloff.

There isn't a lot of time.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests