Diligent dental care at home and regular check-ups help to avoid invasive dentistry
We have discussed before why you shouldn’t be afraid of root canal treatment in a previous blog linked here. Like all invasive treatments though, it is much better to avoid the need to have them in the first place if you can. Sometimes, this might be unavoidable, for example if damage is done to the tooth which is caused by an accident. Most dental problems don’t occur quickly though and deterioration of the tooth structure can take some time.
Root canal problems occur, as you would imagine, in the roots of the tooth, and there is usually good opportunity avoid problems like this with appropriate oral care. In today’s Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic blog, we look at some ways that you can reduce the risk and hopefully avoid the need for root canal therapy.
Home care
Maintaining healthy teeth and gums clearly depends on how well you look after them at home. From what you eat to how you clean your teeth plays a very important part in preventing significant dental issues.
Protecting the enamel on the exterior of your teeth is essential as it is this layer that gives protection to the more vulnerable dentin layer below it. Once acids and bacteria reach this part of the tooth, the troubles really begin. It is important then to do all that you can to keep the tooth enamel healthy. There are five essential rules for this.
- Avoid eating too many sugary or acidic foods and drinks
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride (this strengthens the enamel). Do not eat or drink anything but water after your night time brushing
- Use floss to clean the spaces between your teeth. This is where enamel often becomes damaged and decay occurs
- Make sure that you have a regular appointment with one of our Canterbury dentists to have your teeth checked
- Have your teeth professionally cleaned (scale and polish) with our hygienist
If you follow these five basic guidelines, you will be helping to minimise the risk of significant oral problems, including root canal treatment.
We are now almost a week into the second national lockdown. This is due to end on December 2nd although some experts believe that it will either extend, or that there will be some significant restrictions still in place, perhaps roughly equivalent to what existed in Tier 3. Although there has been some good potential news surrounding a possible vaccine success, this is unlikely to be available to most of us for a while and the announcement may not yet have done a great deal to lower the stress levels of some of our Canterbury patients.
A few years ago, an article came out in a dental magazine which investigated the smells that people in the UK found to be the most offensive.
It seems like a lifetime ago now, when pubs were full of smoke and doctors sometimes suggested smoking as a way to ease stress. With advertising of cigarettes now banned in many arenas, and a ban on smoking in pubs etc, this definitely seems to have encouraged more and more people to quit.
With the Covid-19 situation and with just 3 months to the post Brexit trading arrangements, it probably isn’t surprising that most papers are forecasting tougher times to come for a lot of us in the UK. This won’t come as a surprise to some people who may already be looking at ways of cutting the cost of their outgoings. This might apply to planned cosmetic dental treatments too.
Some of you may have seen a recent report suggesting that obesity increases the chances of dying from Covid-19 by 48%. Whilst this is headline making news, it has been known for some time that obesity poses a serious problem for our health more generally.
In earlier blogs we have discussed some of the adverse effects that lockdown may have had on our teeth and gums. The same is potentially true for our skin where a lack of fresh air, poor diet and the general stress of the virus situation may well have taken its toll.
Growing older and the changes that come with it, are something that, with a bit of luck, we will all have to deal with. Some of these changes can be positive, such as having a sense of what we want from life. If we are on a career path or have healthy savings, we are also more likely to be able to do some things that we couldn’t achieve when we were younger or had young families.
The Covid-19 situation has been terrible in many different ways. In addition to the large number of tragic deaths, many people have been hit with financial worries and other anxieties. Not everyone has struggled so much though and some of you may not have found it quite as difficult and may have even saved a little money over the past few months.