Archives for June, 2008

How to prepare your child for a dental visit in London W1

June 21st, 2008

To most children visit to the dentist is a scary thing. To most people especially the children the odours in dental clinic, the sounds of the drill, and the big man with the white mask are all the unpleasant things they wish to avoid. Hence it is important to prepare your child to overcome any anxiety before his visit to the dentist. Below are some suggestions that can help your child enjoy his visit to dentist without fear.

1. Talk to your child about his dental visit and explain to him what will happen. You can start by telling your child that the dentist is kind and friendly doctor who will “count” and “take pictures” of his tiny teeth.
2. You can ask your child to draw a picture of his mouth with his teeth to show it to his dentist. Encourage your child to talk about his drawing of his teeth before the visit.
3. Please look for books about dentist and dental clinic. These children book on dentistry usually contain pictures to help the children to understand who the dentist is and hoe the dental clinic looks like.
4. Never use dental visit as a punishment to your child mischief. This will make his visit later a nightmare experience.
5. Try to avoid using the words like shots, drill or needles that the dentist will use to fix the bad teeth.
6. Try to talk to your dentist any fear your child may has before the visit.

Choosing a child friendly dentist
There are dentists specialized in treating children. They are the dentists specialize in the taking care of children’s and teenagers’ teeth. They usually have special skills to make children feel at ease and their offices are specially designed for children. You may wish to do some survey to pick the right dentist for your child.
a. Does the dentist have special experience with children?
b. Are the dental clinic children friendly? Such as: does it have drawings of children likings on the wall, colourful books for children in the waiting room, children toys and smaller furniture?
c. Is the dentist dress friendly like wearing a mask with children’s illustration?
d. Some dentists provide audio headphones while the child is being examined.
e. Some dentist provides special children programs like tooth care club that can make the child visit to the clinic more fun.
You will make your child at ease to visit your dentist in London if you are able to find a dentist that fulfils some of the criteria listed above.

Preschool Healthy Dental Guide for London Parents

June 21st, 2008

In order for your child to have good teeth later in life, mother in London should begin oral care early, even before the teeth appear. I will like to categorize the dental care for young children into: 1. Infant (below one year of age);
2. Preschool (one and a half to 4 years of age)

1. Infant dental care
Mother is advised to clean her baby’s gums daily with a clean, washed cloth. This mouth cleaning routine will gives the baby the feeling of a fresh, clean mouth. Cleaning the gums will help to reduce the infant teething discomfort.

Breast-feeding
Doctors have discovered that breast-feeding helps to develop the muscles and the bones of baby’s face. The muscles of the face play an important role in shaping the jaws and the position of the primary teeth of the baby. This later will influence the positioning of the permanent teeth.

Infant Feeding Habits
Breastfeeding is the best method to nourish your baby. However if the situation does not permit you to do so and you choose bottle-feeding, you should make sure that a soft bottle nipple is used. A good soft bottle nipple is able to flatten out against the roof of the baby’s mouth while the baby sucks. A hard, poorly designed nipple can cause the baby’s jaw to develop abnormally leading to dental and speech problems later in life. It is always a good practice to consult your lactation consultant, public health nurse, or doctor before you start your baby on bottle-feeding.
Pacifiers
It is always a bad habit to give pacifier to your baby. Continuous sucking can cause high arch palate and protruding teeth. If you should choose to give your baby pacifier to suck please remember the followings don’ts:
1. Discourage prolong and continuous use.
2. No hard pacifier.
3. Never coat the pacifier with sugar or sweet substances. This can cause the baby’s teeth to decay early.
4. Don’t buy a pacifier with multiple parts.
5. Never attach a string to the pacifier as this may strangle the baby.

Teething
The baby first tooth usually comes out at about 6 to 10 months of age. Teething period will cause some discomfort making the baby not willing to drink or eat, irritable, and fussy. Studies showed that giving baby a clean teething ring or a cold wet washed cloth to bite or chew can make baby feel better and help the teeth come through the gums quicker. Frequent cleaning the gums can reduce teething pain.
Early Tooth Decay in Children
Baby’s teeth can start to decay from the first day they come out. This usually happens to baby who uses a bottle for long periods, and also during rest or sleep. Drink that contains sugar like: fruit juice, breast milk, cow’s milk and honey can cause tooth decay. Giving water at bed, nap times and in between regular feeding is a good practice.
Please remember to:
a. Clean your baby’s gums and teeth daily with wet clean cloth.
b. Avoid giving the bottle or breast as a pacifier before baby fall asleep. The sugar in the milk that remains in the baby’s mouth over a long time will cause repeated acid attacks to the teeth.

2. Preschool Years dental care
The child’s permanent teeth depend very much on the healthy primary or “baby” teeth. When the baby teeth decay and are not repaired, they will be lost too prematurely. Baby with healthy teeth will enable the child to chew food, speak properly, and look good.

It is a good practice to discourage your child from thumb or finger sucking. Thumb sucking is usually forceful and over prolong period of time. This can cause changes to the position of the teeth, mouth and/or lips.

Good mouth and dental care consists of:
1. Brushing your child’s teeth twice daily – in the morning and before bedtime.
2. Using a child-size soft-bristled toothbrush with little amount of fluoridated toothpaste.
3. Do not use fluoridated toothpaste for children under age 3.
4. Teach your child to spit out the toothpaste and rinse with water.
5. Help to floss your child’s teeth daily especially the teeth at the back.

If you can practise these guides, your child will has great teeth.

Is Mercury Dental Amalgam a health concern in Central London

June 21st, 2008

For the past 15 years, the health concern for mercury amalgam fillings is being discussed by health authorities in many countries throughout the world. This health concern is being reviewed at greater frequency is because of the recent increased in the incidence of people with symptoms like that of chronic mercury poisoning such as: nervousness, depression, general weakness, sleeplessness, headache and skin allergy. Are these ill-heath symptoms in the increase in the dwellers of London city?
Why is there a safety concerns about dental mercury amalgam?
It is believed that mercury vapour is being released whenever the mercury amalgam fillings are placed in the teeth or being removed from the teeth. Mercury vapour is also released during prolonged chewing. This mercury vapour is believed to cause neurological disorders in certain sensitive individuals.
Although there is no concrete scientific evidence that dental amalgam poses a significant health concern to the general population, many countries have their own protocol. This concern has resulted in a few countries like Canada and Sweden to take precaution measure to avoid the use of mercury containing products. Apparently dental amalgam is the most commonly used dental filling throughout the world. Perhaps there is at least one amalgam filling in those above 40 years old in London.
Before proceeding further let me tell you what is this dental mercury amalgam?
The silver-coloured material that is used to fill the cavities of teeth is called the dental mercury amalgam. This dental amalgam is made from two nearly equal parts of liquid mercury and a mixture of metallic powder which contains silver, tin, zinc, copper and other metals. This dental filling mixture is very durable and cost effective as compare to other materials like: tooth coloured resin composites and glass ionomer cement.
Is the concern for dental amalgam still valid today?
As per a new German study published in the recent April 2008 issue of the Journal of Dental Research, there is no good reason to worry about the health hazard by dental amalgam.
In this study 90 patients with unspecific medical or psychological complaints were divided into three groups.
Group 1 (removal group)
Patients with amalgam fillings removed.

Group 2 (removal-plus group)
Patients who had their amalgam removed and received detoxification by giving high doses of vitamin and trace elements.

Group 3 (control group)
This last group of 30 patients did not have their amalgams removed. However they were given a health-promotion program that consisted of good nutrition, exercise, and various techniques for relaxation.

In this study, the most common complaints were skin rash, headache, nervousness, sleeplessness, general weakness or tiredness, and more frequent attacks of infectious diseases. The less frequent complaining symptoms were those related to allergies, sensory disorders, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and the urological system.
At the end of the 12 months studies, there was a drop of 3.5 points in the main complaints sum score for the Group 1 (removal group) and Group 2 (removal-plus group). Group 3 (control group), the no-removal group had a drop of 2.5 points.
These symptoms continued to improve throughout the 18 months follow-up period in all the 3 groups. This improved in the health of all the three groups was found to be of statistically significant.
Hence the authors concluded that there should not be any overt worry about the health hazard by dental mercury amalgam. They suggested that those with amalgam dental fillings should adopt a healthier lifestyle with good nutrition, exercise, and some relaxation techniques. This change in the lifestyle can improve the patients’ immune system and thus able to reduce the anxiety over amalgam. However the placebo effect should not be overlook.
Although it is agreed that there is no convincing evidence that mercury amalgams can cause health problems in the majority of the population, the advisory panel to the FDA continue to hold meetings to review regularly. Many of the experts still believe that there is lack of knowledge concerning the effects of mercury amalgam on specific groups of people such as those pregnant women, small children, and people who are more sensitive to mercury.
If you still have concerned about the possible ill-health effects of mercury amalgam fillings, you are advised to talk with your dentist or doctor and choose the non-mercury based dental filling materials.

In London W1, what can you do when your child injured his teeth or mouth?

June 14th, 2008

Comparatively children are more active than adult, the chances of sustain a tooth injury is much higher. Due to their curious behaviour and much immature muscle coordination, they tend to hurt themselves more frequently. Minor head injury with involvement of teeth is rather common.

The common injuries to the mouth are: bruised cheek, swollen gum, bleeding gum, crack lip, toothache, broken teeth, loosen tooth, and knocked out tooth.

Practical first aid tips for injury to mouth and teeth.

1. Do not panic as this will make your child more anxious and uncooperative.

2. Use clean and wet tower to clean the injured area and assess the degree of the injury.

3. Soak a clean tower in ice water and use it as cold compress over bleeding site or bruised cheek. Bleeding will stop after compressing for 5-10 minutes.

4. Pick up any broken tooth or knocked out tooth, clean it in cold water and keep it in cold water or cold milk. Make preparation to see the nearby dentist. If it is at night or off office hour check your injured child to the nearby emergency room of the hospital.

When your child has sustained the following injury then you need to see the dentist immediately.

a. Severe toothache with swelling of the gum.

b. Bleeding don’t stop.

c. Any laceration wound of 3cm and above.

d. Broken tooth or knocked out tooth. To sustain such an injury quite a powerful force will involve hence the dentist will need to assess the extent of injury to make sure that no major damage has been caused to the adjacent structure. Dentist may be able to place back the knocked out permanent tooth.

There are few precautions that can prevent injury to teeth.

i. Use the approved baby car seat and seat beat while in car.

ii. Place your young child at the back car seat and fasten the seat belt for him.

iii. Use the special shopping cart provided for your child.

iv. Make your house a safer place when your child learns to walk. (eg. Fix up barrier to prevent access to stairs, bathroom and kitchen.)

v. Teach your child not to run in confined space and avoid pushing.

If the injury is small but involves the gum or teeth, it is a good practice to make an appointment to see the dentist. Your dentist is able to discover damage that you are not able to see.

Oral Health services in West London to prevent tooth decay

June 14th, 2008

Oral health is an important part in the person general health. It has been taken for granted by most people that as long as his teeth are in good condition his oral health is also good. Most dentists also seem to take care of their patients’ teeth only and overlook the health of the oral cavity. The need for dentists in West London to revamp their dental services to a more holistic and comprehensive care is much waited for.
There is an urgent need that besides doing the normal dental fillings, tooth extraction, denture, crown and bridges; dentists also need to care for oral health and oral related diseases.
Oral health and oral related diseases
The most common oral health problems are Canker Sores and Bad Breath (Halitosis).
Canker sores or medically called as aphthous ulcers, are one of the most common oral conditions affecting people everywhere. As many as 25 percent of the population have these small, painful, persistent sores, and many of them are chronic in nature. The recurrence rates for Canker sores can be as high as 50 percent. Typically these Canker sores will heal without treatment. However, using the pro-biotic based toothpaste and regular intake of vitamins B and C can prevent recurrent.Researchers have determined that bad breath typically originates during open-air interaction with bacteria in the mouth, the nose or the stomach. A smaller proportion of bad breath cases have its beginning in the nose. There are many nasal triggers for bad breath. Nasal dysfunction, including a genetic abnormality in the nasal passage, may inhibit proper mucous flow. The bacteria found in sinusitis, post-nasal drip and allergies may pass from the nose to the back of the tongue where, if neglected, it can lie dormant due to improper saliva flow or poor dental hygiene.
Tooth sensitivity is another common problem affecting a large proportion of the people throughout the world. Tooth sensitivity may be experienced as a tingly feeling or a flash pinch of pain that affects few teeth, some areas of certain teeth, or many teeth overall. The pain associated with tooth sensitivity may occur constantly or intermittently. Most of the time intermittent tooth sensitivity is due to ingestion of hot or cold food or beverages or cold air hitting the teeth. Sometime, tooth sensitivity may be mistaken for root damage.
Other oral related diseases are Oral Herpes and Oral Cancer. As these conditions may exist without any symptom, dentist is perhaps the best person to detect them. With proper health education given by the dentist or his staff, dental clinic can serve as a holistic oral health centre. When these above services are written in the dentist’s office, greater awareness will be created among the public. This will definitely make your dental clinic an oral health friendly and a more comprehensive dental care centre.

Tooth tourism in Central London for a beautiful smile

June 14th, 2008

In this 21st century era where air travel has become so affordably cheap, medical tourism has become a very attractive commodity for the young, and also the rich and famous around the world. Among the medical tourism the relatively young trend of “tooth tourism,” is fast becoming part of a fast-growing global phenomenon among the travellers. The idea of able to visit the place of your wish and at the same time to fix your dental problem is a dream comes true to many executives. This special package seem to some as valuable because they do not need to ‘waste’ their precious hectic working times to do this necessary task. One of the lady travellers appreciated it so much because instead of wasting her jet-lagged period resting in the hotel room, she could tilt backward in a dental chair to complete her dental procedure. At the end of the tour journey the traveller not only have a great relaxing holidays, she went back with a perfect set of beautiful teeth to smile about.
There are many push factors to attract international travellers to come to London for this tooth travel package.
The possible push factors are:
1. Soaring medical costs at home.
2. Dwindling insurance benefits at home.
3. Lacking of comprehensive dental care centres.
4. Lacking of well-trained dental staff.

Besides the push factors, perhaps the pull factors effect are much greater to attract travellers to England.
The possible pull factors are:
1. Able to see England which they never seen before.
2. To be treated in a world class dental care centre at very competitive price.
3. A wide range of dental service set up to choose.
4. Availabilty of up to date dental technology and equipments.

In order for Central London to be the place of Dental Tourism of excellent, the dentists here should gather their resources together to set up comprehensive state-of-the-art facilities and highly trained medical staff dental clinics and hospitals. Such centres should have complete range of family dental services and advanced dentistry solutions including Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry.

A complete range of dental services should includes: general dental care, orthodontic services, dental implants, tooth whitening, all ceramic crowns/bridges, ceramic veneers, flexible valplast dentures, cosmetic dentistry and reconstructive dentistry.
In addition, other value added services like: on line reservation, on line counselling or consultation, pre-arranged hotel lodging, close by to natural scenic resort or shopping mall must be included in the planning of setting up these dental health centres. These additional services will give the travellers greater choice to select.
In conclusion the traditional dental care for the general public can be revamped to value added income producing industry for the country. Thus giving dentists better satisfaction and greater choices to excel their art of dental treatment.

Straighten your abnormal teeth in London W1 correct jaw misalignment

June 14th, 2008

Many people are thinking that dental health is purely dealing with tooth decay and extraction of teeth. However, dental health is also concerned about the development of the face. Orthodontics is a special branch of dentistry that deals with the correction of the defective development of the teeth, jaws and the face. Orthodontics is derived from two Greek words ‘ortho’ meaning straight and ‘odons’ meaning tooth. Its aim is to correct the malocclusion of the upper and lower jaw.To do this the dentist will look into the position and the spacing of the teeth and figure out the best way to rectify the defect. In fact, the demand for orthodontics in London W1 is high and growing. It is estimated that around one million people in the United Kingdom last year started to seek help from orthodontic treatment. Statistics showed that there were more adults than children ever before wanting treatment.

Why more people are seeking orthodontic treatment? The reason is that Orthodontic treatment is able to maximize the function of your teeth. When the person can bite together correctly, he will be able to eat more comfortably. Anatomically, your teeth and your gums will be able to function in harmony. This too will immensely improve your smile!

If you have a great set of functioning teeth and able to bite comfortably, perhaps you are fortunate and do not need the service of the Orthodontic dentist.
When you look into the mirror and find that you have one of the following listed below you may the candidate of the Orthodontic dentist.
• Protruding upper or lower front teeth – the most common dental problems
• Over crowding – too many teeth in either jaw with no space in between teeth.
• Impacted teeth – extra teeth come in front or behind the normal row of teeth.
• Big gap – having significant gaps between teeth.
• A deep bite – when you bite, your upper teeth cover your lower teeth too much
• A reverse bite – when you bite, your upper teeth bite inside your lower teeth
• An open bite – when you bite, your front teeth remain apart but your back teeth meet; your tongue can be seen between the upper and lower front teeth.
• Asymmetry – the centre lines of your upper and lower front teeth do not match, and it seems that the teeth have drifted or the position of your jaw has shifted.
Orthodontic treatment can help to re-align these teeth into their correct functional position.

Treatment course
Each patient problem is unique, hence the orthodontist will need to assess then devise a tailor-made treatment. Assessment of your teeth may include: impressions (moulds of the teeth), x-rays and photographs. A course of orthodontic treatment can range from few months to more than two years to complete. Hence it is important that you are happy throughout the period of the treatment. Braces and retainers are almost always used. At the end of treatment, all successful patients will wear retainers to hold their teeth in the new position. These retainers are of two types: removable or fixed. It is important to wear the retainer until such times that the teeth are in unmovable position.
The benefits of orthodontic treatment
Patients who have undergone orthodontic treatment will have the following benefits:
1. No more dental crowning.
2. Achieve proper alignment of the upper and lower dental arches.
3. Able to have a uniform bite of all teeth so that the front teeth meet on closing and the back teeth mesh together.
4. Able to reduce the probable damage to prominent teeth.
5. Ablity to enhance facial aesthetics

Prevention of Dental Erosion in Central London

June 14th, 2008

What is Dental Erosion?
Dental erosion is the irreversible loss of outer dental hard tissue (Enamel) by a chemical process that is not caused by bacteria. In the United Kingdom, the oral health care providers consider dental erosion as a public health problem. This was evident in 1993 when England included the evaluation of tooth erosion in its national dental health survey. It was found that approximately 10-20% of the adult population has some degree of dental erosion. However, it is an advancing dental health concern among the children. A recently concluded study done in the United States of America from 2004 to 2005 involving 900 middle school students age of 10 to 14 years of age discovered a 30 percent prevalence rate of dental erosion. This is an important study because it confirms the suspicions of the high prevalence of dental erosion in the developed countries.
Researchers cited high consumption of acidic beverages as the major cause for dental erosion among the children. Generally, the causes of dental erosion can be divided into two sources: the extrinsic sources and the intrinsic sources.
The sources for extrinsic acids are: foods, medications or environmental acids. The most common of these are dietary acids that are in carbonated drinks, sports drinks and fruit juices. Acidic fruits such as apple, orange and other citric fruits are the next common items.
The source for intrinsic acids is inside the body. Gastric acids are the main cause for dental erosion. The commonest cause for the gastric acids to come into the mouth is through regurgitation of gastric content. Gastric acids, with pH levels that can be less than 1, is highly corrosive to the enamel of the teeth upon reaching the oral cavity. The common medical conditions where gastric acids come in contact with the teeth are: gastro-oesophageal reflux and excessive vomiting related to eating disorders. The classic example of eating disorder is called anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
In order to manage dental erosion better, we must know the risk factors for dental erosion. Below are some known risk factors to avoid:
1. Taking citrus fruits more than twice daily.
2. Athletes consume sport drinks more than once a week.
3. Consuming soft drinks more than 4 times a week.
4. Frequent drinking apple vinegar.
5. Eating disorder like excessive intake of food with frequent induced vomiting.
6. Infrequent of drinking plain water for patients with history of dry mouth.As dental erosion is often missed in its early stages early recognition and initiation of preventive measures by dentists can prevent significant damage to the dentition Delay treatment may result in unnecessary need for complex and expensive restorative care. . Hence dental erosion warrants the careful attention of the Central London primary dental care team with well-illustrated dental health programme.

Dental implants in London w1 for missing teeth

June 14th, 2008

As the society become more affluent and sophisticated, physical appearance is no longer a luxury but a necessity in life. When we encounter our friends or business associates or clients with a sweet facial expression will definitely make our day bright and cheerful. What more to behold if you can put up a big smile with beautiful teeth together.Dental implant will soon be the preferred choice over their restorative counterparts like bridges and dentures. Recent studies conducted by some researchers have shown a five-year success rate of 95% for lower jaw implants and 90% for upper jaw implants. The studies also showed that dental implants are stronger and last longer than dentures and bridges. It offers a more permanent solution to tooth loss and functionally it is as good as the natural teeth. In many cases, dental implant is best choice for the functional restoration of all the necessary teeth and their supporting structures. Besides, more importantly implants give you the aesthetic appearance and beautify your smile.

The demand for dental implant in London W1 is high, as we know there are hundreds of cases of tooth loss per day due to the following causes:
• Tooth decay
• Root canal failure
• Periodontiits
• Trauma to the mouth
• Excessive wear and tear

Other Advantages of the Implant
1. Implants offer a permanent aesthetic solution to missing teeth.
2. Implants can be used in conjunction with other restorative procedures for maximum effectiveness. For example, a single implant can serve to support a crown replacing a single missing tooth with much better aesthetic value.
3. Implants can be used to give better support to a dental bridge for the replacement of multiple missing teeth, and can also be used with dentures to increase stability and minimize gum tissue irritation.
Since the demand for dental implant is on the rise together with its many advantages, young dentists and current dentists in London W1 are urged to be trained to be good in dental implants. Those who are performing restorative dental services are also encouraged to be trained as implant dentists to meet the future needs.

Adults in West London need Orthodontic Dentistry for straight teeth

June 14th, 2008

Adult orthodontics is a highly specialised dentistry that deals with the malformation and abnormal position of the teeth in relation to the jaws and the face in adults. The aim of the adult orthodontic dentist is to correct the malocclusion of the upper and lower jaw to optimum aesthetic functional state. Hence it is still not too late if the patient ‘missed’ his turn during his younger days he still can has his abnormal teeth align in adulthood. With the advance in technology and better technique in orthodontics adults in West London with defective teeth are able to smile again.

Is there a need for adult orthodontic?
Yes, the need for adult orthodontic is medically indicated, as many have been relieved of their indigestion problem after the corrective treatment. Today it’s no longer a dream to be well again. The misconception that the ‘crooked teeth in the harden gum’ of the adult are difficult to manipulate to their rightful anatomical position no longer true. Little do people know that currently about 1/4 of the orthodontic treatment is being done on adult patients. Unlike 20 years ago, today orthodontists not only treating children but also the adults. Record showed that people as old as 90 years came for braces. Besides the ugly protruding front teeth that prevent the sufferers to smile confidently, it can cause much ill health such as: indigestion, bloating stomach and bad breath. All these defects can be reversed with braces in the hands of the expert orthodontists in West London.

Many adults may wonder whether it is painful to undergo such treatment? It is not painful to have the brace fitted, but you will have slight tenderness of the teeth for 3 – 5 days. You may need more frequent visits for adjustment as compare to that of the children.

Advantages of adult orthodontic treatment
There are two most rewarding experiences for those adults who have undergone successful orthodontic treatment.
1. Fabulous look with confident smile on your face.
2. Ability to enjoy chewing your food with no symptoms of indigestion.

Others benefits are:
a. More symmetry aesthetics facie.
b. Healthier gum and teeth.
c. Able to delay wearing dentures at old age.

What more to expect when you can achieve good health with tastier food and a great appealing smile. Remember adult orthodontic treatment can give you all these