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Every March the world celebrates Oral Health Day and this March it falls on the 20^th. We think it’s an excellent opportunity for all of our lovely patients to think about their oral health for a moment and to consider if it could be improved. During this month, our dental team here at One Smile have all pledged to inspire our patients to take the best possible care of their oral health, although this is something we strive to do year-round!

Why is Good Dental Health Important?

Every day your mouth must do amazing things, letting you bite and chew a variety of foods comfortably, allowing you to talk and smile with others, hopefully with the confidence of knowing your teeth look their best. Unfortunately, many people do not enjoy good oral health and have problems like gum disease and tooth decay which can be easily avoided with the proper oral care. Having excellent oral health also protects your overall health, reducing your risk of developing serious health problems that include diabetes and heart disease.

We’d like to encourage you to book your dental checkup and hygiene appointment with us here at One Smile, whether you need to visit us this month or later in the year. Our caring dental team can help you manage your oral health effectively so you can maintain a healthy smile more easily year-round.

An Easter egg hunt is a very traditional part of any Easter celebration, but planning the perfect hunt takes a bit of thought.

Hide Craft Eggs or Chocolate Eggs?

Instead of hiding chocolate eggs this year that are quickly melted or squished or eaten by the family dog, why not hide colourful craft eggs or Easter themed knickknacks? These can always be swapped later for chocolate eggs or other Easter goodies.

Decorating Real Eggs

Get the kids involved with decorating real eggs. First, prepare the eggs by making a tiny hole either end to drain out the white and yolk. Real eggs can be decorated in numerous ways by being painted, dyed or with wax.

Making Age-Appropriate Clues

When planning your Easter egg hunt, make sure any clues are age-appropriate, for example, a picture of the hiding place is all that’s needed for little bunnies while older children can cope with more challenging clues.

Make a Note of Where You’ve Hidden the Eggs

It’s worth making a note of where you have hidden the eggs to make sure they are all retrieved. It’s surprisingly easy to forget!

Set Boundaries

Before beginning your Easter egg hunt, make sure your children know where they can go and which areas are out of bounds, so everyone stays safe.

Easter is a time when there are all sorts of tasty treats around and lots of gatherings and events to attend. It’s a shame not to indulge, but with a bit of thought, you can look after your teeth and have your cake and eat it too.

Choose Your Sweets Carefully

If possible, avoid sticky and hard sweets that are more likely to damage your teeth. Sticky candies are difficult to remove when you brush and floss your teeth while hard sweets can easily chip or crack your tooth enamel if you bite down. Also, hard sweets take longer to dissolve, maximising the time your teeth are exposed to sugar. Chocolate is always a better choice because it melts very easily and is more quickly rinsed away by saliva.

Wait before Brushing

Don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating something sweet but wait at least half an hour. Initially, the acid produced by mouth bacteria weakens your tooth enamel, softening it, so it’s more easily damaged if you brush your teeth immediately. Waiting allows the pH levels in your mouth to normalise, re-hardening your tooth enamel and reducing the damage caused by sugar and acid.

Rinse with Water

Immediately after eating, it’s helpful to rinse your mouth with water because this helps to neutralise acids, restoring a normal pH more quickly while washing away loose food particles.

Many parents assume their child won’t need to see a dentist until they have a complete set of milk or primary teeth, but this isn’t the case. The sooner your kid sees a dentist, the greater the chance they will grow up with good oral health and cavity-free teeth. It is important to establish your kid’s “dental home” while they are still very young, so they get accustomed to seeing a dentist regularly for preventative care. Ideally, they should have their first dental visit by age one or soon after they get that first precious tooth, whichever is sooner.

Advantages of Establishing a “Dental Home”

Our team at One Smile all love seeing kids and treat them like family, and we will make sure your little one feels as comfortable as possible during all their visits. Dental education is extremely important to us, and we can chat with you about how best to care for those brand new teeth and offer advice on how to avoid childhood tooth decay. We can provide nutritional advice, as your child’s diet plays a very important role in keeping teeth strong and cavity-free. Our dentist can also help with other issues like thumb sucking. We work with you, and with your kid as they grow up, providing all the knowledge and professional care needed for a healthy smile for life.

Knowing you have fresh breath is a great feeling and can considerably boost self-esteem and self-confidence. Ensure your breath remains fresh and that you are pleasant to be near with our easy tips.

Brush and Floss More Frequently

Plaque bacteria build up over tooth surfaces and can soon smell bad. Brushing your teeth at least twice a day and flossing once-a-day is a simple way to remove these bacteria, freshening your breath and reducing the risk of dental disease.

Use Mouthwash

Mouthwash is a nice way to freshen your breath further but choose with care. Opt for a brand that is alcohol-free and which contains helpful ingredients like fluoride and an antibacterial agent.

Clean Your Tongue

Your tongue can trap nasty smelling bacteria, old food particles and dead skin cells. Brush it gently with your toothbrush or buy a proper tongue scraper.

Avoid Foods Known to Cause Bad Breath

The biggest offenders are onions and garlic, but brushing and flossing afterwards won’t eliminate your bad breath. This is because once ingested, products from these foods enter your bloodstream and are eventually breathed out through your lungs. It can take up to 3 days for this to happen and during this time you just need to be patient. The best solution is to avoid these foods or to make sure loved ones and friends share them too.

Vitamin D is crucially important for good oral health. If you are deficient in this vitamin, it could increase your risk of tooth decay and gum disease. One of the first signs of a vitamin D deficiency is an increase in cavities and bleeding gums, which is why it’s critical not to ignore any problems with your dental health. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the importance of vitamin D for dental and overall health.

What Is Vitamin D and What Is Its Function?

Surprisingly, vitamin D isn’t a vitamin at all but is instead a group of hormones. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium efficiently, ensuring you have healthy teeth and bones. It prevents serious diseases like osteoporosis and Ricketts. If your vitamin D levels are low, your body can only absorb between 10 and 15% of the calcium in your diet. Having a healthy level of vitamin D can help protect heart health and your immune system responses, hormone regulation and even brain cell growth.

How to Get Enough Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin because one way to boost your levels is to sit in the sun for 15 minutes each day, ensuring your face and arms are exposed. Other good sources of vitamin D include milk, fish and eggs.

If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, it’s worth knowing that there are better times to indulge or to schedule your sugar hour. As a rule of thumb, it’s better for your teeth if you eat sweet treats immediately after a main meal or as part of the main meal. There’s a very good reason for this as every time you eat something sweet it stimulates oral bacteria that attack tooth enamel by producing acid. The more frequently you eat something sweet, the greater the time your teeth are exposed to these acids, and eventually, these acids cause such significant erosion it creates cavities. The secret is to minimise the time your teeth are exposed to acid and to make sure you can clean your teeth thoroughly afterwards.

However, here is another thing you may not have considered as it’s better to wait at least half an hour after eating before brushing your teeth. It takes at least this long for acidity levels in your mouth to normalise. If you brush your teeth too soon, you brush softened and weaker tooth enamel that is more easily damaged, even by a toothbrush. While you wait, rinse your mouth with plain water or chew on cheese. Cheese contains calcium and other helpful ingredients that strengthen teeth, and it stimulates saliva production, helping to normalise pH levels in your mouth more effectively.

Perhaps you’ve already made your New Year’s resolutions, but how about adding just one more? This year, resolve to improve your dental health as it’s easier than you think. It’s one resolution you will want to keep.

Brush Twice Daily and Floss Once-A-Day

Brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing once-a-day is simple, quick and effective for protecting your teeth against tooth decay and gum disease. When you don’t brush regularly, harmful bacteria quickly build up over your tooth surfaces. Only flossing can eliminate bacteria and food debris between teeth and below the gum line, just the areas where tooth decay and gum disease often begin.

Book Regular Dental Checkups

This is another super simple and effective tip as seeing a dentist twice yearly can help prevent any dental problems and allows us to treat any issues at a much earlier stage. When you come and see us regularly, we can monitor your oral health closely and can tailor your preventative dental care plan to address areas of concern.

Have Your Teeth Cleaned Professionally

When you book your dental checkup, don’t forget to schedule your hygiene appointment. Professionally cleaning your teeth removes all plaque and tartar buildup, allowing you to maintain a healthier and cleaner mouth, and a fresher, brighter smile.

Make sure your teeth are ready for the brand-new decade by kickstarting your oral care routine. Even a few simple changes can make all the difference to your dental health.

Cut Back on Sugar

We are not suggesting you cut out sugar entirely, but it’s worth cutting down. Next time you buy groceries, reduce the number of sugary treats. Swap out sugary juices and sodas for water and curb the urge for something sweet by chewing sugar-free gum.

Kick the Habit

Quitting smoking does take dedication, but it’s worth the effort. If you smoke, your risk of developing gum disease is twice as high compared with a non-smoker. You are also more at risk of other diseases including oral cancer and lung diseases. Enlist the help of family and friends to quit for good. Arrange some healthy activities to do that will distract to when the cravings kick in.

Choose Mouth Friendly Foods

In addition to cutting back on sugar, actively look to add healthy foods to your diet that will help strengthen teeth and gums. Dairy products are high in calcium and a particularly good for teeth. Fibrous foods like crunchy fruits and vegetables are also a good choice.

It’s not always easy to stick to New Year’s resolutions all the time, but if you fail one day don’t give up for good. Instead, just start again tomorrow.

Just like your nails, a well-manicured mouth looks tidy and well cared for, and there are lots of little things you can do to improve your oral health. Even better, these changes are easy to fit into a busy lifestyle.

Brush Gently and Don’t Scrub

Resist the temptation to scrub your teeth too hard as you can wear away tooth enamel and even gum tissue. Instead, use small circular movements and a soft toothbrush to clean your teeth thoroughly.

Avoid Fizzy Drinks

It might be hard to do at this time of year, but try to minimise your consumption of fizzy drinks. These drinks contain huge amounts of sugar and often phosphoric and citric acid that can soften and erode tooth enamel. Plain water is the best way to hydrate and especially during warmer weather.

Brush after Meals

Brushing your teeth after eating is the best way to prevent food and plaque buildup. However, wait at least half an hour after eating as this gives your mouth a chance to recover so acidity levels can normalise. Otherwise, you will brush softer tooth enamel that is more easily damaged. Don’t forget to floss once-a-day, preferably just before bedtime so you go to sleep with a clean mouth and you’ll wake up with fresher breath too.