iVillage logo
Search iVillage
Health
Diet & Fitness
Food & Drink
Pregnancy
Parenting
Beauty & Fashion
Home & Garden
Relationships
Work & Money
Entertainment
Horoscopes
Travel
Camera shy?
How to look good in photos
Water a good idea
Becks to sell the wet stuff
Diets A-Z
Find the right eating plan
Health  
  |  General Health  |  Diseases and conditions  |  Brush up on your dental health
Advertisement
Topics
Women's Health
General Health
Diseases and conditions
Mental Health
Bones and Joints
First Aid & Minor Ailments
Dental & Opthalmic
Nutrition
Vitamins & Minerals
Natural Health
Healthy Living
Community
Conditions
Diet & Fitness
iVillage shopping

Hot stuff
Vote for a good cause
Kitchen skills and recipes for kids
Olympics 2008
Competitions
Baby development tracker
Embarrassing ailments
Best diet foods
Special offers
First aid solutions
Snack swapper
Diets A-Z
Healthy vision
Newsletters
sign up for FREE!




 
Promotions
Is there a link?
Deodorants and breast cancer investigated
Lose weight today
Get a personal diet plan

Brush up on your dental health

by Rebecca Ivatts
promo image     promo image     promo image

You only get one set of adult teeth, so look after them. With today's hectic lifestyles, it's easy to neglect one of your most important health and beauty assets: your smile. Here's the low-down on dentistry available today and how you can brush up on your own dental care

  • Visiting the dentist
  • Types of treatment
  • Relieving toothache
  • Good dental habits
  • Better dental health

    Visiting the dentist
    The British Dental Health Foundation (BDFH) recommends that we all visit the dentist for a check-up at least once a year. Ideally, we should go every six months - that way, early tooth decay or gum disease can be spotted before it causes any real damage. With decay affecting more than half of children under five, it's particularly important that parents insist their children have regular check-ups. As for babies, the BDFH says, 'We would even encourage that babies start going to the dentist before they develop teeth so that they become acclimatised to the sights, smells and sounds of the dentist, and don't develop dental anxiety in later life.'

    If you're putting off booking that next check-up, it's worth remembering that, left untreated, tooth decay can cause the total loss of a tooth within 12 months. When you do pay the dentist a visit, it's up to you to ask for advice and learn how to prevent future problems rather than waiting for them to happen.

    Types of treatment
  • NHS vs private
    Dentistry is available both on the NHS and privately. NHS treatment seems to work on a 'first come, first served' basis. If a new practice opens or an existing practice is allocated more NHS places, those patients arriving late may find themselves unable to register. As the availability of NHS treatment is reduced due to shortages in government funding, more and more people find themselves forced to pay for private treatment.

    iVillage TV - Health zone

    View video in larger player


 1 |  2 |  3 |  4 | next print printer friendly send to a friend
Created: 10/06/2004  Updated: 01/02/2007

This iVillage Health service area is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on treatment. If you are concerned about your health or that of a child, please consult your family's health provider immediately and do not wait for a response from our professionals. For the full Disclaimer, click here.
Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon