Your Child’s First Lost Tooth
How to make it a positive experience
How to make it a positive experience
Losing that first tooth is an important experience for any child. It’s a sign that they’re growing up. And it’s also a sign that they need to take better care of their oral health because adult teeth don’t grow back if they’re lost. However, losing that first tooth isn’t always a positive experience. It can be painful, involve some blood, and even traumatise children, which can affect how they feel about their overall oral health. If you want to make this experience a positive one for your child, there are a number of things you can do.
The Impact of a Lost Tooth
For children, life is full of new experiences both positive and negative. And every experience influences their emotional development and how they feel about related events in the future. This is particularly true when it comes to their first lost tooth. According to research, about one in five children experience negative emotions like fear or pain with the loss of a tooth. This event is often paired with a trip to the dentist as well, which can negatively influence how they feel about dentists as well as how they feel about their oral health.
This combination of experiences can result in dental fear or a reluctance to visit the dentist that can last well into adulthood. And this is a problem because having regular dental check-ups is essential if you want good oral health over the long term. That’s why it’s so important that you make this important experience as positive as possible for your children.
Making a Tooth Loss Positive
There are a number of strategies that you can try to make the loss of a tooth a positive experience for children. Some of the most effective are as follows:
Build the anticipation
Research indicates that the longer children anticipate the loss of a tooth, the more exciting it is for them. So as soon as your child’s tooth starts to wiggle, start building their excitement about the day when it finally comes loose. This will give them a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Focus on the rite of passage
Most children want to grow up and be a ‘big kid’, and nothing proves how big they’re growing like a lost baby tooth. So help them focus on how grown up they’ll be once the baby tooth falls out rather than on the more negative aspects of the event.
Don’t use tools.
Never use tools like pliers to remove your child’s tooth. Baby teeth fall out when they’re ready and if you try to pull them out more quickly it will cause dental pain and bleeding.
Let your child take the lead.
Encourage your child to wiggle the tooth with a clean finger or with their tongue, but don’t make them do it. Let them lead the way and do as much as they’re comfortable with. This puts the control in their hands and will really help them feel the importance of this rite of passage.
Talk about the Tooth Fairy
The Tooth Fairy was created to remove the fear of losing baby teeth and for good reason. Promising a reward, monetary or otherwise, for every lost tooth is a great way to make the whole experience a positive one.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have any concerns about your child’s lost or loose teeth, 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.
Why Sleep Is More Important Than Food
The absolute best way to improve your health and wellbeing
The absolute best way to improve your health and wellbeing
If you want to keep your mouth healthy, then you need to take steps to improve the health of your entire body. It isn’t enough to have a clean mouth if your body is unhealthy because this will affect your oral health in numerous ways. There is a lot of advice out there on how to keep your mouth healthy, but most of it ignore the most vital tip of all.
Sleep vs Food
There is a lot of advice out there on the importance of your diet in determining your health. And most of this advice is quite correct. The quality of your diet determines your weight, your energy levels, and whether your body has the nutrients it needs to function correctly. And if you go without food for a prolonged period you feel weak, foggy in the head, and lose weight. That’s why most eating plans suggest that you eat regularly and avoid fasting so you can avoid these negative effects.
However, there are a lot of sources that claim you should cut down on the amount that you sleep in order to be more productive. This might seem like an ideal suggestion at first thought, after all you can survive just fine with one hour less of sleep a night and it could help you get ahead of your To Do list. But this practice could be more detrimental than you think.
You can go without food for up to 70 days without dying (don’t try this at home). However, if you try to go without sleep for even a week, you will notice immediate and severe side effects. This is made obvious by the case of Randy Gardener, who holds the world record for going the longest time without sleep. He went 11 days and 25 minutes without sleeping and the people around him noticed a number of negative effects including moodiness, paranoia, hallucinations, and problems with his concentration and short term memory.
The Effects of Not Sleeping
Even mild sleep deprivation can have a noticeable and negative effect on every part of your life. Here are some of the effects that sleep deprivation can have:
It hinders your ability to store new knowledge, affecting your memory.
It slows down your reaction speed, which makes driving more dangerous.
Your cognitive speed decreases.
Your decision making abilities are negatively impacted.
It may cause physical problems such as high blood pressure and obesity.
Sleeping for Good Health
No matter what any productivity plan or guru tells you, your body and your brain need a certain amount of sleep to function at their best. This can be difficult in our busy modern world, where people are expected to ‘burn the midnight oil’, do shift work, or take their work home with them and work well into the night. However, doing this will only damage your health and your performance at work.
Studies show that only 2.5 percent of people feel fully rested on less than 7 hours of sleep. 95 percent of people need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep, with another 2.5 percent sleeping more than eight hours. This means that if you want good health, you need to listen to your body and give it plenty of sleep. This will not only improve your thinking and productivity at work, it will also impact your oral health as well.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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
Does Poor Oral Hygiene Cause Depression?
How your dentist could improve your mental health
How your dentist could improve your mental health
Mental health is a serious concern for a lot of people. Disorders such as depression or anxiety are becoming more common these days, or perhaps they’re just becoming more visible as the people involved realise that they have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. This issue is also relevant in dentistry, as there are a number of studies that suggest that your oral health could be important in your mental health as well.
Depression and Oral Health
Depression is a serious and debilitating problem and now there is evidence to suggest that your oral health could affect your chances of suffering from this condition. The study, performed by Deakin University, found that poor dental health increased the likelihood of depression. This information was taken from a health survey of more than 10,000 people aged between 20 and 75 and measured dental health based on the number of reported dental conditions.
This study also found that there is a link between oral health and the severity of depression. Basically, they found that the more dental conditions a participant had, the greater the severity of their depression. This strong link may be because of inflammation. Factors that cause inflammation in the body such as obesity or other medical conditions can contribute to the biological processes that cause depression. And because dental infections and poor oral health also cause inflammation, it may be exacerbating or causing depression in the same way.
A lot more research is needed before this connection is fully understood. However, it again highlights the importance of taking care of your oral health in every way possible if you want to live a healthy and happy life.
Anxiety and Oral Health
Anxiety is a common problem here at Emergency Dentist Sydney. It can range from a general preference to stay away from the dentist to full blown phobia and can seriously affect your oral health.
People with dental anxiety are far more likely to neglect their regular check-ups and ignore dental pain in the hope that it will go away. They’re also much more likely to have to make a trip to an after hours dentist with a painful cavity that’s been ignored for far too long. In fact, a recent study showed that people with dental phobias are more likely to have missing teeth and cavities than people who don’t have phobias. This means that anxiety not only affects your oral health, it can also makes your dental visits more involved and unpleasant, which will probably just worsen your phobia.
Emergency Dentist Sydney on Phobias and Depression
Here at Emergency Dentist Sydney, our staff are trained and experienced in helping patients overcome their fears and achieve better oral health. We offer a range of options and services to make your dental appointments more pleasant, from calming medications to distraction techniques and caring, sympathetic staff.
We’re focused on your oral health, which is why we welcome everyone without judgement, and will do our best to help you overcome any barriers to the best dental health of your life.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
What To Expect From Pulp Extirpation
How this treatment will benefit your oral health
How this treatment will benefit your oral health
Tooth pain is a very common reason to visit an after hours dentist. Most of the time, when you experience tooth pain, it will be because of a large cavity that has caused an infection.
And when this occurs you may need a root canal, which means that your dentist will perform a pulp extirpation first. This might sound scary, but it’s a fairly simple procedure that will save your tooth and almost immediately alleviate your pain. So if you need this procedure, here’s what to expect.
A Pulp Extirpation is part of a root canal treatment procedure
What is a Root Canal?
Root canals are usually performed when you have a tooth that’s so badly damaged from infection or injury that it can’t be fixed. This procedure will save the infected tooth. This is important because if you have the tooth removed, it can lead to further problems. When you have missing teeth, it can cause bone loss and make other teeth cave in towards the gap. To avoid this, you will need to have additional dental surgery to get a dental implant, which is a replacement tooth that’s attached to a titanium rod your dentist will surgically implant in your gum. The best way to avoid these problems is to have a root canal, which involves scooping out the pulp and replacing it with inert material. .
What is Pulp Extirpation?
Pulp extirpation involves removing the pulp from inside the tooth as part of the root canal procedure. You may need to have this treatment if you experience the following symptoms:
Pain or discomfort when biting down.
Pain that ranges from dull to severe in the roots and gum.
Discolouration on the gum that excretes pus.
Gum swelling around the infected tooth or teeth.
As part of the root canal procedure, your dentist will need to remove the pulp of your tooth or teeth. The pulp is a soft material that includes blood vessels and nerves. It’s often referred to as the nerve and extends from the root of the tooth nearly all the way to the tip. The pulp allows you to sense hot and cold and is the part of the tooth that feels pain when it becomes infected. Without the pulp, the tooth is basically dead and can’t feel anything, though the outer shell can still function perfectly well without the inner living matter.
During a pulp extirpation, your dentist will basically remove all of the infected inner tissue of the affected tooth. This will remove all the bacteria that’s causing the pain and infection and prevent it from travelling into the tooth. After the pulp is removed, it can be replaced with an inert material that preserves the strength of the tooth, saves it from extraction, and allows it to function as normal.
The Pulp Extirpation Procedure
If you need to have this procedure performed, here’s what to expect from the treatment:
You will be given a local anaesthetic.
Your dentist will make a hole in your tooth using the laser.
The pulp extirpation is performed and the infected pulp is removed.
The inside of the tooth is cleaned to prepare for the next stage of the root canal.
Inert material is put into the tooth.
The hole in the tooth is sealed and a crown is placed on the tooth.
The pulp extirpation can be performed on one visit. However, if the infection is severe you may need to make several trips to the dentist before the infection is cleared completely.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
Need Advice Or Emergency Dental Care In Sydney CBD?
Contact our friendly team
How Much Bacteria Is in My Mouth?
The Problems and Solutions
The Problems and Solutions
You might look in the mirror and think your teeth are clean but it’s the things you can’t see that matter. Bacteria are tiny organisms that live in every organ in your body and over every inch of your skin. And most of the time they’re absolutely harmless as well as essential to your continued health and wellbeing. But when it comes to your oral health, there are a few bacteria that can do a lot of damage.
Tooth Decay Bacteria
Bacteria can be found all through your mouth and can build up depending on what you eat and do. The most common type of bacteria that causes tooth decay is called Streptococcus mutans. This bacteria is always found in the mouth and feeds on the sugars and starches that you eat. The worst bit is that it secretes acids that attack the enamel of your teeth, causing cavities and gum disease.
Gum Disease Bacteria
Gum disease can cause a lot of damage to your mouth. There are two types of bacteria that usually cause gum disease, known as Treponema denticola and Porphyromonas gingivalis. These bacteria can increase in number and secrete toxins that disrupt the normal balance of bacteria in your mouth. When this occurs, the bacteria attack the gums and cause infection, pain, and even tooth loss. Gum disease can be a serious problem, so if you think you have it make sure you seek professional help as soon as possible as it must be treated by a qualifies dentist to ensure the best outcome possible.
How to Keep Your Mouth Healthy
It’s impossible to get rid of all the bacteria in your mouth, and if you managed to do so you would be extremely sick. However, you need to be aware of the problems that some of these bacteria can cause and take measures to control their numbers and keep your mouth healthy. The following steps will help you do that:
Brush at least twice a day, especially after meals.
Floss your teeth every time you brush.
Make sure you see your dentist regularly for check-ups and cleans.
Chew sugarless gum after meals to encourage saliva
Use an anti-bacterial mouthwash regularly.
Avoid sugary foods and drinks.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
For the best general and emergency dental care, 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.
How Nail Biting Will Hurt Your Teeth
Why You Should Stop for the Sake of Your Oral Health
Why You Should Stop for the Sake of Your Oral Health
Nail biting is a very common habit that can start in childhood and continue throughout your life.
If you have this habit, you probably worry about the damage that it does to your nails and how it affects the appearance of your hands. But nail biting can do more than make it hard to wear nail polish. It can also impact your oral health and make you more likely to need a trip to an after hours dentist to repair the damage.
Why Bite Your Nails?
There is no clear cause of nail biting, but most of the time it’s associated with stress. This is a habit that often starts in childhood as a natural progression from finger or thumb sucking. Chewing your nails can help relieve tension, anxiety, stress or boredom. So when you find yourself in a situation that prompts these reactions, you’ll probably find yourself biting your nails. Unfortunately, this can be a difficult habit to break, even if you know that you’re damaging your oral health every time you bite.
How Nail Biting Affects Your Oral Health
Biting your nails can seriously affect the health of your gums and your teeth in a number of ways. Here are some of the problems that you might encounter if you bite your nails:
The grinding action can wear away the enamel on your teeth and cause cracked or chipped teeth.
Your nails get harder when you constantly bite them, which means that chewing them is even more difficult and will cause more damage the longer you have the habit.
Biting your nails puts pressure on your teeth, which can cause them to shift and leave gaps in your smile.
Biting your nails can weaken the roots of your teeth and cause your jaw bone to reabsorb them, which means that the affected tooth or teeth will fall out.
There is a lot of bacteria under your nails and every time you bite them you’re transferring it to your mouth, which can lead to gum disease.
Nail biting can do damage to your temporomandibular joint or TMJ, which can result in jaw pain or chewing difficulties.
If you chew your nails you’re more likely to develop Bruxism, which is a chronic teeth grinding habit that causes oral health problems as well as headaches and muscle pain.
How to Break the Habit
Breaking any habit is difficult and nail biting is no different. However, it’s also essential to break this habit if you want to protect and maintain your oral health. If you’re ready to get rid of this habit, here are some strategies that will help:
Find something else to do with your hands when you’re nervous, such as playing with a stress ball.
Keep your nails cut short and neat or get a manicure so they look too nice to ruin.
Get bad tasting nail polish from the chemist and put it on your nails.
Identify activities or experiences that set off the nail biting and plan to do something else instead.
Ask the people around you to stop you every time you start to bite your nails.
All of these strategies will help you find a better way to deal with negative emotions. And they will also help you avoid a late night visit to an after hours dentist with a serious dental problem.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
Need Advice Or Emergency Dental Care In Sydney CBD?
Contact our friendly team
Pericoronitis and Wisdom Teeth
Why It’s Important to See Your Dentist as Soon as You See Signs of Wisdom Teeth
Why It’s Important to See Your Dentist as Soon as You See Signs of Wisdom Teeth
Good dental health involves more than brushing twice a day. You can take extra care of your teeth and gums by maintaining healthy eating habits and visiting your dentist for regular check-ups. These practices can prevent dental problems such as tooth decay but there are still a number of other conditions and problems that you need to look out for. Pericoronitis can be a concern during your late teens and early twenties, when your wisdom teeth come through. It’s a potentially serious condition that can cause long and short term problems for your oral health. That’s why we’ve created this quick guide to this condition, so you can spot it while it’s still easy to treat.
What is Pericoronitis?
Pericoronitis is an infection in the gums around the wisdom teeth and it usually causes pain, swelling and discomfort. The infection surrounds the crown of the wisdom teeth and usually occurs when the wisdom teeth is only partly-erupted. This happens because they are partially erupted, leaving gaps and holes in the gum making it easy for food or plaque to enter and spread.
Signs and Symptoms
You should see your dentist as soon as you feel your wisdom teeth coming through. Your dentist can then take an X-ray to see if there’s enough room for the new teeth, and advise you on your options. They will also be able to see if there are any gaps, holes or gum flaps caused by the growth of the teeth that could cause problems. However, if seeing your dentist is not an option at the time, you need to watch out for signs of infection around your new teeth. There are several symptoms of pericoronitis that you should be aware of including:
Pain in and around the affected area.
Swelling of the gum around the tooth.
Swelling of the face or throat on the infected side.
A bad taste in the mouth or bad breath caused by leaking pus.
How to Treat Pericoronitis
If the infection around the base of your wisdom tooth is mild, you can treat it by rinsing with warm salt water and making sure the gaps in your gums are kept clean. You also need to make an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible. Pericoronitis is usually a sign that your mouth is too crowded for your wisdom teeth, and they will need to be removed before they cause further problems.
If the infection is more severe, with obvious swelling in your face and neck, see your dentist immediately. You will need antibiotics to clear up the infection, and it’s a good idea to take some painkillers as well.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
For professional and emergency dental care, make an appointment with our helpful staff here at Emergency Dentist Sydney.
Need Advice Or Emergency Dental Care In Sydney CBD?
Contact our friendly team
Emergency Dentist Sydney's 2019 Team
Starting the New Year With a Solid Team
Starting the New Year With a Solid Team
2018 has been a great year here at Emergency Dentist Sydney, with a lot of changes for both staff and patients. As the year draws to a close, it’s important that we remember the year that’s just passed even as we anticipate the year that’s coming, which is why we’re creating this 2018 summary.
Emergency Dentist Sydney in 2018
This year has been a busy one for the team at Emergency Dentist Sydney. Not only have they seen around 500 emergency patients during the year, they’ve also kept their focus on what’s important. For the team, this means constantly updating their skills to keep up with medical and technological advances in the dental field. And this is what allows them to offer patients the best possible treatment and experience.
Another important focus for the staff at Emergency Dentist Sydney is relieving patient anxiety. This is a major barrier to the oral health of a lot of people, which is why our staff continue to learn new ways to relieve this problem and help patients overcome their fear and stress. So if you’ve been avoiding the dentist out of fear or anxiety, then we probably have the solution.
The Emergency Dentist Sydney Team
There is a varied team here at Emergency Dentist Sydney and that’s by design. Each member of the team has their own role and specialities. This helps ensure that patients get the best possible treatment no matter what oral health problems or concerns they have. As Doctor Oberoi says, “Our emergency team includes myself, the principal dentist. We have an oral surgeon on the team, a gum hygienist, and an associate dentist who does weekend work.”
The team here at Emergency Dentist Sydney includes:
Doctor Oberoi
Our Principal Dentist who performs a range of general and cosmetic dental procedures from dental implants to anti-wrinkle injections.
Doctor Graham
A dental surgeon who works 2 days a week and has a special interest in bruxism.
Doctor Raj
An oral surgeon who is involved with more complex dental procedures such as difficult extractions, wisdom teeth and lip and tongue ties.
Phoebe Bell
Emergency Dentist Sydney’s dental hygienist, who focuses on preventative dentistry and education as well as cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening.
Jenna
Jenna is the Practice Manager and oversees all the day to day necessities of the clinic.
Larissa
Larissa is the Patient Co-Ordinator, which means that she’s the primary dental nurse and is involved in all aspects of patient care and treatment from check-ups to more complex procedures.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
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.
Is Tooth Enamel Loss Really Permanent?
Keep it Healthy
Keep it Healthy
Your tooth enamel is pretty tough and it has to be. It’s under constant assault from foods and drinks, not to mention the bacteria that grows in between brushing. Plus, every time you drink a soft drink or eat something sugary, it makes your enamel weaker. And that’s a problem because your enamel defends your teeth against decay, and when it gets damaged you’ll probably end up having to make an emergency trip to an after hours dentist. If you want to avoid that, here’s what you need to know about this essential part of your teeth.
What is Enamel?
Enamel is the hard coating over the softer parts of your teeth. It’s made primarily of a mix of minerals, and is the hardest substance in the body, harder even than your bones. However, once your enamel is damaged or worn away, it doesn’t grow back. Though your dentist can repair small lesions that weaken enamel, once it’s gone you’re going to have serious problems with your teeth for the rest of your life.
There are a number of things that can damage the enamel on your teeth. The most problematic are:
Soft drinks, because the high sugar content eats away at the enamel and weakens it overall.
Sugary foods, which have the same effect as soft drinks.
Certain medications can soften the enamel.
Conditions like Bruxism or teeth grinding, because the constant motion wears the enamel away.
Diseases like Acid Reflux Disease, where stomach acids rise from the gut and can wear away the teeth.
Genetics.
How to Tell if Your Enamel is Worn
It’s usually pretty easy to tell if your enamel has been damaged or worn away in any areas. With the enamel gone, the soft inner surfaces of your teeth will be exposed to the open air and to any food and drink that you consume. This means that the affected teeth will become discoloured or stained more easily. Your teeth will also become more sensitive to hot and cold foods or drinks.
Enamel is very strong, which is why your teeth are fairly hard to break. But when the enamel wears away, you will also notice that your teeth chip or break more easily. This is why you need to visit your dentist if you notice any changes in your teeth. Because once your teeth start to break, fixing the problem becomes much more difficult.
Strengthening and Repairing Enamel
Once your enamel is gone, it can’t be replaced. However, if you know ahead of time that your enamel is thinning then you can take steps to try and boost its health. That’s one reason why you need to make regular trips to the dentist for check-ups, because they’ll be able to tell you if you have a problem with your enamel.
Products that contain fluoride can be very helpful in keeping your enamel strong. Fluoride acts as a barrier between food and drinks and your enamel, preventing damage or degradation. You can also find toothpastes that contain minerals that will help to strength enamel weak spots by inundating them with calcium. This will help prevent further damage to the enamel and hopefully prevent it from being completely worn away from your tooth or teeth.
How to Prevent Enamel Loss
You can’t replace enamel that’s been lost, that’s why the best strategy to preserve your oral health is to avoid things that cause damage. So if you grind your teeth, talk to your dentist about a mouth guard. Try to avoid medications such as aspirin which cause enamel erosion. Avoid sugary foods and drinks as much as possible. And most of all, take a proactive role in your oral health. This means informing yourself about the health of your enamel and talking to your dentist about any issues before they become serious problems.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
Do I Have a True Dental Emergency?
When to Call the Dentist
When to Call the Dentist
If you have a problem with your teeth on the weekend or late at night, you might worry about contacting an after hours dentist. After all, when you’re in pain, it can be hard to tell if the problem is an emergency, and what kind of medical professional you should contact. To help with that, here are some of the most common dental emergencies and what you should do about them.
What is a Dental Emergency?
This may seem obvious. For most people, a dental emergency is when your tooth really hurts and you want it fixed. However, there are a few different types of emergencies that after hours dentists see. Here are some common dental emergencies.
Any problem that threatens the health and placement of a tooth. This broken, lose and cracked teeth.
Severe pain.
Bleeding from the mouth tissues that won’t stop.
A severe infection that suddenly flares up. This can be life threatening, so it’s important that you see an after hours dentist as soon as possible if this occurs.
What to do in a Dental Emergency
If you experience a dental emergency, then you need to get help as soon as possible if you want to solve the problem. This will also help you to preserve the health of your mouth and teeth over the long term. With that in mind, here’s what to do for some specific dental situations:
A toothache
If you experience severe pain after hours, you can take Nurofen to alleviate it until you can get to an after hours dentist. Don’t try to brush the area, but you can rinse with warm water to gently clean it.
Bleeding
If the bleeding isn’t too bad, rinse your mouth with warm water and apply pressure to the area to encourage it to stop. If the bleeding is severe, seek medical help immediately.
Dislodged teeth
If you have a tooth or teeth knocked out because of some type of injury, retrieve the tooth and rinse with water to clean it. Reposition gently in the tooth socket without pressing it down. If you can’t put it back in your mouth, put the tooth in milk to keep it moist. And contact an after hours dentist immediately so the tooth can be put back where it belongs.
Cracked teeth.
It’s easier than you think to crack a tooth or teeth. If you experience this, rinse your mouth with warm water, apply a cold compress to the face and see an after hours dentist as soon as possible. Your dentist will be able to repair the tooth using a porcelain crown or veneer, dental bonding, or a dental bridge.
Something stuck in your tooth.
Unless it’s extremely painful or bleeding, this usually isn’t a dental emergency. Try to gently remove the obstruction with your fingers or tweezers. You can also try flossing around the object. If this doesn’t remove the problem, make an appointment with your dentist.
Severed gum or lips.
This is considered a medical emergency, not a dental emergency. So apply pressure to slow the bleeding and go to your doctor or to the emergency room if it’s after hours.
Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:
If you have a dental emergency, 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.
Patient Care First
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