Top 10 Festive Season Dishes Your Dentist Hates
Which are your faves?
Summer has arrived and so has the festive season! This is a time to relax, enjoy good company and great food and drink…. There are a few menu items however that your dentist probably would prefer you to avoid.
Which are your faves?
Summer has arrived and so has the festive season! This is a time to relax, enjoy good company and great food and drink…. There are a few menu items however that your dentist probably would prefer you to avoid.
1. Icey Drinks
We all love a cold drink to get some relief from the heat. But when you get to the bottom of that cocktail, resist the urge to start chomping on the ice. Chewing on a hard substance can damage enamel and you risk dental emergencies such as chipped, cracked, or broken teeth.
2. Mixed nuts
Yummmm… delicious, salty nuts! Who can say no to a little old pistachio? Unless you want a cracked tooth, you should always say no to cracking them open with your teeth!
3. Potato chips
The crunch of a potato chip is so satisfying. But with the good comes the bad… They’re loaded with starch, which becomes sugar that can get trapped in and between the teeth and become food for the bacteria in plaque. Since it’s impossible to stop at one, there’s more acid production from the chips which sticks around for a while. After you’ve finished a bowl, just remember to floss and remove the little bits between your teeth.
4. Bread
It’s harmless, right? Wrong! When you chew bread, your saliva turns starches into sugar transforming it into a paste-like substance, causing it to stick to the crevices between your teeth, causing cavities. Search for alternative carbs, preferably whole wheat as they contain less added sugars and aren’t as easily broken down.
5. Candy
One candy in particular, will make your dentist extra sour… sour candy contains acids that are tougher on your teeth. The way they can cling to teeth means they’re also more likely to cause decay. Try chocolate instead of you need something sweet.
6. Sticky and Delicious
Dried fruits often make an appearance on the cheese board, but many dried fruits are sticky. Sticky foods can damage your teeth since they tend to stay on the teeth longer than other types of food. If you find yourself eating dried fruits or trail mix often, make sure to rinse with water after.
7. Tomato-based sauces
Tomatoes are packed full of many important nutrients and while their beautiful red colouring makes a dish vibrant, the pigment responsible for their deep red colour makes them a major offender for staining.
8. Balsamic vinegar
It may make a tasty salad dressing, but the deep pigmentation in balsamic vinegar means you need to watch out for its effects on your teeth.
9. Coffee and Tea
Many like to indulge in an after-dinner coffee or tea. Perhaps it’s not even your first of the day? Too much of these beverage favourites can stain your teeth. At least there are many teeth whitening options out there!
10. Toothpicks
After feasting on delicious roast meats, you’re likely to have leftovers lodged between your teeth. You should avoid toothpicks as they can damage the gums and if used frequently, can damage the enamel and wear away the roots of the teeth. They can also break and get stuck under your gums, which can be very painful. Reach for the dental floss or toothbrush instead!
Prefer to ignore this list entirely and enjoy yourself? That’s fine…. Just visit Emergency Dentist Sydney for a smile makeover… we’re here for you at any time of the day or night!
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10 Easy Ways to Boost Your General Health
How to Make 2019 a Healthy Year
How to Make 2019 a Healthy Year
The New Year is coming and with it all the opportunity for change and growth that you could ever want. It’s normal to make resolutions at this time of year, promises that will improve your life, your relationships or your work. While you’re setting these resolutions, make sure to base some on improving your general health as well. And if you’re struggling to find resolutions that will help, here are some that will make 2019 a happy and a healthy year for you.
1. Eat the Rainbow
You probably already know that you need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but did you know that you should be eating a rainbow? Fruits and vegetables of different colours contain different phytonutrients, all of which are essential for good functioning. So if you eat the rainbow every day, you’ll be much closer to getting all the nutrition you need.
2. Laugh More
Laughter does more than make you feel happy. It also boosts your immune system, eases pain and can help fight allergies. This is a habit that children indulge in, but forget as they grow up. So set a resolution to laugh more each day, and seek out ways to make it happen.
3. Drink More Water
Your body is more than 70 percent water, which is why dehydration is so damaging. Water lubricates your joints, makes your skin better and even improves your oral health. So make sure that you’re drinking at least 8 glasses a day to really start seeing a difference in your general health.
4. Get Your 8 Hours
When you’re busy and stressed, the first thing to go is usually sleep. After all, what harm can it do to miss a few hours here and there? But thinking this way is a mistake. No matter what anyone says, your body can’t function at its best if you’re not getting enough sleep. This is time that your body needs to heal, to relax, and to prepare for the new day, so honour that and take the time you need.
5. Exercise Everyday
This doesn’t mean that you have to join a gym. Even a quick walk around the block every day will improve your mood and start toning your muscles. And no matter how busy you are, you can always find 15 minutes to gain these kinds of benefits.
6. Straighten Up
If you sit at a desk all day for work, chances are that your posture isn’t very good. Working at a computer tends to make people round their shoulders and hunch forwards. This can cause neck and back pain and cramps the lungs so it’s harder to breathe. Work on straightening and lifting. Not only will this improve your muscle tone, it will make you feel and look better too.
7. Get to Know Food Labels
You probably don’t really know what’s in your food. If you’re trying to lose weight and struggling, then start learning about the measurements and ingredients on labels. You’ll probably be really surprised which foods have a lot of hidden sugars in them.
8. Go to the Dentist
If your oral health is bad then it can affect your entire body. Infections from your mouth can travel throughout your system and cause heart or lung infections or even end up in your brain. So make sure you visit the dentist regularly and take care of your body from the mouth outwards.
9. Reduce Stress
Stress is one of the biggest killers in the modern world. It’s linked to heart disease, stroke and different types of cancers as well as to mental health disorders. So if you really want to improve your life, look at your stress levels and take steps to reduce or eliminate causes of stress. You can also adopt practices that reduce stress such as yoga or meditation.
10. Connect to Others
This is the big one. A recent Harvard study conducted over decades showed that the key to health and happiness is relationships. Not money. Not your job or car. It’s how connected you feel to the people and to the world around you. This is a truth that’s often forgotten in the modern world with devastating results. Loneliness or disconnection has been linked to mental health disorders as well as to a variety of physical diseases and problems. So have a look at your relationships. Do you have enough in-person relationships? How connected do you feel to those people? And if you have reasons to be concerned, then take steps to improve the relationships you have and to forge new ones. This is one change that you will never regret.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
So have a happy and a healthy Christmas and New Year. And if you have a dental emergency over the festive season, contact our Emergency Dentist in Sydney. Our caring and expert staff are available 24 hours a day to help you with all your emergency dental needs.
Use It or Lose It
Health Insurance Benefits Are About to Expire
Health Insurance Benefits Are About to Expire
If you have health insurance that includes dentistry, then you need to make sure you get the most from it. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that their dental benefits may run out at the end of the year. So if you want to get the most from your insurance, here’s what you need to know.
About Health Funds
Every health insurance fund is different and offers different benefits and rules. Generally speaking, these funds usually cover all or part of your regular dental check-ups. This means that you should probably get two visits to your dentist a year that are covered by your insurance. Unfortunately, if you forget about this, put it off, or don’t understand the rules, you’ll miss out.
The majority of health funds have a benefit year that starts on the 1st of January and ends on the 31st of December. Of course, this doesn’t mean that your fund runs out on New Year’s, leaving you uninsured. Instead, it means that if you don’t use your dental benefits before the end of the year, they will expire. So basically, you’ll be paying for dental visits that you aren’t using. This is both a waste of money and a missed opportunity, because having regular dental check-ups is essential for your oral health.
Use Your Dental Benefits
Check your policy
Every health fund and policy is different. So check with your provider and learn about the dental benefits that you should be getting from them. Also, make sure that you make note of any expiry dates and keep them in mind, particularly at this time of the year.
Make an appointment
If you have benefits that are about to expire, make an appointment with your dentist before the New Year. This will improve your oral health over the Christmas period, when you really want your pearly whites to look their absolute best. It will also help you to avoid pain, discomfort, and a visit to the after hours dentist during the festive season.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
So make sure you’re getting what you paid for this Christmas Season. Contact our Emergency Dentist in Sydney and get your teeth in the best health possible. Our caring and expert staff are available 24 hours a day to help you with all your emergency dental needs.
Festive Season Dental Emergencies
We've Seen It All
We've Seen It All
The Christmas holidays are usually a fabulous time for everybody. Family! Fun! Friends! Pressies! Food! Booze! Lots of food and booze normally. Santa surprises all the kiddies and then we get to ring in a New Year with even more parties, even more fun and, you got it, even more food and booze.
It might surprise you to learn that while most companies have a quieter time during the Christmas holidays, at Emergency Dentist Sydney it’s one of our busiest periods. Why? Because the festive season is fun, but not always very tooth friendly. Which is what we want to discuss today; the dangers that might be facing your teeth this Christmas and what you can do about them.
The Stress Catches Up
It's been a long year for all of us. Busy at work. Or busy at school. Certainly, busy at home and usually busy outside the home as well. The world has certainly been a strange place this year as well, and many of us are heading into the holidays feeling more than a little bit stressed.
What you may not know is that all that stress can affect your teeth. Those under a great deal of it are more prone to developing pericoronitis, inflammation in the soft tissues surrounding the crown of a tooth that is only partially erupted, usually a wisdom tooth.
This can cause pain, swelling, difficulty eating, even fever and fainting at times. In most cases it is a final signal that it is time to plan on finally getting those wisdom teeth properly accessed and removed, so that the patient can go into a new year pain free and with a much happier smile.
Eating Emergencies
As we mentioned, food plays a huge part in the festive season. All kinds of extra goodies are around to tempt us and lots of them are the sticky, sugary kind that are far from friendly to teeth. Combine this with a tendency to consume more sugary beverages - and that includes those colourful Christmas cocktails most of which are loaded with the stuff - and possibly poorer than usual oral hygiene, thanks to being too tired or 'tired' (drunk) to remember to brush and floss at bedtime and you often have a recipe for future disaster for your teeth.
New Year's Disasters
New Year's is a very strange time. Full of hope for the new year and nostalgia for the old many adults venture out to have a great night partying ahead of the big countdown at midnight. And all too often a few (a lot) more drinks than usual leads to falls, fights and broken - or knocked out - teeth. And even if you do stay in control and in good spirits once again you are quite likely to forget to start the new year with a good tooth brushing before bed as you may not actually remember how you got there!
Seasonal Oral Health Safety Tips
Don't slack on your oral healthcare routine- No matter how busy (or 'tired') you are twice daily brushing is a must and you shouldn't slow down the flossing either. With all the work you'll be asking them to do your teeth deserve a little extra pampering and TLC at this time of year, and that should always begin by making sure they are clean.
Cut down on the sweet stuff - Yes there are tons of cakes, puddings, sweeties and choccies around during the Christmas holidays but there is lots of other good stuff as well. Try to include more savoury snacks than sweet on your buffet plate and if possible find a way to brush your teeth after eating, or at the very least chew on a piece of sugar free gum and have a glass of water to help wash some of that nasty decay causing bacteria away.
Don't suffer in silence - If you do find that your wisdom teeth flare up, or that near cavity is becoming a real cavity now that it’s been exposed to too many sweets, or you have tooth pain for reasons you don't understand, you do not have to spend the holidays suffering in silence. Call an emergency dentist, they'll be there to help.
And if the 'worst' should occur and you fall (or fight) and crack, break or even lose a tooth don't panic. There are lots of things an emergency dentist can do to help in these understandably upsetting situations that will still allow you to start a new year with a smile.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
We hope you have a lovely festive season and that dental problems are the last thing on your mind. But if they do crop up we're here to help and we'll even put the Christmas films on the telly for you if you must come in and see us, so that you don't lose too much of that festive vibe!
An Alternative Easter
There are plenty of healthier treats that you can use to create Easter goodie baskets that are a little healthier for everyone...
Alternatives to Chocolate That Still Make Great Easter Treats for Everyone
Easter is, in many parts of the world and to many people, second only to Christmas in terms of importance on their religious holiday calendars. These days the same can be said for chocolate manufacturers, as the demand for chocolate Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs, chocolate chicks and those big Easter novelty Easter eggs that are both made from chocolate and stuffed with chocolate increases every year.
All of this means that in the average Sydney family home on Easter Sunday does tend to be one filled fuelled with sugar, chocolate stains and kids bouncing off the walls, thanks to fact that they have consumed half of their Easter 'haul' already. It's not exactly very healthy and it's certainly not very oral health friendly.
However, surely any Mum or Dad who fails to provide a basket full of choccie goodies on Easter Sunday is borderline cruel? Well, not necessarily, there are plenty of healthier treats that you can use to create Easter goodie baskets that are a little better for everyone - grown-ups included - while still being fun. Here are just a few ideas to get started with.
Colouring Books
Yes, colouring books are rather old-fashioned, or they were. Suddenly 'adult' colouring is a 'thing' and tons of grown-ups are reliving their youth by picking up their crayons and coloured pencils again as a form of 'stress relief'. This does mean that if you add a colouring book and a box of crayons to everyone's baskets not only will you be providing some cheap amusement for the kiddies but also proving how hip you are to the grown-ups!
Easter Egg Crayons
As we're on the subject, you could take this chance to add a little extra Easter pizzazz to those crayons we were talking about. Gather up all those little bits of broken crayon that are hiding all over the house and turn them into something rather neat, by pressing them into egg shaped baking moulds, melting them in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then allowing them to cool. Once popped out of the moulds you'll have bright and colourful 'Easter Crayons' that should make everyone 'ooh' and 'aah'.
Discount Store Finds
For the kiddies a trip to the two dollar shop can prove to be a fruitful source of little goodies that will help fill the 'hole' left in their baskets by a lack of chocolate. From toy water guns to skipping ropes, pavement chalk, little stuffed bunnies and even simple Easter craft kits, there are usually lots of choices available if you look for them and you might even find something whimsical for the adults too.
Non-Chocolate Edibles
In the end, Easter baskets wouldn't really be Easter baskets without at least some sweet edibles hidden away inside. But there are better alternatives to the standard choccie treats that will appeal to kids AND adults. Try filling plastic Easter eggs (the two dollar store should be a help here too) with small portions of jellybeans, trail mix or pop in a bunny shaped biscuit. You might even be able to get away with carrot sticks if your package them up nicely and remind the kids how much bunnies like them. And if you really must add some chocolate, try cutting up some fresh fruit and dipping it in melted dark chocolate, something that should appeal to everyone, no matter what their age.
The Emergency Dentist Says:
Opting to give a healthier Easter basket this year isn't being a spoilsport, it simply makes more sense for your loved ones' health. And don't forget, however many sugary snacks everyone does consume at Easter a good brushing and flossing afterwards can minimise the strain the holiday puts on the health of their teeth!
Got A Chipped Tooth?
A trip, a fall, biting into a harder than you expected apple, even knocking your tooth a bit too hard on a coffee mug can all quite easily result in a chipped tooth...
It's Now an Easy Fix, Here’s How
It's not hard to chip a tooth. In fact it's a lot easier than you might think. A trip, a fall, biting into a harder than you expected apple, even knocking your tooth a bit too hard on a coffee mug can all quite easily result in a chipped tooth.
The aesthetic effect is what upsets many people most. All that time spent brushing and flossing, going for regular dental checkups and doing just what the dentist said in order to get the best smile possible is now, in their minds, ruined because of a Granny Smith that was more like a rock than a healthy addition to their diet.
But there are other reasons why a chipped tooth can be a problem too. A chip allows bacteria to get into the tooth, where it will eventually erode away the dentine, which is a soft layer that lies directly beneath the tooth enamel. This will eventually result in the soft pulp of the tooth being compromised too, leading to cavities and tooth decay.
Dealing with a Chipped Tooth
So, by now you will have figured out that dealing with a chipped tooth, and doing so as quickly as possible, really is a must. And there is some very good news here. Advances in dental technology have made it possible for a good dentist to treat and fix a chipped tooth more effectively than ever before.
The reason for this is that these days nasty metal fillings - as fillings are often the best solution for a chipped tooth - really are a thing of the past. Today's fillings are not only more durable and somewhat easier for a dental professional to place but they are also tooth coloured.
Not tooth coloured in the way that a plaster is flesh coloured, in that the colour matches someone's flesh somewhere but certainly not yours, but in that the fillings can be mixed to match your unique tooth colour for a finished effect that is not only wonderfully durable but also pretty darn good looking as well.
The Techie Stuff
The way that dentists can do all of this is pretty impressive as well. Using a composite quartz resin - basically a really tough plastic - and a special LED light - once it's in place a filling can be hardened in about ten seconds and within minutes you and your newly repaired tooth will basically be good to go. The new part of the tooth can be brushed and cared for usual and it will be as tough as the 'real' tooth it replaced. Don't forget we're always here after hours during the Christmas season to help you out.
The #EmergencyDentist Says:
We get more incidents of chipped teeth during the December January silly season than any other time. Watch yourself at those christmas parties, new years parties and sprints across the hot sand or cement at the beach ;)
Patient Care First
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