In keeping with our preventative care policy at Clock Tower Dental Care Dr Nicola Taylor returned to school recently to encourage and inform local schoolchildren to keep their teeth healthy.
Nicola visited Class 1 and Class 2 at Fountains C of E Primary School to help the children understand how to look after their teeth. They played games to identify which foods were good and bad for your teeth, looked at pictures of what happens to teeth if they are not looked after properly and used disclosing tablets to see where plaque likes to stick to teeth. Nicola, who thoroughly enjoyed her visit, said “It was interesting to see what the children thought about food and looking after their teeth. Some children thought chocolate coated cereal would be good for their teeth because it was cereal whereas the chocolate coating isn’t good for teeth. It is important that children know how to look after their teeth from a young age as this will ensure that they have healthy mouths for as long as possible, reducing the need for fillings and extractions.”
The children wrote to thank Nicola for her visit saying how much they had enjoyed the activities and promising that they would try hard to look after their teeth in the future.
If your school is interested in having a similar visit please contact the practice to see what we can arrange.
From your teeth’s point of view water is not good for you when it has bubbles in it. Drinking sparkling mineral water is the same as drinking other non-sugar or diet fizzy drinks. While these drinks do not contain sugar they are acidic and can lead to acid erosion of the tooth surface which in turn can lead to sensitive teeth and excessive tooth surface loss.
So what can you do if you want to enjoy fizzy drinks and minimise the damage to your teeth?
If you have a fizzy drink wait at least half an hour before brushing your teeth to let the your salivia neutralise the acid in the drink and remineralise your teeth
Drink them through a straw- the acid has less chance to attack the teeth
Only have fizzy drinks occasionally- children especially should have not have fizzy drinks regularly
If your teeth are sensitive you should:
Tell your dentist! Acid erosion is not the only cause of sensitivity.
Limit your intake of acidic drinks and food eg red wine, fizzy drinks, citrus fruits and fruit juices
Use a desensitising toothpaste to brush your teeth
To answer the question, plain water is good for you but sparkling water should be drunk in moderation for the benefit of your teeth.
The team at Clock Tower Dental Care is delighted to welcome the Changing Faces Denture Clinic and dental technician Chris Egan to the practice. Clinical Director Donald Sloss says “The arrival of the Clinic at the practice means that those patient who require new or replacement dentures can discuss their needs directly with Chris who will be making the dentures for them. Chris is a highly regarded technician with a wealth of experience which will complement our clinical team. ” The Clinic is available to everyone , whether patients of the practice or not, and Chris is keen to ensure that all denture patients have realistic, well fitting dentures that reflect the patient’s identity and give the patient a naturally beautiful smile. Donald and Chris are particularly looking forward to working closely together on implant retained dentures- where the patient has a small number of dental implants placed in the mouth and the dentures are then fixed to these implants ensuring a fantastic fitting denture that doesn’t need to be removed for cleaning, gives a beautiful smile and enables the patient to eat virtually any food they choose to.
If you would like an appointment at the Clinic and are not a patient of the practice simply phone the reception team on 01765 602161 to arrange one. If you are already a patient of the practice then arrange to see your dentist to discuss your denture needs.
If you have had an appointment with us in the last two weeks or so then maybe you’ve experienced the new system that we are trialling- reminder messages by text. The system sends reminders to those patients whose mobile number is in our records and is an easy way for patients to remember their appointments. If you would like to use this system please ensure that we have your current mobile phone number when you attend for your next appointment. If you have already had a text reminder from us please tell us how useful you found it to help us decide whether to keep the system running after this initial trial period.
The newspapers have recently been running stories about the perverse incentives/disincentives of the new NHS dental contract, e.g. today’s Daily Telegraph*.
Don Sloss, our Clinical Director, says of the new contract ” Even after nearly 3 ½ years most people cannot understand how the contract works and that includes dentists. Although I am not suggesting that dentists at other practices would allow their clinical decisions to be influenced by whether they make a profit or a loss from treating their patients it must be understood that they need to cover their substantial overheads or go bankrupt. Can you imagine working in a system that pays you the same whether you produce one unit of activity (filling) or ten with the result that some patients may not be getting the full treatment they require? Or a system that pays you the same for spending hours carrying out extensive treatment to save a decayed tooth or ten minutes to extract it even though that extraction may cause the patient more treatment in the future?
At Clock Tower Dental Care we believe in delivering a high quality of care for all our patients and making decisions based on the clinical condition of the patient and their teeth, not how we are going to get paid. Articles like these confirm that the move away from the NHS was in the best interests of our patients and I can only see the situation for NHS dental patients getting worse in the future.”
We are sad to announce that nurse Vikki Grindle is leaving the practice to go to Australia. Vikki, who has been with the practice for 5 years, ia a valued member of the team and will be missed by all of us. However we are looking forward to regular updates on all things dental in Australia and maybe even organising nursing exchanges when Vikki is settled. Since joining the practice Vikki gained both her NVQ in dental nursing and her nurses radiography qualification. Of her time at the practice Vikki said “I’ve really enjoyed it and I feel I’ve made friends for life here. I’ll miss all the team and the patients. I’m sure it’ll be exciting in Australia but it will be hard to find another practice like this.”
The team presented Vikki with a camera already loaded with photos of team members and the practice so that she would remember them as well as being able to take photos of Australia to send back to the team here.
Don has just returned from the latest British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry scientific meeting which was held in Cardiff this year. Having lectured at the last meeting Don was able to sit back and enjoy this meeting. Commenting after the meeting Don said “These meetings offer an excellent opportunity to hear dentists and technicians from across the world talk on the latest techniques and materials which we may be able to incorporate into our work in Ripon. It is also a great chance to talk with other dentists who are dedicated to providing their patients with smiles that are technically as good as they can be as well as being beautiful and natural to look at. “
At last our practice welcome video is here. We hope you enjoy it and if you are not already a patient of the practice we hope it will give you a good idea about what we can do for you and what to expect when you visit us. If you are already a patient and know someone who is looking for a dentist why not recommend the video to them ?
Many thanks go to the patients who were kind enough to participate in the filming of the video, we appreciate it and are honoured that you place your trust in us for your treatment.
A study from Japan* has shown that regularly drinking green tea can be good for your gums helping to prevent gum diseases. It is thought that the anti oxidants in green tea may help by offsetting the inflammation caused by bacteria in the mouth. The study of 940 men showed a reduction in gum problems including bleeding and receding gums for each additional cup of green tea drunk each day. We assume this would also be the case in women! So if you want an easy way to supplement your daily dental health routine why not change your regular tea or coffee to green tea and see if you notice an improvement ( this is in addition to your daily brushing and flossing). Please let us know how you get on.
The Daily Telegraph (11.8.09) published the findings of an Ohio research team which seems to show that redheads are more than twice as likely to avoid the dentists than those blondes or brunettes. This follows previous studies that indicate that people with the MC1R genetic variant associated with red hair require more anaesthetic during treatment to become numb. What does this mean for your dental treatment at Clock Tower Dental Care? Dr Don Sloss say’s “Our clinical team has long been aware that there is a difference in the amount, and sometimes type, of anaesthetic required to achieve the same effects in individuals requiring the same treatment. As a result of this we always listen to the patients responses and treat them according to those responses rather than the “average” guidelines. This means each patient gets the treatment that is best suited to them regardless of their hair colour”.
