We hope that you have had a happy and healthy few months since the last
newsletter.
Your e-newsletter delivers our best advice on improving your dental
health on a regular basis and it will also hopefully keep you up to date
with the ongoing developments within your dental practice.
As a Preventative dental practice we aim to help you to get healthier
over time rather than wait until there is a problem for us to fix, this is
the main reason that we have started to produce a newsletter. It is hoped
that the newsletter will offer advice in addition to the regular care and
advice you receive in person at the practice. Many of the tips in future
newsletters will help you to avoid common and less common dental problems.
As always we welcome your advice, suggestions and constructive
criticisms so do get in touch with us and let us know what you think.
Best wishes for the festive season
The Craigentinny Dental Practice Team
NAVIGATE THE TOOTHBRUSH MAZE
This e-newsletter article contains some information to help you to buy
the best possible tooth- brush for yourself or your family. Often to be
able to brush your teeth more effectively you first need to get a better
brush!
Hard or Soft?
A good toothbrush has SOFT bristles, most of us look for firm are hard
toothbrushes because we "feel" that this will give us a better
"scrub," these toothbrushes are in fact damaging to your gums
and in certain circumstances can also damage your teeth as well.
Size
Does matter for toothbrushes, and the smaller the head on your
toothbrush the better. Most toothbrushes on the market are too big. The
head of the toothbrush should be no more than 1.5 cm long otherwise you
will not physically be able to get it in to all the nooks and crannies at
the back of your mouth. For very difficult areas consider using a single
tufted (interdental) toothbrush.
Electric or Manual
Many of our patients have shown dramatic improvements in their dental
health thanks to the dedicated work of Alison our Hygienist but also by
using an electric toothbrush. The electric brushes with the round heads
seem to produce the best results. The good news is that the cheaper ones
between £12 and £30 appear to produce the same benefits as those at £50
and above.
How often should I replace my toothbrush?
Make sure you replace your toothbrush regularly, over time bacteria
build up in the bristles and this means that every time you clean your
teeth you are adding more bacteria to your mouth not removing them! Make
sure you rinse your brush thoroughly after every use. For manual
toothbrushes replacement every 4 weeks is recommended and for electric
toothbrushes, 1-2 months between replacement is a good idea. If the
bristles of your brush become bent before this then you should think about
replacing your brush sooner (this would also suggest that you are brushing
too hard!).
Children
We strongly recommend that an adult supervise tooth brushing in very
young children as toothbrushes may present a choking hazard if used
incorrectly. We also suggest that adults should brush their child’s
teeth up to the age of six or seven as children younger than this usually
do not have adequate manual dexterity to brush all of their teeth
thoroughly. If your child is under this age and is keen on brushing then
do continue to encourage them. However, make sure that you supervise them
and that you also brush your child’s teeth before or after they have
done so themselves.
For very young babies and toddlers we recommend child friendly brushes
with big handles and very small heads. These are available from most good
manufacturers. Just remember to use (less than) a pea size amount of
toothpaste on the brush as young children will swallow most of it since
they do not yet have the muscular control needed to spit things out
effectively.TOP
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HOW DO I CHOOSE THE RIGHT FILLING MATERIAL?
White fillings vs silver fillings is one of the hottest topics in
dentistry today. However, there are a few things to think about when
choosing your filling material. Firstly you have to decide whether the
filling will be visible or not. In all highly visible areas such as the
front of the mouth we routinely place white fillings. In between the very
front and very back teeth are the Premolar teeth, these teeth are visible
in most peoples mouths when they are smiling wide so in this area, there
is room for choice. If you are concerned about any filling being visible
then white is the way to go here too. On the back teeth fillings on the
top set are usually very hard to spot even when smiling or laughing but
the ones on the lower teeth are more noticeable.
What are the advantages?
A well-placed white filling will look great and be almost
indistinguishable from natural tooth to the untrained eye. Our tooth
coloured fillings come in a range of 12 shades to allow us to create
lifelike fillings that closely match your existing teeth. Many patients
have said that they used to feel self conscious when they had silver
fillings showing in their smile but now feel much more confident and
happier in public with white fillings in their place.
Are there any disadvantages?
White fillings take longer to place properly. The material is very
technique sensitive and has to be carefully bonded to your tooth. This
process involves up to 10 different stages and is therefore time
consuming. Having placed thousands of these fillings at the practice over
the last 14 years our team are very experienced, and will be able to
provide you with a solid, long lasting filling. Ask about our unique
Extended Warranty offer that is available to all of our patients.TOP
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WHATS NEW IN DENTISTRY – We’ve been updating
our skills again!
As ever the autumn months have seen your team hard at work improving
their skills and participating in further training and education.
Drs Booth and Hendrie have been on several courses these have included:
one describing the use of acupuncture within dentistry, a course on
the latest anxiety management techniques (to help our more anxious
patients relax in our practice) and a course on recent advances in tooth
whitening techniques. A further course held in Scotland but presented by a
world leading expert from Italy has also broadened our skills repertoire
so that we should be able to make your white fillings blend even more
inconspicuously with your own natural teeth. You shouldn’t even be able
to see the join! We attend these courses for you, so that we can
continuously improve the care we provide and increase the range of
dentistry that we can offer you. We therefore encourage you to use the
varied resources we have at our disposal to fulfill any of your dental
desires. We will always endeavor to describe all your potential
treatment options in detail so please tell us what you want. And be
sure to ask us as many questions about your care as you wish.TOP
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PRACTICE WINS ANOTHER AWARD
The practice was short-listed for the Independent Dentistry –
Practice of the Year Award and John and Fraser made the trip to London for
the Awards. Although we did not win overall, we did pick up an award in
the Practice Development Category. This was for:
- Being one of the first Practices in Scotland to achieve the British
Dental Association (BDA) "Good Practice Standard." To
achieve this a practice must conform to 96 criteria set down by the
BDA, which specify the standard care that our patients must receive.
For more information about what this means
for you please have a look at the leaflets at reception.
- Instigating a new and previously untried Enhanced Oral Cancer
Screening Programme for those patients who are considered to be at
high risk of developing this disease. This project was carried out
with the support of Lothian Health Board.
- Practice team members completing over 1200 hours of ongoing
education within the previous year, to improve their skills and the
standard of care that they provide.TOP
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While we were in London, we attended a conference to hear a line up of
world class speakers from as far apart as Australia and Ireland. They were
presenting on recent developments and research that has the potential to
revolutionise dentistry and reduce the need for injections and the use of
dental drills. Watch out for our next e- newsletter for more information
on this exciting new technology that we are hoping to bring to you
over the next few months.
That’s it for issue 2 of our e-newsletter. Let us know what you would
like to know about in future issues.
Please forward this e-mail to your friends and family.
Best wishes for a healthy and happy new year
The Craigentinny Dental Practice Team
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