Tag: Routine Dental Care

Why You Should Visit the Hygienist

Routine Dental Hygiene Appointment

Regular visits to your dental hygienist are important in the upkeep of your oral health. At Newby Dental Practice, our therapist Holly, and hygienists Mandy and Helen, will help provide treatment and advice to ensure that your dental health is in the best condition.

What Does a Dental Hygienist Do?

When visiting your dentist, they may suggest to book an appointment with a hygienist. Your hygienist will prevent, identify and treat gum disease. Gum disease is caused by the buildup of plaque on your teeth and gums, which can cause irritation and bleeding. Your helpful hygienist will remove the plaque in those hard to reach areas and provide advice on how to effectively clean your teeth as well as your gums. They will also give lifestyle advice to help prevent gum disease.

Advice to Improve Your Oral Health

Brushing your teeth twice a day will help to combat gum disease as well as brushing in between your teeth using either floss or interdental brushes. Creating a routine involving these steps will help to embed them into your oral hygiene regimen, benefitting your dental health.

Smoking is the number one cause of gum disease as it restricts the flow of oxygen in the blood flow, preventing the infected gums from healing. As a smoker it is likely that your gum disease will worsen more quickly leading to tooth loss. You will also find that treatment may be more difficult to stabilize your gum disease. Quitting smoking will help to prevent gum disease.

A balanced diet will also help to improve your oral health, so whilst it is important to eat healthy foods, such as fruit and vegetables, it is also vital to reduce your intake of sugary items, such as fizzy drinks. Not only do fizzy drinks contain high volumes of sugar which can cause dental decay, but they also consist of acid which can erode the strong enamel that protects your teeth. Improving your diet will also help to have a positive effect on your general health which is an added bonus!

If you are interested in any extra advice or you would like to book an appointment with one of our hygienists, give our friendly team a call on 01723 670500 and they will be happy to help with any inquiries.

Why Your Toddler Shouldn’t Drink Milk Through The Night

Tooth decay is the most common infectious disease in children. Primary teeth, also known as baby teeth, are essential for the health and development of your child. They allow for the development of permanent (adult) teeth by saving space for them in the jaw. If a baby tooth is lost too early in development, permanent teeth can drift into the empty space making it difficult for all adult teeth to erupt properly. Unfortunately, the progression of tooth decay can begin as soon as the first tooth comes in.

Feeding your child milk during the night, after brushing their teeth, can cause severe cavities on the front teeth. Although milk is essential for your child’s development, it does contain small amounts of sugar and if fed during the night, your child’s teeth are essentially being soaked in sugar overnight.

How Can You Protect Your Child’s Teeth?

  • If your child requires a bottle to sleep, try filling it with plain water to prevent the occurrence of cavities.
  • Never fill your child’s bottle with high sugar drinks such as juice or fizzy drinks.
  • When your child’s teeth start to come in, use a teething toothbrush and a smear of children’s toothpaste.
  • Take your child to the dentist as soon as their first tooth appears.

If you require any further advice, give our friendly team a call on 01723 670 500 or email us at info@newbydental.co.uk

Everything You Need to Know About Lip Cancer

Lip cancer is a form of oral cancer. A recent study has found that a worrying 75% of the British public do not know what the signs and symptoms of lip cancer are. If caught early, lip cancer can be treated successfully so an early diagnosis is essential.

Signs to look out for include:

  • Open sores.
  • Visible changes to the skin on the lips.
  • A red patch that becomes crusty, itchy or bleeds.
  • Lumps or wart-like growths.
  • A pale or white skin area that looks similar to a scar.

There are certain lifestyle choices that can increase your risk of developing lip cancer. These factors include:

  • Sun exposure
  • Alcohol use
  • Tobacco use

Due to climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer (the layer that absorbs the harmful rays radiated by the sun), the risk is only going to get worse so it is vital that you are aware of how to reduce the likelihood of developing lip cancer.

Alcohol and tobacco use are also risk factors. People who drink three to four alcoholic drinks a day are twice as likely to develop mouth cancer than those who do not. The risk increases by two or three times when tobacco use and daily alcohol consumption are combined.

Prevention

The Oral Health Foundation reports that “up to 90% of all mouth cancers are linked to lifestyle factors”, so it is vital that you regulate your alcohol consumption. It is also reported that smoking can increase your risk of oral cancers by up to ten times, so now would be a good time to quit!

Also try to apply protective SPF lip balm daily, even on a cloudy day. to protect your lips from the UV rays from the sun.

It is vital that you attend regular check ups with your dentist to look out for the signs and symptoms. Here at Newby Dental Practice we complete a routine oral cancer screening at every dental check up, contact us to book your appointment now. If you require any further information or advice, please contact us at info@newbydental.co.uk or 01723 670500

https://www.newbydentalpractice.co.uk/oral-cancer-screening/

Beauty Salon And At Home Teeth Whitening?

Like home teeth straightening, social media has generated an influx of people looking to whiten their teeth, but what is and isn’t safe?

In the UK, teeth whitening comes under the scope of practice of ‘dentistry’, which is regulated by law. This means that teeth whitening must only be carried out by dental professionals, who are registered with the GDC. Therefore, any person offering teeth whitening using between 0.1% and 6% hydrogen peroxide can be prosecuted by Trading Standards and the Health and Safety Executive, the GDC may also press for this action and work alongside these regulatory bodies.

There are risks that come with going to someone that is not a qualified dental professional.

Firstly, home kits don’t contain enough whitening product to actually be effective for whitening your teeth. Additionally, if a dental professional isn’t doing the whitening, the whitening trays provided may not fit properly around your teeth. This can then cause some of the bleaching gel to leak out onto your gums and into your mouth, causing blistering and sensitivity.

Teeth whitening carried out at home, or in beauty salons by untrained staff or staff without dental qualifications also puts your oral health at risk and is also illegal.

Existing dental restorations such as fillings, crowns and veneers are not affected by the whitening, so we can’t change their colour. As the colour of your teeth lightens, any dark or unsightly pieces of dentistry will become more obvious, therefore they may need replacing if you chose to whiten your teeth.

Here at Newby dental Practice, we offer Boutique teeth whitening. Boutique is a premium tooth whitening product. Not only is it the product we recommend, it is the one we use ourselves too!

Boutique tooth whitening works with the use of special trays, made especially for you. You can use it for a couple of hours during the day, or overnight, for those that have a busy lifestyle. All our treatments are tailored around you, and work to achieve the result you want!

If teeth whitening is something you’re interested in, ask your dentist next to you visit us, or book in for a consultation to see how Boutique could improve your smile!

New Dentist, New Surgery Built, How We Design our Dental Surgeries

We have a new dentist joining our practice in Scarborough and currently we don’t have anywhere for him to treat patients. Luckily when we were building the practice back at the start of 2021 we added the services needed for a further dental surgery to be built if required. It now so happens that with Peter joining us sooner than expected that that we now need to go to the design phase and start planning the layout.

Here is how we design the surgeries, enjoy the video!

How we design our Dental Surgeries

Peter is excited to join us, especially as he is going to be using a brand new dental surgery. He was previously working as a dentist all the way down in Plymouth however he had previously been working in Scarborough as Dentist several years ago. He’s looking forward to the move back and cant wait to join our fantastic dental team that we have at Newby Dental Practice.

Invisalign Vs. Home Orthodontic Treatment

With all of the options available on the internet, the adverts all over social media…. is tooth straightening at home really a safe option?

Invisalign Treatment

The first, most important point to make is that with Invisalign treatment, you are in the hands of a registered dentist who sees you face to face. They know your lifestyle habits, they know what you look like in person, they know what you would like to achieve, and most importantly…. they know what you teeth and gums actually look like!

With Invisalign, your dentist will check your teeth before treatment, ensuring you have no active gum disease, no cavities that require fillings, and they can take x rays to ensure you have no underlying abscesses which could flare up and cause problems. They will also arrange appointments with you for a review every few weeks, to ensure no problems have occured and to monitor your treatment to ensure nothing goes wrong.

As with all dental procedures, there are risks that come with Invisalign treatment, however these are minimised with regular reviews with your Invisalign dentist.

By using an Invisalign treatment with a dentist, they can ensure the impressions required to start your treatment are as perfect as possible before being sent away. Additionally if, like ourselves, they have a 3D scanner – they can take an actual scan of your teeth to send to Invisalign to create your Clini-check and aligners. (It doesn’t get much more accurate than that!)

Throughout an Invisalign treatment with a dentist, they will ensure everything fits correctly, adjust your teeth as required before treatment, and add small amounts of white composite to the fronts of some of your teeth to help create areas for the aligners to grip to move your teeth.

Home Teeth Straightening

By using a home tooth straightening kit, you don’t have a dentist there to take your x rays, check your teeth and gums and regularly review the treatment in person to ensure everything is going to plan. This can result in a higher chance of risks occurring, such as finishing treatment with straighter teeth that then need to be filled or extracted…. so not really the result you would hope for!

With home teeth straightening kits, they send you the basics of what you will need to take your own impressions to start. These impressions can sometimes need to be retaken even when a dentist does them for you, so they are extremely difficult to get accurate, especially on yourself!

When you complete these impressions at home, they are sent away to the laboratories that make the aligners for the online company, so it is essential that these are as accurate as possible to ensure the aligners will actually fit, and the course of treatment you require is correct. If these impressions are not taken correctly, they will need to be retaken and sent away again, adding more time to your treatment.

During the course of treatment, any reviews will be completed either other the phone, video chat or just through a chat or email with the company. This may or may not be with a dentist, and it’s certain that nobody will be there to physically examine how the treatment is progressing

Unfortunately, applying composite material and adjusting the spaces between your teeth at home is just something you’re not going to be able to do! Therefore meaning any treatment provided with your at home teeth straightening kit is not going to be the optimum of what you could achieve.

In a nutshell, registered dental professionals have a professional responsibility to follow the Standards for the Dental Team and provide patient-centered, safe care based on authoritative clinical guidance. Therefore you can be assured that your Invisalign dentist is working as safely as they possibly can to minimise any risks. Dental professionals also need to ensure that they are appropriately indemnified, meaning they are insured if anything were to go wrong. Those who do not comply with the Standards for the Dental Team, indemnity requirements and authoritative clinical guidance put patient safety, and their registration, at risk.

It is therefore our recommendation that patients visit a qualified Invisalign dentist or orthodontist for any tooth straightening treatments, to optimise your safety and take care of those pearly whites!

Starting the Little Ones off Right

We all know that those first visits to the dentist can make us a little anxious, so here are a few things you can do to help prepare children for their first dental visits!

1 – Start by preparing at home

Start to introduce your little one to the dentist by talking about their teeth, and telling them about the special chair that takes them on a fun ride! The chair can be a big, scary place for someone so small.
(Top tip, some childrens cartoons have dedicated dental episodes to help with just this! Pop them on for your little one to watch and see their favourite character go to the dentist too)

2 – Ensure good oral hygiene at home

Brushing at home is the best way to help your little one understand the dentist. Helping them brush and checking their teeth at home will help us to be able to check them here too! Don’t worry, you don’t need to know what decay looks like, just as long as your little one will happily open their mouth for you to check, it helps to develop a routine and make looking at their teeth a normal experience, which equals it being less strange as scary here!

3 – We LOVE to meet your cuddly friends!

Bringing a cuddly toy to the dentist can really help children to be confident for their check ups. Plus, we love to meet them, find out their names and if they are really lucky, their best buddy can even have a check up too to show you how it is done!

4 – Use a positive approach

Use positive language when talking about visiting the dentist, such as saying how fun and exciting it will be! We understand some parents suffer with dental anxieties, and we need to try our best to ensure children don’t develop any too.

Trips to the dentist don’t have to be scary, and instead should be portrayed as a fun experience with lots of praise for happy teeth! Our lovely dentists are all fantastic with children and helping to make check ups a positive experience.

We advise parents to bring children before the age of 1, even if they don’t have any teeth! These first appointments help to reassure children and familiarise them with the dentist, setting them up with dental confidence for life.

Plus…. it is always worth it for a sticker!

Win A Electric Toothbrush

Is your current electric toothbrush starting to fade, or maybe you’ve not had chance to pick one up yet nevertheless here’s your chance to grab one for free!

All you have to do is like and share our Facebook page along with tagging two friends to be in with a chance of winning.

Winner will be picked at random on the 23rd of August 2022

must be collected within 30 days

If you’ve never used a burst toothbrush before here are the specs:-


Whitening Charcoal PBT Nylon Bristles are super soft and naturally antimicrobial
At 33,000 sonic vibrations per minute, we’re blasting plaque with one of the strongest brush motors
The 700mAh Lithium Ion battery in our brush can give you 4 weeks of brushing on a single charge
3 Brushing Modes for all your needs: whitening, sensitive and massage
Brush for the dentist-approved 2 minutes with a movement reminder every 30 seconds
Details: The BURST Sonic Toothbrush will give you whiter teeth and make you feel proud of your smile.

Should I Use Mouthwash?

One of the most common questions we get asked by our patients, is whether they should incorporate mouthwash into their daily oral hygiene routine.

Mouthwash has always been advertised as a key item in any oral hygiene routine… take TV adverts for example….

Brush, rinse, mouthwash = healthy teeth and gums.

….right?

Don’t believe everything you see on TV.

Don’t get me wrong, mouthwash is a fantastic agent to an oral hygiene routine if used correctly. However, it needs to be used correctly.

So when should I use mouthwash?

Mouthwash should only ever be used at a separate time of day from brushing. And at least 1 hour after brushing.

Why?

So when we brush our teeth with a fluoride toothpaste, we are adding that protective fluoride to our mouths and creating a lovely protective coating for our teeth. By using mouthwash straight after brushing, you are rinsing that protective fluoride straight down the drain (literally!).

Mouthwash is also fantastic for aiding gum health in patients that suffer with gum disease. Your hygienist can then recommend a suitable, alcohol free mouthwash that contains fluoride to suit you.

It is worth noting that chlorhexidine mouthwash can cause staining if used too frequently.

Therefore if mouthwash is something you think you could benefit from, just ask your hygienist for some advice! They will let you know if this is something you really require, or if your oral hygiene can be maintained with just your regular toothbrushing and interdental cleaning instead.

Electric Vs Manual – Which to choose?

When it comes to dental and hygiene appointments, one of the most frequently asked questions is “should I use an electric or a manual toothbrush?” – we are here to provide the information you need to be able to choose which would work best for you.

Electric Toothbrush: A rechargeable electric toothbrush is the kind you plug into the wall to recharge, keeping the handle and replacing the brush head every three months. Rechargeable electric toothbrushes differ among the kind of cleaning technology they use, such as oscillating-rotating (3D Cleaning Action) or sonic technology.

Electric toothbrushes now come with multiple features, such as a pressure sensor, multiple brushing modes, timers and even Bluetooth to track where you have brushed and how effectively!

Electric toothbrushes have built in timers to help you record how long you are brushing for – something that a manual toothbrush can’t do. This then helps you to make sure every part of your mouth is getting the attention it requires to maintain good, effective cleaning.

The movements of the Electric toothbrush does almost all of the work for you, alongside the correct technique it is said in a recent new study to have healthier gums, less tooth decay and also prolong the life of teeth, compared to a manual toothbrush. If you are unsure of which technique to use, your Hygienist or Dentist would be more than happy to go over an efficient technique that would work for you!

If you are someone that struggles with dexterity or arthritis, then this would be the better option for you as there is less brushing work needed from you.

There is also an added benefit of less waste from replacing a manual toothbrush to a small replacement electric head, which is always an added bonus!!

Colorful toothbrushes on blue background. Top view.

Manual Toothbrush: Although manual toothbrushes don’t provide the benefits and features of a rechargeable electric toothbrush, they can still have their own benefits such as textured bristles, ergonomically designed handles, gum stimulators and tongue cleaning pads.

Manual Toothbrushes also come with their benefits, they have been around for a very long time, and are still an effective way of removing plaque build up from your teeth and gums, again with the correct technique this can be very effective.

So which should I choose?

Choosing a toothbrush is completely personal preference, and whichever you feel gives you the most effective clean. If you are comfortable using a Manual Toothbrush, and have found that your dentist feels as though you are doing a great job, then what’s the need to change? The most important thing to us is that you have something which you feel confident to brush well with and twice daily.

However, if you would like to take the plunge from a manual toothbrush to and electric, or would just like some advice on what you should be looking for when buying a new toothbrush; your hygienist/dentist would be more than happy to recommend a suitable brand and model for you at your next appointment!

Some of our favourite options can be found here:

Oral B:

https://amzn.to/2SAVBIT

https://amzn.to/3bcecl4

Phillips Sonicare:

https://amzn.to/3uFdNyY

https://amzn.to/3b9CpZj

Find out more about the hygienist treatments we have to offer at Newby Dental Practice here:

https://www.newbydentalpractice.co.uk/hygienist-treatments-shiny-teeth/