Dental Terms Explained By Your Streatham Dentists

by streat-adminPosted on March 23, 2020 Posted in Advice

Explanations of some dental terminology you may have come across, but not understood.

Whether it is during dental surgery, a check up or reading about it online, patients will inevitably come across words that they don’t understand related to dentistry.

Whilst dentists may use these every working day, for a patient they can be somewhat confusing and, in some cases, may cause some anxiety for something that sounds more serious than it is.

In today’s, and in future blogs, we will take a look at a few of these terms to enable our patients understand a little more about what we mean.

Minimally invasive dentistry

Let’s start with a relatively straightforward one. As you can probably guess, this means that our dentists will endeavour to keep as much of the natural tooth as possible when performing a procedure, something our dentist Samantha Pring is very keen to do. A good example of this is when a filling is needed. Amalgam is the most common filling material used but it does sometimes require more of the tooth to be removed than some other methods as the tooth has to be shaped to hold the filling in place. This is why we prefer to use white dental fillings where we can. These often require less of the tooth to be removed as the material bonds well with the enamel.

Bruxism

This is simply a medical term for teeth grinding. It is thought that this is usually related to stress and can have a major impact on the teeth. From worn enamel that may lead to tooth sensitivity, to broken and shattered teeth, it can be very harmful indeed. Whilst we will do all that we can to help whilst a patient is suffering from this, our real benefit comes once the issue is resolved and we can then look at restoring the teeth with treatments such as a dental crown.

Caries

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Does Fear Of Pain Keep You Away From The Dentist?

by streat-adminPosted on March 4, 2020 Posted in Advice

Streatham dentist, Dr Manisha Patel, offers some helpful advice to anxious patients

According to a recent survey, nearly a quarter of people of working age avoid going to see the dentist because of the fear of possible pain. This is probably not news to many of you reading this, but it does indicate a problem that makes poor oral health, and its associated problems, much more likely.

At the Confidental Clinic in Streatham, we see our fair share of nervous patients, as do most dentists. As the people who are carrying out the procedures, rather than being on the receiving end of it, it could be possible to become blase about this. But the good news is that we don’t and we work very hard to help our patients overcome the problem.

Understanding our patient’s concerns

Along with a fear of flying, dental phobia is one of the most common phobias in the UK, and perhaps also around the rest of the world as well. Whilst we can, if we wish, largely avoid flying, we really shouldn’t avoid receiving dental care. Even if you brush your teeth well at home; without professional supervision and guidance, your teeth and gums will almost certainly suffer.

Few people enjoy pain, so the very idea that a visit to the dentist might result in this understandably deters some nervous patients. Whilst some might force themselves to keep their appointment, others may well cancel or not even arrange one in the first place.

For these patients, we offer the following reassurances.

Will you feel pain?

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When Did You Last See A Dentist?

by streat-adminPosted on February 20, 2020 Posted in Advice

Returning to the dentist after a long gap can be a concern, but please don’t worry.

Most people, most of the time, will see a dentist for a check up every six months or so. This is an excellent way of keeping  teeth healthy and restoring any tooth damaged by decay or breakage that has occurred in its early stage. There are some people though who may leave much longer gaps in between visits. There may be many reasons for this. For some people it is anxiety, whilst others might feel that there is nothing wrong with their teeth so why ‘waste’ money.

Inevitably, if we leave a gap that is too long, a dental problem will eventually occur. Even those who claim to have good ‘dental genes’ can still chip or break a tooth by accident. Generally though, it is toothache or perhaps encouragement from others that sees them return to the Confidental Clinic after a long absence.

Feeling guilty or anxious?

Dental phobia is one of the more common obstacles that makes patients avoid even a straightforward check up. This anxiety is only likely to increase when they realise that there is no escaping the need for treatment when they have a bad toothache. The first thing to consider here is that any invasive treatment needed will be performed using a local anaesthetic to minimise any discomfort. If your toothache is particularly bad, then the anaesthetic will provide some immediate relief and, however much you fear having work done on your teeth, take a deep breath and remember that once it is all over, you will be free of the pain that your toothache has been causing.

Hopefully for this category of patient, once the immediate problem has been resolved, they will keep up regular check ups in the realisation that this is the best way to avoid another toothache in the future.

It is surprising how many patients seem to feel guilty for not having been to our Streatham practice for some time. Whilst we do encourage people to have a check up every six months, we are not about to ‘tut’ at you or give you a lecture when you finally do return. Our dental team is not here to moralise but to help you have healthy teeth and gums. When you come to see us after an absence, our only interest is to treat any problems that are present and to help you back on the road to having a healthy mouth once again.

What to expect

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Starting Your Day With A Good Oral Health Routine

by streat-adminPosted on February 11, 2020 Posted in Advice

Brushing our teeth at bedtime is important, but so is how we start our day!

Morning-time can feel very different for different people. Some of us rise and get up early, really looking forward to the day ahead, whilst others may crawl very slowly from under the duvet and come round much more slowly than others.

Whichever type of person you are (or even someone in between), how we start the day can have an impact upon our teeth and gums.

With this in mind, our Confidental Clinic dental team have offered a few suggestions below that we think will help you to get off to a good start to the day from an oral health perspective.

Fluid intake

As we sleep, we lose fluids from our body and it makes sense that this needs to be replenished. As we have mentioned before, if our mouths are dry overnight, this increases the risk of gum diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Ideally, we will have been well hydrated before we go to bed but even so, drinking liquid in the morning is important. For many people, tea or coffee is the norm. We also recommend drinking some water as well as this is the most efficient way of rehydrating your body.

One word of caution about drinking in the morning. There are quite a few people who have started to add lemon juice to their water, partly to give it some flavour but also to add some vitamin C and ‘zing’ to the drink. Lemon juice is very acidic though and doing this on a daily basis could cause harm to your teeth through enamel erosion. So if you do add this, please do so in moderation.

Brushing your teeth

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5 Good Reasons To Stop Smoking In The New Year

by streat-adminPosted on January 10, 2020 Posted in Advice

Our Streatham dental team discuss the damage that cigarettes can do to your health.

2020 is now here and many of us will already have forgotten about Christmas. With work and daily life back into a routine, some of us may also have already fallen back into habits that we pledged to break as New Year’s resolutions. Amongst these will be people who have started smoking again just a few days after determining to stop.

There is a good reason for this. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and this can make smoking a very difficult habit to break. Indeed, those who attempt to do so are very likely to experience a number of withdrawal symptoms. It is no surprise then, that so many people fail to quit this habit, but, as dental health professionals, we know that there are a number of good reasons why it is worth battling through the withdrawals and eventually becoming a non smoker.

Below, the Confidental Clinic team look at some of the main benefits in kicking this harmful habit.

Finances

With cigarettes now costing over £10 for a packet of twenty, even at this relatively conservative estimate, if you smoked 20 a day for a year, you would have spent £3650 during the year. We all have different tastes but we are sure that everyone can think of something they could spend that sort of money on. For example, a quick look at our dental prices page shows that you could have your teeth whitened and straightened and much more with the money saved by giving up smoking.

Personal hygiene improvement

We probably didn’t notice it as much when a lot more people smoked, but with smokers now being in the minority, it can be very noticeable when you stand near a smoker or sometimes even not that near. The smell of stale cigarette smoke that hangs around on clothing can be very powerful and definitely not very pleasant. Smokers often have bad breath too, both from the smoke and from oral health issues which we will come to shortly.

Stained teeth

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Confidental Clinic – Tips For Oral Health Improvement In The New Year

by streat-adminPosted on December 18, 2019 Posted in Advice

With 2019 coming to a close, how can you improve your mouth health in 2020?

Christmas is now just a week away, followed by a short break until the New Year celebrations begin. Despite our focus being on these events, is never too early to start to plan for the new year. This applies as much to your dental care as it does to any New Year resolutions that you might make.

We suspect that some of our patients may neglect their teeth a little over Christmas, but despite all of the distractions, we do advise keeping an eye on this.

Some simple guidance such as avoiding too many sweets and chocolates, not smoking and drinking to excess, along with making sure that you brush and floss well, should help to avoid any serious oral health problems over the holiday period.

At the Confidental Clinic in Streatham, we believe that patients should expect more than just basic oral health levels and below, we offer some advice for you to consider in the year ahead.

How old is your toothbrush?

It may come as a surprise to some patients that toothbrushes are not made to last forever. Despite the fact that some of us may keep the same brush for a year or more, they should be replaced every 3 months, or the same length of time before you replace the head of an electric toothbrush. The reason for this is that as the bristles soften and become worn, they become less effective at removing food and bacteria from the teeth and gum line. When this happens, the increase in bacteria is likely to lead to decay and gum disease.

If you currently use a manual toothbrush, you may wish to think about upgrading to an electric one as these are generally considered to be more effective. Perhaps ask Santa to put one in your stocking!

Do you use dental floss?

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