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Has it been a while since your family saw our dentist? The school holidays are the perfect time to catch up on dental visits and any planned treatments.

According to research, over 40% of children aged between five and 10 have tooth decay in their baby teeth or primary teeth, but tooth decay is preventable with proper oral care. We thoroughly recommend that children see a dentist regularly, usually twice a year but sometimes more frequently for children who may have dental or other medical issues.

When we can see your child regularly, we can monitor their dental health closely, so any small signs of decay are quickly detected and treated, hopefully well before your child feels any discomfort or pain. We also recommend regular appointments with our hygienist, who can clean your child’s teeth professionally, a vital treatment for maintaining strong teeth and healthy gums.

These visits are a chance for you to ask questions about caring for your child’s teeth and receive valuable advice. If your child is older, we can work with them directly, ensuring they understand the importance of oral care and know how to brush and floss properly.

Many people realise that vitamin D is essential for good health but are unaware of its impact on oral health. Receiving enough vitamin D can reduce the rate of tooth decay and prevent other serious diseases like gum disease. One study showed that children who received a vitamin D supplement every day had fewer cavities than those who didn’t receive the supplement. However, many people do not get enough vitamin D each day.

The most common way to get vitamin D is through sun exposure, but fear of sun damage means most people spend their time in the shade or use sunblock. Another possible factor is that many families eat a lot of processed foods which is lacking in nutrients. Even someone who practices good oral care is at increased risk of cavities if they have low vitamin D levels.

If you are concerned you don’t receive enough vitamin D, ask your doctor for a blood test. If needed, they can then prescribe a vitamin D supplement or suggest other ways to receive this vitamin. One way is to spend at least 10 minutes every day in the sun without sunblock. However, vitamin D is also found in foods like fish and milk.

We were thrilled by the news that the Australian Government is continuing to fund the Children’s Dental Benefits Scheme through 2022. If you have kids, you may already know a bit about this programme, which helps ensure children aged between two and 17 can access basic dental services and treatment by providing financial assistance.

It’s an excellent scheme that ensures Australian children who may otherwise be unable to receive regular dental care can access high-quality dentistry in their local dental practice without travelling to the nearest public dental clinic.

Eligible kids can receive up to $1000 that can be spent on specific dental treatments over two years. Children may qualify for this scheme if their family receives Family Tax Benefit A or another social security payment. Usually, eligible families are sent a Medicare letter, and all treatments are bulk billed, so there are no out-of-pocket payments.

The payments can cover the cost of dental checkups and cleans and other essential services like root canal treatment, tooth extractions and fillings, fissure sealants, and dental x-rays. However, the scheme doesn’t cover orthodontic work or cosmetic dentistry.

If your child is eligible, we can help ensure they gain maximum benefit from this scheme.

With the holidays just around the corner, a brighter smile is on many people’s wish lists, but choosing the right method is important.

Natural home remedies such as oil pulling or brushing your teeth with baking soda or strawberries will do very little to brighten your smile. There are plenty of over-the-counter products to choose from, and while their sale is tightly regulated, so they are safe to use, they may not achieve the results you desire.

The most effective option is a professional teeth whitening treatment. Unlike over-the-counter products, our dentists can use high-quality professional strength products, achieving excellent results safely. Before recommending this procedure, we examine your teeth carefully to ensure treatment is appropriate and will achieve the desired results.

There are two ways we can brighten your smile, and the first is to have a chairside whitening treatment that takes as little as an hour to lift the colour of your teeth by several shades. The second option is a take-home whitening kit for use in the comfort of your own home, where we prescribe professional strength whitening gel that is safe for home use and which takes a couple of weeks to get the desired results. So if you fancy a brighter, whiter smile in time for Christmas, contact us now to book an appointment.

The holidays are a time to celebrate, and these celebrations often revolve around food and plenty of seasonal treats. There is certainly no harm in indulging once in a while, but it’s worth knowing how the holidays can affect dental health. So here are our top tips for the holidays.

Stick to Your Normal Brushing Routine

Other routines might go out of the window, but it’s worth sticking to your normal daily routine of twice a day brushing and once-a-day flossing. Even if you are super tired at the end of the day, it only takes a couple of minutes to clean your mouth thoroughly. If you are out for the day, be sure to pack a travel toothbrush and toothpaste so you can freshen up on the go.

Use Appropriate Tools to Open Packages and Presents

When opening packets or presents, use the appropriate tools and not your teeth. The same goes for trying to crack nuts with your teeth, as this can prove a painful and expensive mistake.

Get Up To Date with Your Dental Checkups

If it’s been a while since you visited us, book your checkup now. We can make sure your teeth are strong and healthy, and free from dental problems before the festivities begin.

Both Santa and the Tooth Fairy are magical figures, appealing to the imagination of young children, and both can be great teaching tools when it comes to good oral hygiene. The Tooth Fairy is well-known for visiting the homes of small children who have recently lost baby teeth, leaving a small gift in the form of money or another trinket in exchange for the tooth.

Children start losing baby teeth between ages five and seven, but parents need to start teaching them good oral care well before then. One way is to incorporate the Tooth Fairy into stories and teeth brushing routines, gently reminding your child that the Tooth Fairy wants teeth that are strong, healthy and cavity-free. When you can get small children excited about the thought of the Tooth Fairy and the anticipation of a visit, it’s easier to begin forming lifelong oral habits.

When it’s time for the Tooth Fairy to leave their gift, try to make it personalised, along with a note congratulating your child on their good oral habits. Another way you can reinforce good oral hygiene is by encouraging Santa to leave tooth-friendly gifts instead of sugary treats. These might be a novelty flavoured toothpaste, or a toothbrush with your child’s favourite cartoon character, or kid-friendly mouthwash.

Your wisdom teeth are right at the back of the mouth and are the very last to come through during the late teens or early 20s. However, sometimes they can cause problems, often because the jaws aren’t big enough to accommodate these latecomers.

If your wisdom teeth have yet to come through and you regularly visit our practice, you can trust us to keep an eye on their development. Digital dental x-rays help us check the position of these teeth, and we can tell if they can erupt properly or if they are likely to become stuck in the jawbone, a problem where they are referred to as being impacted. Sometimes wisdom teeth will only partially erupt, and because they are trickier to keep clean, they can become infected or decayed. Other times, wisdom teeth will try to come through sideways through the gums or underneath the adjacent teeth.

Problem wisdom teeth can be painful, but other times they may cause few if any symptoms. Possible symptoms include an aching sensation at the back of your mouth or noticing swelling and redness as your wisdom teeth try to come through. If we can see your wisdom teeth are causing problems or pain, we can ensure they are removed as comfortably as possible.

Dental implants are a long-term solution for tooth loss, but people investigating this treatment need to have good dental and medical health and ideally should not have any signs of periodontal disease (severe gum disease). Advanced periodontal disease can be tricky to treat as it may become chronic, requiring ongoing care to control it. However, severe gum disease often causes tooth loss, so does this mean patients with gum disease can’t have implants?

The short answer is probably not. A dental article published some years ago found the survival rates of dental implants in people with periodontal disease were little different compared to those without this condition. Anyone visiting our practice is carefully assessed for suitability. We review your medical and dental history to determine if implants are the best treatment and provide a good chance of long-term success. One issue with severe gum disease is that it can destroy the jawbone, leaving inadequate bone for implant placement.

When this is the case, a special type of implant may be needed called a zygomatic implant that uses the cheekbone instead of the jawbone. Another option is to have a bone graft to build up the missing bone in the jaw, which could help people who have had severe periodontitis successfully treated.

We often see patients with tooth cracks, but while some are serious, other types may not need any treatment. There are five different types of tooth cracks which are:

• Craze lines
• Split tooth
• Vertical root fracture
• Cracked tooth
• Cusp fracture

Craze lines are microfractures only affecting the enamel. They can be a sign of bruxism (tooth grinding and clenching) or the result of another form of trauma. If treatment is needed, it’s probably only due to aesthetic reasons, but it may be important to prevent bruxism to protect the teeth in future. A split tooth is more serious and can extend from the tooth crown to below the gumline. Sometimes it is possible to salvage the tooth, but often it must be removed.

A vertical tooth root fracture is most often associated with previous root canal therapy. Unfortunately, this is another frequently hopeless case where the tooth will need removing. A cracked tooth may be salvageable depending on the location and depth of the crack. Sometimes a tooth can be restored with a dental filling or crown, or other times it may need root canal therapy. A cusp fracture can cause tooth sensitivity, but depending on the extent of the fracture, there’s a good chance the tooth can be restored with a dental crown or another type of restoration.