...caring for your smile Preventive Dentistry Tooth decay Preventing tooth decay
Our Hygienists
Our Hygienists are specialised to give oral health instruction and treat gum disease. They are extremely valuable members of our team and have as much experience as our dentists have in treating routine gum disease as well as having more time available to treat you.
Your appointment with the hygienist for a scale and polish is as important for your teeth as an appointment with a dentist for a filling.
Please note that a hygienist can only see you if a dentist has referred you to them.
Preventative dentistry
| Major causes of tooth loss are decay and gum disease. Regular visits to a dental hygienist or dentist will help enable you to keep your mouth in great health by giving advice on how to prevent such disease. Preventing decay may involve advice on diet, brushing and fluoride suplements, and gum disease can be prevented with advice on brushing techniques that are easy and effective, along with regular visits with our hygienist to remove any calculus and staining that has built up. | ||||
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| Our dentists may recommend a course of treatment to get your mouth into good condition and then a maintenance plan will be worked out to suit your needs. Everyone is susceptible in varying degrees to common dental diseases such as tooth decay and gum disease and our aim is to help you reduce or eliminate your experience of these.
Our care plans are designed to encourage regular attendance with the one of our three hygienists, and regular reviews of the health of your teeth, gums and mouth. From this we can customise our advice and treatment that we provide you. |
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Preventing tooth decay
Preventing tooth decay
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Tooth decay is caused by the bacteria in plaque digesting the sugar in your diet and converting this to acid. This then dissolves the tooth and forms a cavity which protects the bacteria and then decay quickly progresses. There are many ways that tooth decay can be reduced. |
You can reduce the chance of tooth decay by:
- Removing plaque carefully. If there is no plaque, there will be no bacteria. However, there may be some areas that you will be unable clean, such as natural fissures in the tooth and cracks in old fillings where the filaments of a toothbrush cannot reach and if you have a sweet tooth decay can start in these areas.
- Reducing the sugar in your diet. Taking sugar out of your diet will stop tooth decay. However, this can be difficult as many foods have hidden sugars- such as some baked beans, crisps and ketchup- check the labels!
- Reducing the frequency of sugary snacks. This is also very effective in reducing decay. Once you have a sugary snack or drink, the saliva will naturally re-strengthen the tooth after about two hours. If you have sugary snacks between meals, then your teeth will not have time to recover.
- Strengthening the teeth with fluoride (with professional advice). This will harden the teeth but you should discuss this with your dentist or hygienist first to determine the best way to do this in our case.
