Registering with a dentist is straightforward - it involves some form filling but doesn't necessarily entail the transferral of old records. However, if you suffer from dental phobia, beware - if you register as an NHS patient and do not attend an appointment within 15 months, you will be struck off the register.
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
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
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.
As for emergency treatment, you're entitled to walk into any UK dental practice and receive emergency treatment (and pay for it privately). If you're registered with the NHS, your own dentist guarantees to administer emergency treatment within 24 hours. However, if your dentist is in Birmingham, for example, and you are struck down with a tooth abscess in Glasgow, you may well have to pay for the treatment privately. In some cases, however, you may be able to pay a nominal fee which is decided upon by the dentist.
Orthodontics are responsible for those dreaded 'train track' braces that many of us endured as teenagers. This branch of dentistry is used to correct or straighten crooked or irregular teeth, and is best carried out during the teenage years as the jaw continues to grow. Treatment may include wires, fixed and removable braces and, in the case of 'crowded' teeth, tooth extraction. In some cases, treatment may take several years.
Perhaps due to the influence of media images of perfect Hollywood smiles, the demand for cosmetic dentistry has gone through the roof. Primarily used to straighten, lighten, reshape and repair teeth, treatments include veneers, crowns, bridges and tooth-coloured fillings. Before you book a course of smile-perfecting treatment, a word of warning: any dental treatment classed as cosmetic, or for which there is no 'clinical need', is not available on the NHS and must be paid for privately. To avoid unexpected costs, it's a good idea to ask for a written quote before starting treatment.
A new breed of 'alternative' or 'holistic' dentists are now offering metal-free dentistry, homeopathy, nutrition, kinesiology and aromatherapy as an integral part of their service. Used for amalgam fillings, mercury (a toxic element) has been the mainstay of dentistry for 150 years. Although mercury has always been considered safe by the dental profession, some alternative or holistic dentists think that, used in serious root canal work, for example, it may affect the body's energy channels (referred to by acupuncturists as 'meridians').
Whether we dislike not being in control when we're in the dentist's chair, find the sounds of the dentist's drill bring back bad memories of childhood experiences, or are scared of injections (or the cost of treatment!), dental phobia is incredibly common. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the British Dental Health Foundation, one in four Britons admit to being afraid of the dentist. Fear not, modern dental techniques have improved so drastically that dentists are now able to administer completely pain-free treatment. For those still unconvinced, there are several anxiety-reducing methods available to dentists. These include injections to relax the patient, 'happy' or 'laughing gas' for nervous children and, at some specialist dental surgeries, hypnosis.
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Oral sedatives can be taken in liquid or tablet form before visiting the dentist, and are designed to make you drowsy, relaxed and less aware of the dental treatment. While you can still co-operate with the dentist, you MUST NOT drink alcohol, drive or operate machinery while the sedative is still active. In some cases, sedative medicine is administered intravenously. Although not recommended for patients under 16 years, dentists often use a drug called midazolam. This has an amnesic effect lasting a few hours. While patients remember little of the dental procedure, some people have been known to have erotic dreams!
While hypnosis is used outside the dental surgery to help banish dental phobias, some dentists have experimented with hypnosis themselves. They claim that by altering the patient's state of consciousness, they can make a tooth numb and remove the need for an injection. However, different patients have different susceptibilities and the technique isn't necessarily successful for everyone.
Relieving toothache
If you've ever been unlucky enough to suffer dental pain, then you will well know that toothache can be an excruciating, head, jaw and ear-throbbing experience. It also has a nasty habit of striking when you least expect it and for no apparent reason.
Although a visit to the dentist is almost always necessary to find and treat the cause of the ache, temporary relief (and a better night's sleep) can thankfully be found over the counter. The best off-the-shelf drug for toothache is a painkiller (analgesic) called ibuprofen, contained in products like Nurofen. Incidentally, placing an aspirin next to the troublesome tooth is not recommended as the aspirin will not enter the tooth via the outside of the gum. Other pain-relieving tips include avoiding heat and hot food and drinks, and applying an ice pack to the face over the affected area.
Good dental habits
First and foremost, brush twice a day using fluoride toothpaste and a toothbrush which should be changed at least every three months. In the absence of an electric toothbrush, which helps do the work for you, the toothbrush should be held at a 45-degree angle to the tooth and used in a gentle circular motion.
While brushing is essential, one of the best (and most neglected) ways of keeping your gums and teeth healthy is flossing. How many times has the dentist or hygienist told you to floss, and you've gone away and flossed for a while until you lapse back into old habits? Daily flossing - or 'interdental' cleaning - reaches the areas missed by the toothbrush, reduces the build up of tartar and plaque and reduces the risk of tooth loss through gum disease. And if you thought you were immune to gum disease, think again: gum disease is the most common disease in the world, affecting 19 out of every 20 people during their lifetime. Also, another good reason to reduce stress: new studies have linked gum disease to stress - so keep flossing and stay calm!
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Snacking on sugary food and drink between mealtimes has been established as a major cause of tooth decay. We all have bacteria in our mouths at all times, even after brushing. However, when we eat sugar, the bacteria in our mouths produce acid which dissolves or attacks our teeth for 20 minutes or more, and can eventually result in tooth decay. For healthy teeth and gums, we need to minimise the acid attack in our mouths, limiting it, if possible, to mealtimes only. Since saliva helps to protect our teeth. One of the worst tooth crimes you could commit would be to eat sweets just before bedtime as we produce less saliva during our sleep.
Better dental health
To minimise the risk of tooth decay, try following these tips:
1. Cut out sugary snacks and replace them with fruit, raw vegetables, plain yoghurt or cheese.
2. If you simply can't live without your favourite sugary foods and fizzy drinks, limit them to mealtimes to reduce the number of acid attacks on your teeth.
3. If you take sugar in tea or coffee, reduce the amount you drink, or use artificial sweeteners.
4. If you do eat a sweet, eat it quickly or all at once so that sugar is present in your mouth for the minimum amount of time.
5. Avoid sticky toffee as it can stick in the teeth and supply your oral bacteria with sugar for extended periods of time.
6. Avoid erosive (very acidic) foods such as colas and lemon as these can literally eat away at your teeth.
7. Finish a meal with cheese or milk to help neutralise the acid in your mouth.
8. After mealtimes, chew some sugar-free gum which encourages more (protective) saliva to be produced, and helps clear away food debris.
9. Drink lots of water to keep your mouth moist.
10. Beware of sugary snack cravings during pregnancy. Thinking that 'the baby took the calcium from my teeth' is not true and not the real reason behind the tooth decay suffered by many pregnant women.
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