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Welcome to the Craigentinny Dental Practice
E-Newsletter.
We hope that you have recovered from The Christmas Holidays and are
still managing to keep your new years resolutions. This is our third
e-newsletter and already 100 patients have subscribed so thank you to
everyone who has forwarded the newsletter to friends, family or work
colleagues. We hope to reach as many of our patients as possible with this
newsletter over the next 12 months.
This issue contains the third part of our series that shows you how to
choose the best oral hygiene products from the thousands on offer, as well
as 6 of our lesser known tips that could improve the dental health of
every member of your family.
Finally don’t miss the article on a new technology allows tooth decay
to be detected so early that it might even be possible to treat it without
resorting to a traditional filling.
Best wishes
The Craigentinny Dental Practice Team
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LASER DENTISTRY - a new way to catch problems
early
Over the years teeth have become stronger due to the effect of
fluoride in toothpaste. This has made it harder to rely on traditional
methods of detecting tooth decay. X Rays no longer show decay so clearly
as they did in the days before fluoride and visual inspection alone will
not always show what lurks beneath every pit or groove on a tooth surface.
Despite these challenges in finding decay in teeth, detecting a problem
early lies at the heart of our treatment philosophy. No one wants to have
a filling, or untreated decay let alone toothache so the sooner we detect
a problem the easier it will be to fix. This approach saves you time,
inconvenience, reduces your risk of experiencing toothache, minimizes the
treatment necessary and reduces the costs of treatment.
A new Laser Powered device called the Diagnodent is now helping with
this preventative approach. This device detects bacterial contamination
and early decay inside your teeth and can reach areas of your tooth which
x-rays or close visual inspection will not. Research has shown that this
tool dramatically increases the accuracy of a dentist. For more
information about the Diagnodent click
here
Another exciting development also means that many of the areas that are
detected by the Diagnodent can now be treated without any drilling using a
revolutionary new Ozone Treatment.
More about in our next newsletter…………..
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No One Ever Told Me That Before:- 6 Quick tips
to better dental health.
Avoid Chips and cracks
– Some
tooth cracks can become so large that they let bacteria into the teeth
leading to nerve problems or tooth breakage.
Prevent these cracks from building up in your teeth over time by
following our simple advice. The things that do the most damage are,
crunching ice cubes, biting fingernails, using teeth to bite open crisp
packets, chewing pens and pencils and biting threads. Avoid these and you
will reduce the chances of extra cracks forming in your teeth.
The best time for your childs
first visit to the dentist is at or
before 6 months. Children often take some time to get used to new places
and faces, the sooner your child starts to become familiar with the dental
team the more relaxed he or she will be in later life.
The best
painkiller to use for toothache is
Ibuprofen. It is available over the counter at most corner shops and at
all chemists. It acts directly at the site of the pain to reduce
inflammation. Just remember that if you need Ibuprofen for a toothache,
you really do need to see a dentist urgently. Remember always read the
label before taking any medications and if you do need to take ibuprofen
at any time for tooth pain please pick up the phone and arrange a visit
SOON!
If you or a member of your family takes prescribed medication a
surprise side effect is often a dry
mouth. In older patients this
effect can be quite dramatic. Why not check and see if a member of your
family is experiencing this problem. If so, why not try SUGAR FREE chewing
gum, or ask the dentist about artificial saliva. A fluoride supplement is
also useful to help protect the teeth. Avoid boiled sweets or strong
citrus fruits at all costs as these can cause very rapid damage in the
absence of saliva.
Watch out for whitening
toothpastes. They should really be
called stain removing toothpastes. Many of them are more abrasive than
regular toothpaste and can actually do more harm than good. Your dentist
or hygienist can advise which ones are best.
If you get mouth
ulcers frequently try this simple
30 day experiment, look for toothpastes with no Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
(sometimes written as SLS) and use this instead of your regular
toothpaste. This simple tip has provided relief from mouth ulcers for many
patients over the last few years. One example of such a toothpaste is
Sensodyne Gel Toothpaste.
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NAVIGATE THE FLOSS
MAZE
Part three of our "Navigate series" on how to choose the best
products to look after your teeth and those of your family focuses on
Dental Floss. There are thousands of brands out there to choose from some
good some not so good and some are downright awful.
First tip, forget about floss and buy DENTAL TAPE. Floss is made of a
round fibre which takes more force to get in between your teeth and is
more likely to cause pain as it hits your gum…..OUCH!! It also misses
lots of bits that tape will get into.
If you have a heavily restored mouth with lots of fillings then
flossing is very important to you. The junction between your filling an
tooth that lies in between the teeth will never ( yes NEVER ) get cleaned
without using tape or something similar. Think what would happen if you
never washed between your toes………
Very smooth tapes that slip very easily between the teeth are easier to
use but tend to spread the bacteria that we are trying to remove. So you
do need a tape that has a bit of "grab" to it and this is why
Waxed or Coated tape is better.
Waxed or Coated tape is also better because it shreds less and will be
less likely to get stuck between your teeth.
Look too for Monofilament tape, this means that instead of it shredding
it will break cleanly if it hits a sharp edge on a filling or crown. This
again avoids that horrible feeling of having a bit of last nights floss
stuck in between your teeth the next morning!
If you are regularly getting dental tape stuck in just one or two
areas, then let your dentist know as it can mean there is a problem.
Finally one last tip, wash your hands thoroughly after flossing as some
of the mint flavoured coatings can really sting if they get in your
eyes….. don’t ask how we know!
SUMMARY
- Buy TAPE not FLOSS
- Look for WAXED or COATED tape
- Change brand until you find one that does not shred
- If all tapes shred in a specific area let the dentist know
- Ask our hygienist for a demonstration of the Perfect flossing
technique
- If you are still having problems then maybe you need to try other
methods of cleaning between your teeth….more in a future issue.
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Well that’s it for another issue of the newsletter, if there is
anything here that you would like to know more about please just e-mail
us, phone us or ask the dentist at your next visit.
Please don’t keep us a secret, we grow by your referrals and
recommendations. Forward this e-mail to your friends and family.
Best wishes for a healthy and happy Spring…. Its just around the
corner!
The Craigentinny Dental Practice Team
PS- if you really can’t wait to find out about treating decay with no
injections and no drilling send us an e-mail with your name and address
and we will send you an information pack.
View Past issues of the newsletter here
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