Advice for our Canterbury patients who are progressing in years

When you are young and healthy; as long as you take good care of your teeth and don’t eat and drink too many tooth damaging foods and drinks, there is a good chance that your teeth will be strong and healthy with minimum intervention from a dentist. As the years pass though, you might find that you start to notice issues that you hadn’t before. In the same way that we tend to feel more aches and pains as we become older, we can also suffer from unexpected dental issues.

In today’s blog we take a look at what you can do to maintain healthy teeth and gums as you become older, and also the role that Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic can play, helping you with restorations and cosmetic improvements where required.

Wear and tear

The reality is that the longer we have our own teeth, the more wear and tear they will inevitably be subjected to. Even the best looked after teeth can suffer small amounts of damage such as a barely noticeable chip. As time goes by, these can add up and may affect the appearance and even the strength of the tooth, potentially causing it to become even more damaged after a while.

Although this may feel inevitable, it isn’t necessarily so and even if it were, there is still much that you can do to make sure it happens as late on in life as possible, keeping your own natural healthy teeth for longer. The best way to do this is to make sure that you have an efficient cleaning regime which includes the use of a brush that is in good condition and isn’t worn and that you also use dental floss on a daily basis. Doing this will help to keep the enamel strong and therefore help to prevent minor damage to your teeth.

Don’t forget your gums!

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Inspired by programmes like Love Island, young people are heading abroad for highly invasive cosmetic dental treatments

Some of our Canterbury patients may have seen recent news reports about the number of young people who have travelled abroad for highly invasive dental treatment, perhaps following the example of some  Love Island contestants.  Although we completely understand why people want to have the best looking teeth possible, this has to be weighed up against the risks of some of the treatments available and the actual need for the treatment to be carried out.

For example, a teeth whitening procedure is harmless if carried out by a qualified dentist and this can really give a boost to those with discoloured teeth. Other treatments, such as veneers, are more invasive and the need should be balanced against the outcome.

One of the main treatments that these people have been travelling abroad for, often to Turkey and therefore the name ‘Turkey teeth’, is to have multiple dental crowns fitted for cosmetic purposes and it is this treatment that we will look at in today’s Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic blog.

Are dental crowns a valid treatment?

Crowns have long been used for restoring badly decayed or broken teeth and offer an excellent restorative option, leaving natural looking results and providing a high level of strength and functionality. They can also be used for cosmetic purposes, although given the amount of natural tooth that needs to be removed for a crown to be fitted, the decision to have them for this purpose shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is the main problem with ‘Turkey Teeth’; highly invasive treatments are being carried out on young and healthy teeth. This can have a significant impact on the person’s life further down the line.

The rise of ‘Turkey teeth’

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Don’t underestimate the positive role that water can play in the health of our teeth and gums

In many ways, we have become accustomed to looking for technological solutions to all of our problems, from communication to saving the planet.

Technological advances are inevitable and important, of course, but it can also be very useful to go back to basics and look at the essentials in life, whatever area we are looking at. This even applies to dental care.

We are certain that our Canterbury patients approve of the various improvements in oral care over the years, from x-rays, higher speed and finer drills etc, but patients and dentists alike can also benefit from ‘going back to basics’ from time to time.

In today’s Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic blog, we are going to look at one of the absolute essentials when it comes to maintaining healthy teeth and gums. We are talking about H2O, better known of course, as water.

Brushing your teeth

This is perhaps the most obvious example of how water is used on a daily basis in home dental care. Most of us add a little water to our brush when we clean our teeth. Because we produce saliva though, there isn’t actually any need for us to add water although there is no harm in it either. One thing that is worth mentioning though is that you really should NOT use water afterwards to rinse your mouth. A lot of people do this but it rinses the fluoride away from the teeth, denying it the opportunity to strengthen the tooth enamel as it should. If you find that you do this, try finding a toothpaste that you like the taste of and don’t rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth; just spit.

Swilling the mouth

Despite recommending that you don’t use water after you have brushed your teeth, there are many occasions when it is a great idea to swill water around your mouth and then spit or swallow. When we consume food, it is almost inevitable that small particles of food will get trapped between your teeth or in the gum pockets. Whilst using floss will help to remove this, we probably don’t want to do this after we have eaten, especially in a restaurant. Swilling water around the mouth after eating is a great way to dislodge and flush out trapped food debris. Even if you don’t wish to leave the table and do this, even drinking water after a meal will help to remove food particles as well as washing sugar away from the surface of your teeth. It is important to remember that this doesn’t replace brushing and flossing and you should do this as normal.

Staying Hydrated

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More about this relatively common problem

Our teeth are made up of three basic parts; the outer protective enamel layer, the more porous dentin layer that lies beneath it and the root canals of the tooth, where the tiny blood vessels and the nerves of the tooth are located.

Although we may worry more about our root canals as we know this can be very painful if infection happens, more focus, perhaps, should be put on the  enamel layer of our teeth.

The enamel layer is hard and not particularly sensitive and this is because it is designed to protect the internal parts of our teeth that are. Healthy tooth enamel is essential if you want to avoid other problems such as tooth decay, sensitive teeth and root canal infections. If the enamel becomes damaged or gets worn away, the potential for painful dental issues starts to increase significantly.

6 steps for healthy enamel

The most important thing that patients of Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic can do, of course, is to make sure that you have a good daily oral health regime with diligent brushing and the use of floss. One issue that can arise in the more overly enthusiastic is the overbrushing of the teeth. You simply need to brush gently for two minutes in the morning and last thing before going to bed at night. Brushing for longer and, even worse, brushing too hard or ‘scrubbing’ your teeth, is likely to wear down the enamel more quickly.

Avoid acidic high sugar drinks. Whilst we know that sugar is bad for our teeth, these drinks not only often contain high levels of this but also acidic ingredients. To make things worse, they pass directly over our teeth as we drink them. These types of drinks are best avoided if possible but if you must drink them, try to use a straw to avoid the tooth damaging liquids coming into contact with your teeth so much.

Use a toothpaste that contains fluoride. In all likelihood, you are already doing this as most toothpastes contain this ingredient. Some ‘natural’ ones may not though and this can lead to problems as fluoride helps to strengthen the tooth enamel and a lack of it means that damage is more likely. Check the ingredients in your toothpaste to be on the safe side.

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How managing stress helps to prevent damage to teeth & gums

April is Stress Awareness Month, and this year marks 30 years since its inception. It is difficult to say whether life is more stressful now than when the programme first started, but with the combination of recent events in the world, it is hard to imagine that it is not.

Stress will impact all of us at some point in our life. Sometimes this is transitory and passes after an event has occurred, but other times it can be something which we have to deal with and manage for a significant part of our life.

It is well established that stress can have a negative effect on our general health and can contribute to serious issues such as heart attacks. It is probably less well known that it can also have a significant impact on our teeth and gums too, and, in today’s blog, our Canterbury dentistry team explores this, explains the risks and how to prevent or restore damage caused in this way.

Teeth grinding

Perhaps the most obvious and occasionally extreme damage that stress can cause, occurs when we grind our teeth together. This is sometimes referred to as ‘bruxism’ and can range from mild to quite aggressive grinding. Unfortunately, much of this occurs during sleep and therefore makes it hard to control.

The impact it can have will vary depending on the length of time this period lasts and the strength of the grinding. Unfortunately, we have seen a range of the damage that it can cause here at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic. Possible issues are general wearing down of the teeth which can expose the dentin layer, meaning the risk of tooth decay is higher. This can also cause teeth to become more sensitive as well.  Severe and powerful grinding can even cause teeth to break or shatter if weak enough. Although this is less common than general wearing of the enamel, it can and does happen.

If you do grind your teeth, you may benefit from wearing a mouthguard at night but, where possible, it is better to try to reduce your stress levels where you can. This may be easier said than done but we will offer a few pieces of advice a little later on.

Tooth decay

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