How to reduce the chances of losing a tooth and what to do when it does happen

The one thing we all dread will happen is that we will lose a tooth, especially if this is a visible one that will be noticeable when we smile or speak to others. Although there can be no guarantee against tooth loss as this can happen because of an accident, there is a lot that we can do to prevent it by making sure that we look after our teeth and gums well.

The Cygnet Dental Practice believes strongly in preventative dental care and, in addition to brushing and flossing on a daily basis, we believe that our Wickford patients should see both a dentist and a hygienist on a regular six monthly basis at least.

In today’s blog, we will remind patients how to keep their teeth for as long as possible and also, how we can help you if you do lose a tooth or a number of teeth.

Good oral care at home

Looking after your teeth involves a degree of taking responsibility ourselves. We all know that drinking too many high sugar drinks and eating too much sugary foods, such as sweets, is bad for our teeth and we would do well to cut down on those. We should also make sure that we brush our teeth twice a day, ensuring that our brush is still in good condition. We should also start to use floss for interdental cleaning, if we don’t already. It is important that we don’t neglect our gums when we clean too. Gum disease is responsible for a lot of tooth loss; a fact that may come as a surprise to some patients.

Professional care

Everyone should see a dentist every six months. This is important for detecting any problems at a relatively early stage and treating them appropriately. A small amount of decay that could have been restored with a small filling could lead to much more significant damage if left to advance. This could even cause a tooth to weaken and break beyond the point where it is possible to restore it. The same applies with seeing a hygienist. Most people should visit our Wickford hygienist every six months, and more often if you are at a higher risk of gum disease; being diabetic for example. This will enable your teeth to be professionally and thoroughly cleaned, reducing the risk of gum disease, and especially advanced gum disease which can lead to the loss of teeth.

Prosthodontics

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Contrary to what some might think, dentists do understand dental anxiety!

Seeing nervous dental patients is part of our job. In fact, it is probably fair to say that the majority of patients that enter our Wickford dental practice, as with other practices in the country, have some level of anxiety about their visit.

This should be no surprise really. No-one is likely to claim that seeing a dentist, especially for a procedure, is great fun and it is not the reason that we exist. We are here to help you maintain a healthy mouth and teeth that allow you to eat comfortably, and increasingly, to help improve a patient’s smile.

It is quite possible that some patients think that dentists are ‘above it all’ and feel no empathy with the patient that is about to undergo a procedure. We can assure you that this is not true and at the Cygnet Dental Practice, we strongly believe in making our patients as comfortable as possible, both physically, and mentally.

The fact is that, although as fully trained dentists we understand the treatments in more depth than the patient, it is far from unusual to find a dentist that doesn’t have some level of anxiety about having treatment themselves.

Why are people scared of the dentist?

Some people are naturally more anxious than others, but even the calmest person might find their heart rate increasing and their palms becoming a little sweaty as they sit in the dental chair. There has been much research done into why this might be the case. It can only be generalised as everyone is different but there is a strong feeling that the main reason for this lies in the area of the body that is being treated.

For example, although you might not be overjoyed about it, the likelihood is that you wouldn’t have the same level of anxiety if it was your ankle that was being treated. The theory is that as this is nowhere near the part of your body where the main senses are located, you will be less aware of what is going on. Contrast that with even a straightforward dental filling and you can see that all the senses are likely to ‘kick in’ given how close they are to the procedure. You can hear the drill at close range, you can smell the aerosol spray from the drill, see the dentist at very close quarters and of course, your brain detects any discomfort or even unusual sensations that you might experience.

How can we help?

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Looking for last minute present ideas for friends and family? We offer some tooth friendly suggestions

In what has been another difficult year for many, Christmas may have seemed to come almost out of the blue, leaving some of us scrambling around for ideas of what presents to buy for friends and family.

There is still time of course, and buying last minute presents doesn’t always mean a trip to the overcrowded shops anymore. With more and more people buying online, the options available are also wider and more varied.

But what to buy? There can sometimes be the temptation to go for obvious ‘treats’ such as boxes of chocolates and other sweet things. Inevitably, the vast majority of us will eat some of these over the festive period, but equally, some of us will find that we have been given far more chocolates and biscuits etc than we really want. All of this excess sugar is certainly not good for our teeth and gums.

With this in mind, the Cygnet Dental Practice team offers a few Christmas gift suggestions below that won’t damage your teeth, and in many cases, can benefit them.

Electric toothbrush

If you know anyone who still uses a manual toothbrush, why not ‘upgrade’ them to an electric one. We know that many people have certain habits and they may be unlikely to change unless you buy one for them. Whilst it is certainly possible to brush your teeth efficiently with a manual toothbrush, it is largely believed that an electric one is more efficient as the high speed rotation of the brush helps to remove plaque from your teeth and gum line. These are also an excellent present for older relatives who may suffer from arthritis and other mobility problems and find it difficult to brush their teeth well.

Herbal tea selection

Most of us drink either tea or coffee, but there is a world of very tasty herbal teas now available for people to drink as an alternative. Some claim to offer health benefits, but whilst we can’t really comment on that, what we do know is that most of these teas are less likely to stain your teeth than drinking large amounts of tea and coffee. These herbal teas are often attractively presented and friends and relatives of our Wickford patients might find them a refreshing change after the overindulgence of the festive period.

Cheese selection

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Can we stop our kids from compromising their teeth on October 31st?

Even though many parents now do their best to manage the amount of sweets and other sugary food and drinks that their children eat, there is one day of the year where this can be really difficult to achieve.

We are talking, of course, about Halloween, a festival that has grown in popularity in the UK over a number of years. Although Halloween itself dates back to a Celtic festival from nearly 2000 years ago, the thing it is now best known for by adults is ‘horror’ and by kids ‘sweets .. and lots of them’!

So what can our Wickford patients who have children do to protect those vulnerable young teeth at this time of the year? The Cygnet Dental Practice team offers a few suggestions below.

Choose sweets wisely

You might have to accept that your kids are not going to be eating healthy foods and will be putting as much sweet candy in their mouths that they can possibly get away with. Although this is not ideal, some choices are better than others. One example of this may surprise you, and that is it is better to choose chocolate, rather than a hard boiled sweet. The reason for this is that although the chocolate may perhaps have more sugar in it, it generally melts in the mouth and is swallowed reasonably quickly. Saliva will then wash away some of the remaining sugars. Hard boiled sweets and toffees on the other hand, are kept in the mouth for longer periods of time and the sugars will stick to the teeth for a longer period of time and are potentially more damaging.

Limit their consumption

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