Doctors have a thing called a `bedside manner`, and so your dentist should have a similar `manner`, the good news is that most dentists have been on courses to achieve just that. According to a dentist in London’s W1 area this attitude is now paying off big time. The problem in the past has always been that dentists don’t do home visits, mainly because they need their surgery equipment in order to treat you for around 90% of problems. The new `manner` comes in the form of many factors, and one factor is the way they are now pushing preventative dental care. We all tend to think of a dentist as a cash making business, a business that hopes we will have lots of problems that they can treat us for. However, we couldn’t be further from the truth as our dentists have always been approachable to discuss preventative programs. Maybe it was the fact that not many dentists are available on the NHS, and that we tend to think talking to them will send up the bill. In recent years the Dental Association have been pushing the benefits of giving patients good advice to encourage them into a healthy and disciplined regime of oral hygiene. Believe it or not your dentist doesn’t want to see you that often, they are not being horrible, just more caring as every time you visit they feel they aren’t doing their job properly. The dental hygiene nurses have also been on courses to improve their relationship with the patients, if they can get you to be more aware then they will also feel a lot of job satisfaction. It also means that more people get registered with a dentist which can only be a good thing.
Category “general dentistry”
Dentist that takes of you as well as your mouth is a must says a Dentist in W1 London
March 9th, 2010Teeth need more than just brushing to stay healthy say London W1 dentists
March 7th, 2010
Although brushing your teeth is vital to protecting your teeth from the danger of tooth decay and gum disease, it is important to remember that there is more to dental care than just brushing your teeth everyday.
Daily dental hygiene is crucial to keeping your teeth free from plaque and food debris that cause decay, disease and bad breath. Dentists recommend that you brush twice a day with a soft-bristled brush for at least three minutes. Using a brush with a smaller head will also allow greater mobility allowing you to clean teeth more effectively. However, as well as brushing dentists recommend that you also floss at least once a day. Flossing is important because it cleans the areas in between the teeth and below the gum line that are almost impossible to clean by just brushing.
Flossing also removes food trapped between teeth that decays and releases foul odours, the main cause of over ninety per cent of cases of bad breath. It is also true that the hard to reach areas between teeth are often the location of the first signs of decay, especially if you are not flossing regularly.
Other tools that are useful for daily hygiene as recommended by dentists are tongue cleaners and inter-dental brushes. These also help to remove more bacteria, helping to keep the mouth as clean as possible. But without a doubt the most important thing to remember is that even if your are using all these tools and techniques you still need to be seeing a London W1 dentist at least every six-months to make sure your teeth are as healthy as possible.
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Beat gum disease with preventative dentistry from Central London dentist
March 1st, 2010
Preventative dentistry is the practise of making sure your teeth are in the best possible shape and that everything is being done to protect them from the threat of tooth decay and gum disease. It involves drawing up a plan with your dentist or hygienist, which you can stick to ensue that your teeth and mouth are as healthy as they can be.
The process starts with an initial consultation with your dentist. They will assess your teeth for any problems that need sorting out and make a further appointment to carry out any repair work necessary. Once the required dental repairs have been carried out it is then time to have your teeth completely cleaned by the hygienist. By using scaling and polishing, the hygienist will remove tartar and make the surface of the teeth smooth so that it is hard for plaque to stick to it.
Once the teeth are completely cleaned it is considered a fresh start. Your clean and repaired teeth are healthy and it is up to you to keep them that way. The hygienist will draw up a hygiene plan, which if stuck to correctly will help to keep your teeth as healthy and clean as when you leave the surgery. This may involve using new cleaning techniques or products and may even involve a change in your eating habits or small lifestyle adjustments. Of course you will not be completely on your own as your plan will involve regular check ups with the dentist to assess progress and ensure it is working for your teeth.
If you think you could benefit from a preventative dentistry plan to keep your teeth and gums healthy then make an appointment with a Central London dentist.
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West London dentist helps patient replace sugary sweets in diet
February 22nd, 2010
Everybody knows that sweet and sticky foods are bad for your teeth. This is because the sugar sticks to the teeth attracting bacteria that form plaque. When this bacteria decays it releases acids, which are the main cause of dental cavities. Because sweet food is often sticky due to the sugar it clings to the teeth and is difficult to remove. Sticky foods also get stuck in the gaps between teeth and decay releasing foul odours that cause halitosis. The main problem is that sweet foods are very difficult to resist, especially if you have a sweet tooth but there are alternatives.
Firstly, eating anything with a low sugar content is going to be better for your teeth than high sugar content food. There are many low sugar snacks available on the market that will be less damaging to your teeth. However, the reality is that most food will cause damage to your teeth eventually so the key to keeping your teeth healthy is damage limitation. By trying to eat foods with low sugar and replacing sugary sweets with natural sources of sugar you will be doing a lot to reduce the risk of tooth decay.
Foods like raisins and grapes make excellent sweet snacks and are less damaging to your teeth. It is also possible to buy sugar-free chewing gum that is still sweet and will satisfy your cravings. West London dentists will also be able to advise you what foods are less damaging for your teeth but still allow you to enjoy the odd treat. It is important however to remember that whatever you eat, cleaning teeth thoroughly by brushing and flossing daily will help to prevent damage form dental cavities.
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Digital X-ray is the future says a City of London dentist
February 11th, 2010
Digital X-rays are a really useful tool to a dentist; new patients will almost always be X-rayed to ascertain the health of their teeth. X-rays use radiation and this gives them a limited usage, pregnant women are prone to radiation and during a pregnancy their teeth tend to play up. The answer to the problem is a digital method of seeing what an X-ray sees; the reduction in radiation can be as high as 80%. Using a machine similar to a cat scanner, the image is taken using a method of computography. This is a combination of photography using a computer to capture the image, this allows the dentist to enhance the image, spin it around and get an analysis of diseases using colour coding. Welcome to the 21st century says a City of London dentist; although the cost is somewhat higher per image, the information available is now much more detailed. For pregnant women it is a God send, for the conventional patient it is a machine that often highlights defects and problems that conventional X-rays don’t tend to pick up. Like a cat scan the image can be dissected and spun to get a look at the tooth from different angles, this often exposes hidden gaps where bacteria are hiding and ready to explode into an infection. The other main advantage is that a dentist will be able to view the image within seconds of taking it, with conventional X-rays the film needs to be developed first just like a normal photograph taken using film. The digital image is a 3D one, an X-ray shows just one angle of the image and is in monochrome, this makes it difficult to analyse any dark areas of bacterial build up. The digital age is truly upon us and as far as dentists are concerned, it isn’t a day too soon.
Is finding a Dentist that cares for you, as well as your mouth, really that hard asks a City of London dentist
February 4th, 2010
We all know about the bedside manner of doctors and the importance that such a relationship has on the treatment of the patient, but how often do we think about that same relationship when we think about a visit to the dentist. It may be that in the past dentists weren’t really thought of as physicians, and so we tend to think of them as the enemy rather than the ally they really are. A dentist in City of London prides himself on his own form of dental bedside manner; he says that it is important to have that relationship for a number of reasons. Many elderly people are nowadays reaping the benefit of dental advances and keeping their teeth much longer. This may be that they now consider the dentist a friend rather than the necessary evil of old. Most dentists will know and refer to their clients by their first name, as do most doctors, it is possibly because these days the patient feels little or no discomfort while getting a clean up, or more complicated treatment. The confidence factor is greatly enhanced when a dentist goes the extra mile to show some regard for their patients, and take an interest in what they do outside of the surgery. It not only helps the patient to feel trust in their dentist, it also means that a patient will be more likely to take heed of advice on dental care in the home. Preventative dentistry is as important as repairing the damage a poor regard has on the teeth and gums. If the patient considers that their dentist is a concerned friend then they are more inclined to act on advice, and this one factor in itself makes it all worthwhile.
Why Dental Hygiene is Crucial for Overall Health Dental Checkups by a West London Dentist
January 15th, 2010
A dentist in West London has spoken out about the importance of due diligence in oral hygiene, and follow up dental checks. Just being regimental in your daily care of your teeth and gums isn’t enough to ensure that you keep disease at bay, a patient needs to still have regular check-ups, at least 6 months apart, to ensure that the risk and progress of any dental and gum problems are minimised. We’ve all heard the expression “Its not Rocket Science”, and dental hygiene along with regular check-ups certainly do come under that category. At a check up your dentist will follow a set routine of checks; these will include looking at the gums which are a protective layer that cover the most sensitive part of a tooth. The base of a tooth is also important as it is here that bacteria will have the most devastating effect on the enamel. Gum disease is not curable; it is only possible to keep the progress at bay. This is best done with excellent oral care on a daily basis. However, this needs to be combined with those twice yearly check-ups. At the check up the dentist will remove any tartar build up that even the most rigorous of brushing, flossing and mouth washes fail to combat. Many people simply follow the advice of their dentist and that is most commendable, but you also need to speak to your dentist about any other problems you may be having. These can include sporadic spells of sensitive teeth, bleeding from the gums, infections that last a few days or longer, ulcers or anything that occurs during the 6 months interval. Make a note of it and tell the dentist when and how often the problems occur, they may be good at their profession, but dentists don’t do `Mind Reading` as part of the training!
Handling dental emergencies; advice by a London W1 dentist
January 12th, 2010
If you have a dental emergency then you are well advised to have numbers to hand. Dentists are the same as a G.P. in certain respects regarding out of hours and in hour’s emergencies. Making sure you have numbers on your mobile as well as in your home phone address book, is a good start. You would also be well advised to know before hand where the surgery is, if you have a Sat-Nav then get the address post code pre-programmed in. If not then go online to AA route planner and print off the route, its very simple and will save you panicking when you or a friend are in pain. Using some common sense will alleviate the stress that many dentists have to also contend with when dealing with an emergency. The London W1 dentist knows only too well the added pressure of treating a patient who is stressed out by getting an appointment, and then getting to the surgery. An emergency can be anything from a toothache to a seriously chipped tooth, for a toothache there are some very old remedies available to hand in every kitchen. First wash your mouth out with warm water and remove any food lodged around the tooth by flossing. If you have any Oil of Clover then apply it to the tooth using a baby bud, this will usually do the trick temporarily. If you don’t have that then improvise by mixing some salt and pepper together into a paste, with a drop of water, again apply it to the tooth using a baby bud or your small finger. The heat produced will alleviate the pain. Chipped teeth are a different matter, and will often need immediate attention by a dentist to avoid more expensive treatment later on.
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Diabetics need to take extra care in dental hygiene says a West London dentist
January 11th, 2010
Diabetes is bad enough to contend with, but not many people are aware that it brings increasing dental problems to the patient. A dry mouth is what a diabetic usually experiences as a warning that their sugar levels are high, a dry mouth is a perfect breeding ground for germs that cause gum and periodontal diseases. A West London dentist recently warned his diabetic patients of the extra care they need to take, especially with their oral care routine. A high sugar content in the blood system is a symptom of Diabetes; it is caused by a lack of insulin in the body. The body produces insulin naturally and feeds it into the blood, the insulin then attaches itself to glucose (sugar) and fats, then it opens the doorway into muscles and organs to feed them energy. If the insulin is not there the fats and glucose cannot enter the body’s vital organs to feed them, and so it stays in the blood, building up to dangerous levels. When we get an infection in our mouth and the gums bleed, the bacteria accelerates in its evolution by feeding on the high levels of sugar in the blood. So, first things first, if you’re diabetic get your sugar levels under control with a healthy diet, and the correct medication. Take extra care with oral hygiene by flossing more often and rinsing the mouth with water, drinking at least 4 pints of water a day will also help to keep down both your dental and diabetic problems. Fresh fruit and vegetables, brown bread and sugar free products are all useful in keeping the body healthy, and your diabetes under control by combating the breeding of bad germs in the mouth, your teeth will last longer, and the visits to the dentist will be reduced.
Fighting against tooth disease, infections and abscess by a Central London dentist
January 10th, 2010
An abscess around a tooth is a painful experience, and can take a week or so of treatment before it is possible for your dentist to deal with the root cause. Any kind of infection is damaging to the gums and often it leaves the gums more vulnerable to future infections. Bacteria is generally the main felon, it forms in the mouth by attaching itself to food particles left between the teeth. This is of course avoidable, says the Central London dentist, by a simple regime and an awareness of the problem in most cases. The first line of treatment is a course of penicillin or a similar drug if you’re allergic, this can take anything from a few days to over a week to bring down the swelling and kill off the infection. The tooth will need to be removed if the infection is reoccurring on the same tooth, but in most cases the tooth can be saved and further occurrences avoided by simply seeing the practice hygienist and taking more time to floss, rinse and remove trapped food after eating. The problem is that because we don’t feel the bacteria working away in our mouths we tend to not be too careful about our teeth, but even healthy teeth are susceptible to infections and gum damage from the bacteria. We need bacteria to enable our food to be broken down and become digestible, but not clearing food particles from those hidden gaps in our teeth is like leaving the washing up for a few days. Would you leave a plate of half eaten food in the kitchen? Your answer is no, so why leave food in the mouth to rot and cause infection, doesn’t make sense does it? So, next time you have a meal think about that bacteria working away your mouth afterwards.
