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Should I wait a while after eating or drinking before I brush my teeth?

The short answer is yes! This question is often brought up at the practice.

Commonly our patients will often tell us that they ‘give their teeth a good brush’ after eating or drinking anything, especially anything sweet. Our team of dentists, dental therapists and dental nurses would rather you didn’t, well, not straight away anyway and here’s why!

When we eat, the pH in our mouth shifts. The pH is the scale that determines how acidic an environment or not, your mouth is. After eating and drinking, our mouths temporarily become more acidic-this is a hostile environment for our teeth, our enamel begins to demineralise at this point

and overall these are superb conditions for tooth decay and acid erosion to start to think about kicking in!

During this time, your enamel is vulnerable!! Brushing your teeth at this point potentially brushes sugars and acids into your teeth and brushing itself will also physically have a more abrasive action on enamel right now than at another time.

The good news!

Our mouths are amazing, saliva is a superhero! Saliva gradually neutralises this acid over a period of time (typically around 30 minutes or so) and helps to remineralise our enamel. After this time has passed, you can safely brush your teeth.

So people will ask us…..”What? So I need to wait 30 minutes after breakfast before I brush my teeth? I don’t have the time!”. It is a tricky one, right? Either you can get up earlier, to allow yourself the time to have your breakfast, wait 30 minutes and then brush those toothy pegs, or brush when you first get up and not after you have eaten. Honestly, your teeth will thank you for it!

If you don’t like the idea of leaving the house after breakfast without brushing, then rinsing with water after eating will help clear any food debris. You could even use a daily fluoride mouthwash at this point instead of brushing if you’re really feeling the need for something extra. Chewing sugar free chewing gum will also give you a minty kick and the chewing action stimulates your saliva flow-and we know how good the saliva is for our teeth!

When it comes to brushing, it is essential that your teeth are cleaned thoroughly twice a day. Last thing at night before you go to bed is a non-negotiable time to brush-it just has to be done (and yes-this also should be 30 minutes after eating or drinking, so lay off the late night snacks!). Any remaining plaque and food debris from the day needs to be completely removed before hitting the sack. At night, our mouths become dryer, less saliva means less protection against tooth decay so it is imperative that our teeth get the best chance at survival! The second brush of the day, however, well, timing is less important, it has to be done but when is up to you….just make sure it is at least 30 minutes after you have last eaten or drank (water doesn’t count).

Happy Brushing!

Visiting the dentist is a necessity for maintaining good oral health, but for many people, it can be an anxiety-inducing experience. Dental anxiety is all too common and can affect people of all ages. It can cause fear, stress and even an avoidance of visiting the dentist completely. Fortunately, dentistry has evolved over the years and with TLC we are now able to help most patients overcome their dental anxiety to enable them to achieve the best oral health they can. Please remember, you are not the first patient, nor will you be the last, to feel this way about paying us a visit. We are used to helping people who like you, are nervous about coming to see us and we want to help you.

Understanding Dental Anxiety.

Dental anxiety is not uncommon. The sights, sounds, and sensations associated with dental procedures can trigger fear and discomfort in patients. Often patients will recount negative past experiences to us, or they are worried that a procedure is going to be painful. We believe that no dentistry should be painful. With modern local anaesthetic techniques, there should be no reason that you should experience pain at your appointments.

Often the anticipation of the unknown contributes to dental anxiety and sometimes even embarrassment. Please be comforted by the fact that there is never a need to feel embarrassed or ashamed. We are experienced in our field and making that first step to pay us a visit is often the hardest part. Once we have met you, help starts here! Unfortunately, dental anxiety often is so severe that it can lead individuals to avoid dental care altogether, putting their oral health at risk. Not just that though, living with the fear of the unknown and the ongoing anxiety of knowing that the need to visit the dentist eventually will arise, is often worse and unnecessary if you can make that initial contact.

Building Trust and Communication.

Patient wellbeing is always at the centre of our approach and we focus on creating a comfortable and friendly environment where patients can build trust in our team. We feel that ensuring open communication and understanding throughout treatment and treatment planning is key to helping people to gain confidence in their treatment.

At Wollaton Dental Care we do not offer sedation. In most cases, taking time to build a relationship with our patients is sufficient to enable them to go ahead with treatment that is needed. In a small number of cases, sedation is still required and if this is the case, we can liaise with local providers of sedation to enable you to receive the treatment you need.

Overcoming dental anxiety is possible with a considered and compassionate approach. Don’t let dental anxiety prevent you from achieving optimal oral health. We are here to help you and we want to help you! Seek out a dentist or dental therapist who takes the time to understand your fears and can provide the care and support you need to ensure you feel comfortable and confident in attending the dentist.

Embracing the Great Outdoors: Unleashing the Power of the Team!

In today’s fast-paced world, it is great to be able to switch off, to be able to go off grid and to leave the constant sensory overload for even a few hours. To be able to do this as a team is even better. This weekend we hope to achieve this through our next outdoor team event. These occurrences outside of the workplace give the opportunity to take a break from the practice but also offer unique opportunities for personal and professional growth and friendships.

We hope that getting away as a team, creates an environment that encourages open communication and collaboration among team members. It’s quite a unique thing to go away on a mini break with your teammates and away from the confines of the surgery, individuals can interact in a more relaxed and informal way. Our latest event involves a challenging hike up Scafell Pike, England’s highest peak. Our team must trust and rely on one another, developing and building on their already good working relationships but also hopefully enjoy it together and create some shared memories and experiences.

We have decided to raise money for a local charity alongside our team event and participating in fundraising really fosters a sense of pride in us all. Even those who may not be able to take part in the physical part of the event have had the opportunity to help with the fund raising and raising the awareness and profile of the charity (Our Dementia Choir). Shared experiences outside of ‘work’ are a real leveller and give people a joint goal. The sense of achievement and pleasure from helping others creates a stronger sense of unity between us and we also hope that our patients are also proud to attend our practice and be part of Team WDC (and hopefully will promote their dental practice’s charity endeavours). Strengthened team spirit and improved morale, positively impact our practice and create a buzz in the building. It hopefully adds to our team’s job satisfaction, leading to a more positive work environment overall.

Go Team WDC!

Should I have a bridge or an implant to fill the gap where my tooth was?

image credit Canva

The first thing to mention is that not every gap needs filling! Some people are not concerned with the aesthetics of a missing tooth and very often people can also chew without problems as well. You may find that the thought of having a gap is often worse than the gap itself.

One thing to bear in mind though, if and when you lose a tooth, if you do choose to leave a gap, then the teeth opposite the gap in the opposing jaw and those either side of the gap (in the same jaw) can drift and move over time. Sometimes this can cause problems with food trapping and because of this, it can increase the risk of decay. We see this more often when the tooth in the opposite jaw drifts. The decay can commonly be on the root surface of the tooth which can be difficult to fill and can lead to a poor prognosis and risk of losing another tooth.

So, if you’ve made the decision that you don’t want a gap and that you want to fill the space, then now you’d like to know what your options are….On a basic level, there are three options! A bridge, a denture or an implant. I am going to focus only on fixed options in this article, the implant or a bridge but always remember that sometimes removable false teeth (a denture) can be a good, lower cost and simple solution to replacing missing teeth, especially if you have more than one missing tooth to replace.

There are lots of different options for bridgework but I am going to keep it very simple today and talk only about fixed-fixed bridgework as this is the most common bridgework solution for replacing back teeth. There are other types of bridgework such as adhesive bridgework that are more conservative but these are often unsuitable for replacing back teeth.

Fixed Bridgework Vs Implants.

First and foremost, what is a bridge and what is an implant?

Bridges

A bridge is a ceramic or metal (or more often than not, a combination of both) prosthetic tooth replacement which is attached to the teeth either side of the gap and is cemented into place. In order to do this, the teeth either side of the space have to be altered in size sufficiently to accommodate the bridge material (porcelain and metal). Have a look at the little animation attached to help explain what I mean by this.

This is by no means a conservative option, as approximately two millimetres of tooth tissue have to be removed from the full outer layer of the tooth. Due to the destructive nature of this procedure, it would never be my first choice for tooth replacement if the teeth either side of the gap are otherwise untouched. Often however, teeth may be heavily filled or crowned, already and a lot of what needs be removed, may be filling material. This might sway a decision. Due to the process of preparing teeth for bridgework (and potentially because a lot of teeth undergoing this procedure have already been heavily filled due to fracture or decay earlier in life), a proportion of teeth involved in crown and bridgework will go on to lose their vitality and the nerve will die off. This is true, no matter how carefully or how well the procedure is carried out, even though steps can be taken to minimise this risk. There is more chance of this in a younger patient. This is because throughout our lives, the pulp chamber in our teeth (where the nerves live) gradually gets smaller and protective dentine thickens as we get older. In a younger person, the pulps in teeth are larger and as a result more likely to be affected by the procedure of preparing the teeth for a bridge. If a tooth loses vitality and dies, then this can cause severe toothache and subsequently an infection in the form of an abscess.

Either of these conditions would need to be treated with root canal treatment or an extraction! Ultimately this could mean a two tooth gap, where you only had a one tooth gap before!

The benefit to having a bridge is that it tends to be a cheaper alternative to an implant and is often quicker. A provisional bridge can be placed immediately after extraction of a tooth and a permanent bridge can be placed three months after extraction of a tooth.

A three tooth bridge (one space and two teeth either side) currently costs approximately £1500 at Wollaton Dental Care. Each case is different and an accurate treatment plan would be provided before embarking on treatment, so that exact costs can be given to you.

Implants.

I like to think of an implant being a false tooth root which is placed directly into the bone where the tooth is missing. A crown is then placed on the top of the false root. The benefit of the implant is that it is a fixed replacement for your tooth without having to cause any damage to adjacent teeth. Sometimes an implant can be placed immediately following the extraction of a tooth, other times, a healing period is needed.

Have a watch of the animation below to understand what an implant is.

The disadvantage of an implant is that it is a surgical procedure and tends to be more expensive than a bridge due to the materials, surgery time and expertise needed in order to place implants. There are also risks associated with implants in the same way as there are with our own teeth. Although implants can’t decay, gum disease can still occur around implants and a high level of oral hygiene is advised in order to maintain your implants well. We advise regular hygienist appointments in order to make sure you are looking after your implants appropriately. Otherwise we would liken it to buying a high performance car and never having it serviced!

It is important to make sure implants are placed appropriately. Not all patients or mouths are suitable for implants! Some medical conditions can preclude implant placement or certainly make it more risky. There needs to be sufficient bone available to place implants and sometimes, for upper teeth, a procedure needs to be carried out on the sinus to ensure that there is enough space to place the implant.

We believe it is important that high quality dental implants are placed with a history of good quality research into the product. When we think back to the PIP breast implant scandal, it is a good example of a cheaper product being placed without the appropriate clinical trials to back up their use. For this reason, we place Straumann implants. These are not a cheap product and thus our prices, are also not the cheapest, but we feel confident that we would be happy having them placed in our own mouths and that there is a support system in place should complications occur.

To train to be able to place implants competently and confidently is also a lengthy and costly experience for any clinician who wishes to work to high level. Of course, any dentist can quickly begin placing implants but case selection is everything as is preparation, training and cross infection/surgical set up. This takes time to train properly and keep standards high with excellent attention to the small detail. Certain cases are more complex than others. We work closely with local specialist practice The Campbell Clinic in order to ensure mentoring is utilised if needed or referral on for complex cases is ensured where necessary. We believe that The Campbell Clinic is the best in the business for complex implant dentistry and we are more than happy to recommend and liaise with them in order to offer this service to our patients. You can be sure that we will always be honest and open with all of our discussions with you and if we think you would benefit from being seen elsewhere then this will be discussed. At Wollaton Dental Care, both principal dentist Simon Lawson and our associate David Bell can competently and confidently take on straight forward implant cases and we are delighted to now be able to offer this for our patients in house.

A single tooth implant placement at Wollaton Dental Care costs approximately £3000. Every case is different, some take longer, some are quicker. Some need other associated procedures, others do not. Therefore an exact cost is only possible once your own personal case has been assessed. You will then be provided with an accurate treatment plan including exact costs..

image credit Canva

Our reception team still get asked every day by patients if they still need to wear a mask when attending their appointments. We get it-people are keen to know what is asked of them.

It hasn’t been mandatory in England to wear masks in health care settings for many months now. For a while at Wollaton Dental Care, we continued to politely ask our patients if they would mind still wearing a mask when attending their appointments with us whilst in our waiting areas. This was after careful consideration, in order to protect our vulnerable patients particularly when there were increases in COVID cases in Nottingham.

We decided to remove this request around Autumn of last year. This was both for our patients and for our team members (when not treating patients). We are acutely aware that face masks are very much a barrier to effective communication for all patients but particularly for those who may not hear well or those patients who are deaf. Many people find them hard to breath normally in and some people get claustrophobic. Masks can also add to problems with their vision for some people as they struggle to clear the mist from their glasses caused by wearing a mask inside when coming in from the cooler weather outside! It is also harder to read nonverbal communication cues such as facial expressions and to a certain extent body language too. We want to see if you are smiling!

Prior to COVID, our clinicians would have felt it was highly inappropriate to speak to a patient whilst wearing their mask as it is a known barrier to communication and we remember that! You may still see the odd one of us floating around in a mask. This might be someone not in a face to face role at that time or just their personal preference. We also ask team members with any symptoms of a respiratory virus (such as a cold) to wear a mask.

If you feel more comfortable continuing to wear a mask, then please of course do so but for all of the above reasons, we no longer request that our patients wear a mask when visiting our practice.