Blog

You will often hear the terms plaque and tartar used interchangeably, so it is easy to think they are the same. While similar, there are some important differences, and understanding these can help you manage your oral health more effectively.

Everyone has dental plaque and, to some extent, tartar because everyone needs to eat! When you chew food, it is mixed with saliva, which helps the food to break down so your body can absorb the nutrition more easily. However, your mouth is host to over 500 different species of bacteria that also like to eat, and these feast off the leftovers whenever you have a meal.

Eating Produces Plaque

These bacteria are found in dental plaque, a sticky biofilm continually forming on your teeth day and night. The bacteria, saliva and food particles all combine to form dental plaque, and if it has been a while since you brushed your teeth, you can even feel this film by running your tongue over them.

The bacteria in dental plaque also produce toxins and acids that attack your tooth enamel, and gums. These are the same bacteria that can cause cavities and gum disease if their growth remains unchecked. The main reason why it’s important to brush and floss your teeth regularly is to get rid of dental plaque and interrupt bacterial growth. When you don’t brush and floss your teeth thoroughly, any plaque that remains on your teeth soon hardens into tartar.

What Happens When Tartar Develops Over Teeth?

If plaque remains on your teeth, it begins to harden into tartar between one and three days afterwards. Tartar, also called calculus, is a hard substance that strongly bonds to your tooth enamel. It is a crusty substance that can easily become stained, so you may notice a yellow or brown buildup around your gum margins, where your teeth meet your gums.

You cannot remove tartar or calculus by brushing or flossing your teeth, as it must be removed professionally during your dental cleanings when you visit our practice. Unfortunately, so long as tartar remains on your teeth, the bacteria within it continue to produce toxins and acids that infect and inflame your gums.

The risk of developing calculus is greater if you smoke or have a dry mouth, where you cannot produce enough saliva. Even people who clean their teeth thoroughly will have some tartar on them, which is why dental cleanings are such an important part of your preventative dental care plan.

Fighting Plaque and Tartar Buildup

The easiest way to prevent excessive plaque and tartar buildup is to ensure you have an excellent oral care routine. When you brush your teeth, pay attention to cleaning each tooth surface thoroughly to remove plaque buildup. Regular daily flossing removes plaque buildup and the food debris that feed harmful bacteria trapped between your teeth. When you visit our dental practice, we can clean your teeth professionally and offer advice on how to brush and floss effectively.

We certainly hope you are, as this is the percentage of people who floss their teeth daily. Unfortunately, we know many people ignore this essential task, but it is important if you want to have strong, healthy gums and healthy teeth.

If you don’t currently floss every day, here is why it is important and some easy tips on how to make it a habit.

Why Is Flossing Necessary?

Daily flossing protects your teeth and gums against a host of dental problems. When you brush your teeth, you can only clean around two-thirds of each tooth. The contact areas between your teeth account for the other third; these areas can easily trap food particles and bacteria in dental plaque. These bacteria will feast on the food particles, eventually causing tooth decay, and gum disease frequently begins in these contact areas. When you floss before or after brushing your teeth, it removes dental plaque and food particles, protecting your teeth and gums.

What Happens If I Don’t Floss?

If you fail to floss regularly, plaque quickly builds up between teeth. In just a day or two, plaque starts to harden into tartar or calculus, and this crusty substance can longer be removed by brushing and flossing your teeth. The only way to remove calculus is to have your teeth cleaned professionally at our dental practice.

The bacteria in calculus will continue to feast on the leftover food and produce toxins that infect and inflame your gums, as well as acid that weakens your tooth enamel, so your risk of developing gum disease or cavities increases further. The presence of calculus makes it easier for more plaque to stick to your teeth.

While cavities are a problem, we are particularly concerned about gum disease as the inflammation in your gums can gradually destroy them and result in a loss of jawbone, so ultimately your teeth become loose and will either fall out or need to be extracted. Also, gum disease is linked to serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes and respiratory problems.

How to Get into the Habit of Flossing Daily

If you keep forgetting to floss, then place a reminder on your phone to alert you, or even a sticky note on your bathroom mirror can be sufficient to make you reach for the dental floss. Another trick is to try listening to a podcast or music while you brush and floss; the time will fly by. Initially, you could also try rewarding yourself when you remember to floss daily, such as having a specialty coffee or indulging in a Netflix binge.

Lastly, if you find flossing difficult, please talk to us. We can demonstrate easy ways to floss effectively or talk about other alternatives, such as a water flosser, interdental brushes, or pre-threaded flossers.

Once you get the flossing habit, skipping it will soon feel wrong, especially when your reward is stronger, healthier gums and a nice clean smile.

New Year is a time for making changes. Most New Year resolutions are centred on improving your health or personal growth and development. Instead, why not resolve to be different this year and resolve to improve oral health? You will help to protect your overall health and your wallet, and you’ll benefit from a healthy, confident smile.

Overhaul Your Daily Routine

A proper daily dental care routine is easier than you might imagine, and it doesn’t take long for something that feels like a chore to become a well-established habit. Flossing is a good example as many people will avoid this task, but when you perform it regularly, you will soon get to enjoy the sensation of having a cleaner and fresher mouth and gums that look and feel in the pink of health, not to mention praise from our dental team on caring for your teeth and gums so well.

Your daily dental care routine should include the following:

• Twice daily brushing using a soft-bristled toothbrush to avoid harming your teeth and gums.
• Fluoridated toothpaste to help protect against tooth decay. After brushing, spit, but don’t rinse, so a thin coating of toothpaste will remain on your teeth, offering a little extra protection.
• Daily flossing ensures you clean thoroughly between each tooth. If you can’t get on with flossing, ask us for help. We can discuss other tools to try, like interdental brushes, soft picks or an electrical flossing device and can guarantee there will be something you will find easy to use and which will quickly become second nature.

If you wish to use mouthwash, pick an alcohol-free brand that won’t dry out your mouth and preferably contains fluoride or is antimicrobial.

Choose Tooth-Friendly Foods

Your diet and when you eat certain foods can impact your oral health. When you eat foods that feed harmful bacteria, allowing them to thrive, your risk of dental disease increases. These include anything sweet or carbohydrate-rich, so these foods are best kept as part of your main meal. Avoid snacking on sugary or starchy foods between meals, and ensure you eat lots of fruits and vegetables and other nutrient-rich foods. If you are unsure, we can always review your diet and make some useful suggestions.

Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is a popular resolution at this time of year, and if it is on your list, make this the year you finally stop for good. Tobacco stains your teeth, causes bad breath and increases your risk of gum disease and oral cancer, not to mention the detrimental effect on your general health.

Keep Up to Date with Professional Dental Care

Regular dental checkups and hygiene appointments are vital for ensuring you enjoy optimal oral health year-round. Most people need to see us twice yearly, and you only need to spend about an hour each time. It is the perfect way to prevent any dental problems from developing or worsening and will save you time and money in the longer term.

With summer just around the corner, there are plenty of reasons to smile. It’s also the perfect time to think about your dental health and how to make sure your teeth look their best. We’ve listed six easy tips below.

1. Professional Teeth Cleaning

Usually, everyone will benefit from having their teeth professionally cleaned every six months, and it’s one of the easiest things you can do to protect your oral health and ensure you can smile confidently. We carefully remove all plaque and tartar buildup during your professional dental cleaning before gently polishing your teeth. It’s a treatment that helps reduce your risk of tooth decay and gum disease while ensuring your smile looks it’s sparkling best.

2. Drink Plenty of Water

The body consists largely of water, so it is essential to remain well-hydrated. Instead of reaching for sugary juice, soda or dehydrating alcoholic beverages, ensure you have a refillable bottle of water nearby so you can drink water regularly throughout the day. Water helps ensure you can make plenty of saliva, and it helps rinse away leftover food particles and bacteria, helping to keep your breath fresh.

3. Eat Healthily

A healthy diet ensures your teeth, gums, and jawbone have all the nutrients they need to fight infection and disease. Make sure you avoid foods and drinks high in sugar and instead make the most of all the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables available at this time of year.

4. Keep Up-To-Date with Your Dental Work

If you know you have a loose or crumbling filling or need a new crown, or have one or two missing teeth that could do with replacing, get in touch with our dental practice. We can create your custom treatment plan and will work closely with you to ensure you get the dental care you need to protect and preserve your smile.

5. Stick to a Routine

The summer months can get busy, and it’s easy to forget to brush and floss your teeth regularly. However, sticking to a regular daily routine will help maintain your smile and protect your oral health, ensuring you can enjoy good oral health year-round and not just during summer.

6. Have a Professional Whitening Treatment

If you are still unhappy with the appearance of your teeth after having them cleaned professionally, ask us about a professional teeth whitening treatment. It is quick, safe, easy and very affordable. Our professional strength whitening products will help lift the colour of your teeth by several shades, sometimes in as little as an hour. Opt for an in-chair whitening treatment if you can’t wait to see the results. Otherwise, ask us about a custom home whitening kit using mouth trays specially created to fit exactly over your teeth. All you need do is wear the trays for several hours or overnight for a couple of weeks to get excellent results. You can almost certainly reuse the trays later on when you need a top-up treatment.

You might have seen pictures of people on the Internet brushing their teeth with something that looks completely black and, quite frankly, rather unpleasant, and you may have wondered if it is effective. Charcoal toothpaste has become increasingly popular over the past few years and promises to give you a brighter, whiter smile when you use it instead of ordinary white toothpaste. But will it deliver its promises, and is it safe for use?

What Is Charcoal Toothpaste?

Charcoal toothpaste is very different from ordinary toothpaste and contains an activated charcoal mixture, a form of carbon. Usually, charcoal toothpaste will not contain fluoride, an important ingredient in ordinary toothpaste that helps protect your teeth against tooth decay by hardening your tooth enamel.

How Does Charcoal Toothpaste Whiten Teeth?

The charcoal in the toothpaste is quite abrasive, and any abrasive substance can remove some surface stains from your teeth by scrubbing your tooth enamel. Initially, it may seem as if charcoal toothpaste is a good idea but bear in mind that the abrasive action can wear down your tooth enamel, doing more harm than good. Also, as your tooth enamel becomes thinner, more of the natural colour of your tooth will shine through. This natural colour is almost certainly darker, so instead of your teeth looking whiter, they will gradually begin to look yellow or even grey. If you do want to whiten your teeth, ask us about whitening safely. We can use professional strength whitening products that are unavailable to the general public and gently and effectively lift deep-seated stains from your teeth without damaging them. A professional tooth whitening treatment can brighten your teeth by several shades, creating a significant and noticeable difference.

Can Using Charcoal Toothpaste Freshen My Breath?

There is no real evidence that charcoal toothpaste freshens your breath more effectively than ordinary fluoride toothpaste. Also, the charcoal paste can become stuck in between your teeth or may even discolour dental restorations. If you are concerned about fresh breath, come and see us for a dental checkup. We can carefully assess your teeth and gums to determine if you have any problems that could cause halitosis or bad breath and, if needed, can provide appropriate treatment.

Can Charcoal Toothpaste Detoxify Gums?

There is no evidence that using charcoal toothpaste will detoxify your gums. Although using it may scrub away plaque and tartar, it will not help improve your gum health. If you have noticed your gums bleed, look swollen or red or feel tender to touch, please come and see us as soon as possible. Poor gum health is often due to gum disease. This bacterial infection is easily reversible with appropriate dental care, including cleaning your teeth and gums professionally and improving your oral care routine at home.

Please ask us for practical help and advice during your next appointment if you want to know more about which toothpaste to choose. We can recommend oral health products suitable for your needs and proven effective and gentle.

Many parents look forward to seeing their baby’s first teeth appear. Knowing what to expect and what to do will help ease your child’s discomfort.

When Do Baby Teeth First Start to Appear?

Usually, a baby will show signs of teething around six months, but babies can get their first teeth as early as three months. If you or other close family members got your baby teeth early, there’s a good chance your baby will too. Chewing on toys or fingers or biting can encourage teeth to arrive sooner rather than later.

Generally, the first teeth to appear are the two teeth right at the front of the lower jaw, called the lower central incisors. These are soon followed by the upper front teeth, called upper central incisors, and the upper lateral incisors, which are the two teeth on either side. These lateral incisors usually come through between the age of 8 months to a year. Your baby can expect to get their lower lateral incisors anywhere between 10 months and 16 months.

The very last teeth to make an appearance are the molars. The exact timing can vary quite a bit, but generally, the molars in the upper jaw begin erupting between the age of 13 months and 20 months. The lower molars come through between 14 and 18 months.

How Can I Tell If My Baby Is Teething?

Various signs can indicate your baby is beginning to get their teeth. If you look at their gums, they may look as if they are bulging, red and swollen. Your baby may begin to drool more frequently, and they might have a facial rash, or their cheeks will begin to look flushed. Children who are teething will often start to chew or suck on their toys or fist. Another common sign is noticing your child is pulling their ear on the same side of their face as an erupting tooth. The discomfort caused by teething can create difficulties with feeding, and your baby might become restless during the night or cry more frequently. Some children develop diarrhoea or a fever.

You can gently examine your baby’s mouth using clean fingers and touch them carefully to see if you can feel a hard tooth growing underneath the gums. However, if you spot a blister, called a teething blister, then you shouldn’t touch it. The blister is perfectly normal and should disappear without treatment, but otherwise, come and see us for help and advice.

Relieving Teething Discomfort

Gently massaging your baby’s gums can help provide relief during teething. Otherwise, provide them with something cool to bite down on, such as a clean, damp washcloth left in the fridge for half an hour. Give your baby teething toys that have been pre-chilled in the fridge, but these should not be frozen. Offering your baby cold liquids like plain yoghurt or fruit purée can help soothe uncomfortable gums. If you feel your baby is in pain or excessive discomfort, contact your GP for help and advice.

Stores are full of Halloween paraphernalia and are already piling up stocks of sweets and other goodies for eager Trick or Treaters. While it is a fun celebration, all the sugar in those sweet treats can harm your teeth unless you have a plan.

The reason why sweets are so bad for your dental health is because of bacteria naturally present in your mouth, and these are just as excited as you are to eat sugary foods. These bacteria thrive on leftover particles in your mouth and thank you by producing a weak acid that softens your tooth enamel, contributing to your risk of cavities. However, there is no need to cancel your Halloween plans just yet as eating sweets on the day probably won’t do too much harm to your teeth, provided you follow a good oral care routine every day, all year round. Also, it can help tremendously if you choose your sweets wisely, as some are better for your teeth than others.

Chocolate

If you love your chocolate, there is some good news, as it’s probably one of the better sweets to eat on Halloween. This is because chocolate quickly melts and is more easily washed away by saliva. It’s even better news if you love dark chocolate because it is lower in sugar than milk chocolate.

Sticky Sweets

Sticky sweets might be fun to eat, but they are hard to remove from your teeth and are some of the worst around for your dental health. The longer sweets stick to your teeth, the more time those harmful bacteria can spend getting to work, producing more acid to attack your tooth enamel.

Hard Sweets

Some hard sweets seem to last forever, and the longer they last, the more your teeth are bathed in sugar. Also, some of these hard sweets can break your teeth if you happen to bite down too hard, so approach hard candies with caution.

Sour Sweets

Sour lollies may make you pucker up with pleasure, but they can be very acidic. The acidity will weaken your tooth enamel, worsening the effect of the acids already produced by bacteria and making your teeth more vulnerable to cavities.

Popcorn

Popcorn may seem relatively healthy, but some kernels, especially unpopped ones, can get stuck between your teeth. Inadvertently biting down on an unpopped kernel can crack or chip your teeth. Popcorn is especially bad if it is sticky and sugary. If you enjoy eating popcorn, make sure you have some dental floss handy afterwards.

Brush and Floss After Your Sugar Fix

It’s better to enjoy your sweet treats all at once, preferably after a main meal. Ideally, swish your mouth with water afterwards to help wash away any loose food particles. Wait at least thirty minutes before brushing your teeth, as this gives your mouth a chance to become less acidic. As the pH levels normalise, your tooth enamel will re-harden slightly, so it’s safe to brush and floss without damaging your teeth.

Many people look forward to their first cup of coffee in the morning or rely on an afternoon hit of caffeine to keep them going. If you love a cup of coffee, no matter when you drink it, it can stain your smile. The same applies if you like a cup of tea or enjoy other highly coloured beverages. However, if you can’t bear the thought of giving up your coffee, there are some things you can do to help slow down the rate of staining.

1. Think about sipping your coffee through a straw. Nowadays, it’s easy to buy reusable straws that you can keep with you wherever you are.
2. Purchase a good quality whitening toothpaste to help reduce tooth stains. Make sure it is a reputable brand, as some whitening toothpaste can be quite abrasive. Remember that whitening toothpaste can only slightly brighten your smile, so the effect will not be dramatic.
3. After drinking your coffee, rinse your mouth with plain water, swishing it around thoroughly to help remove any leftover coffee from your teeth.
4. Try brushing your teeth after having your cup of coffee to help remove surface stains. Keep a small tube of toothpaste and travel toothbrush with you to freshen up while out and about.

How We Can Help You Maintain a Beautiful White Smile

These measures will help to slow down the rate of staining, but if you continue to drink coffee, then it is inevitable that your teeth will eventually become discoloured. One way you can slow down the rate of staining even further is by making sure you book regular hygiene appointments with us.

We recommend patients have their teeth professionally cleaned every six months or sometimes more frequently if they have ongoing dental or health problems. The whole point of having your teeth cleaned professionally is to protect your dental health and reduce your risk of gum disease and tooth decay, but these appointments are also a great way to freshen up your smile. After we have professionally cleaned your teeth, we carefully polish them, and this part of the treatment helps to remove some surface stains. Afterwards, you should notice that your teeth look slightly brighter and have a bit more sparkle to them.

Alternatively, if you want a more substantial improvement to your tooth colour, talk to us about professional teeth whitening treatments. These are the best way to brighten your smile quickly and safely and are affordable. You can choose to whiten your teeth in our dental practice, and in as little as an hour, your teeth will be several shades whiter.

We can provide a custom whitening kit if you prefer to whiten more slowly and have more control over the process. You use the kit as directed, and your teeth will be considerably whiter in two weeks or so. One advantage of having a home whitening kit is that you can almost certainly reuse it later on, as we can prescribe more whitening gel when you need to top up the results. Some people choose to have an in-chair whitening treatment first before continuing to whiten their teeth at home, using a custom kit for an optimal treatment outcome. We can discuss all possible options with you during your consultation.

When socialising with others, do you smile with your mouth closed? It’s a common issue and can be due to smile anxiety; this is where we can help. Our dental team can make you feel better and more confident about your smile by providing focused treatment plans to relieve anxiety and improve oral health.

Common causes of smile anxiety include:

Bad Breath

Fear of having bad breath is very common, and people who suspect their breath is less than fresh will often cover their mouth with their hands or will mumble to avoid breathing too close to someone and causing offence. If you think you have bad breath, there is no need to be embarrassed as we can help you, and this problem, called halitosis, is usually easy to correct once we determine the cause. Sometimes it’s due to poor oral hygiene, an untreated dental problem, or can be a side-effect of certain medications.

Dingy Stained Teeth

If you have noticed that your teeth have gradually become yellower and stained as you get older, you are not alone, and it is a common complaint. Teeth can become discoloured because of lifestyle choices like smoking or eating and drinking highly coloured foods or acid erosion, where tooth enamel becomes thinner, letting more of the natural colour of your teeth shine through. Whatever the reason, cosmetic dentistry can help and often is as simple and affordable as whitening your teeth professionally. Other options include dental veneers to cover the front surface of badly stained teeth or dental crowns to cover teeth entirely.

Missing Teeth

A missing tooth in your smile line can be embarrassing, especially when it is right in the front of your mouth. Luckily several solutions can help restore missing teeth. Options include a dental bridge or a dental implant tooth. A dental flipper or one tooth denture can be a temporary fix while you decide how best to replace it. Usually, dental implants are the preferred choice because they are a long-term solution for tooth loss and, over the course of a lifetime, can be the cheapest option. Otherwise, a dental bridge can be a good choice if the adjacent teeth could do with covering up and protecting with dental crowns that will support the replacement tooth.

Crooked Teeth

Very few people have perfectly straight teeth; even if you wore braces during childhood, you might have seen your teeth shift with age. If you have crooked teeth and are embarrassed about your smile, modern orthodontics can help. Potential solutions include clear plastic aligners that are virtually invisible to gently yet firmly move teeth into the proper positions. Treatment may be as quick as just a few months if the problems are cosmetically oriented and only affect your front teeth. Otherwise, more complex problems affecting your bite will take a year or more to correct, but it can be well worth the effort. This is because orthodontic treatment can also be an excellent investment in your oral health, ensuring it is easy to brush and floss your teeth thoroughly, reducing your risk of dental diseases like tooth decay and gum disease.

When teeth are properly aligned, they can create more than just a beautiful smile; well-positioned teeth are essential for oral health and help ensure your mouth can function properly. Any signs of tooth movement are a potential cause for concern, and it’s always best to come and see us as soon as possible. We can check your oral health and identify why your teeth have begun to move before creating a custom treatment plan to help stabilise and straighten them.

What Happens When Teeth Shift Position?

When teeth are out of place, it can affect your bite, so it is trickier to chew food properly. It can significantly affect oral health because misaligned teeth are harder to keep clean. It can also affect your jaw joints, called temporomandibular joints, causing temporomandibular joint disorder or TMJ. TMJ can be painful, causing your jaw joints to become inflamed, and the pain can even spread to your neck and shoulders or may cause chronic headaches.

Read on to discover why teeth can shift position.

Ageing

Teeth can shift position as a natural part of ageing, especially as the ligaments and bone surrounding your teeth can change and become weaker, causing teeth to loosen. Some people have an orthodontic relapse after wearing braces during childhood. As they age, teeth can try to shift back to their original places, especially if retainers aren’t used correctly.

One option for straightening teeth is to use Invisalign, an adult-oriented braces system that can help realign crooked teeth creating a healthy, attractive smile.

Teeth Grinding and Clenching

Bruxism or teeth grinding and clenching places teeth under substantial pressure, wearing them down and causing them to become chipped and cracked and eventually loosening teeth. In the worst case, teeth can even fall out, causing an unbalanced bite.

If you have noticed you wake up with a sore, aching jaw or that your teeth have started to look worn and chipped, we can assess your dental health and, if necessary, provide a custom-made night guard. The device fits over your teeth, preventing you from clenching and grinding, protecting your teeth.

Tooth Loss

Your teeth are designed to work together, so even losing a single tooth can increase your risk of dental problems. The remaining teeth will start to shift towards the empty space, affecting your bite and the stability of these teeth, and tooth loss can cause your jawbone to start deteriorating.

When you lose even a single tooth, we will want to discuss ways to replace it. One option is to use the latest dental implants that help protect your jawbone and help prevent unwanted tooth movements.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is a bacterial infection that is entirely preventable but which, without treatment, can cause tooth loss. It destroys the structures around your teeth so they loosen and can fall out.

Ensuring you visit us regularly for checkups and cleanings and maintain a good oral care routine at home will prevent this common disease.