DENTISTSECRETS - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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Thankyou to everyone that has asked us about their dental care. We do apologise that we are unable to answer your questions personally, and we apologise if your questions have not been answered in this Q&A. Please keep reading future editions as we aim to answer all of the important dental queries that you send to us in due course.

(Please note that your questions will be rewritten, not only for brevity in these issues, but to make some questions more easy to understand for other readers ).

Dentistsecrets guarantees strict confidentially for all information received.

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At what age should you start to clean a baby’s teeth?

There is no set age that you need to be brushing a baby’s teeth. You need to be brushing them as soon as they appear in the mouth. You don’t need to use toothpaste, just a small, soft tooth brush.

Always be cautious about the amount of sugar your baby is having in their diet too. The teeth are susceptible to decay as soon as they erupt into the mouth.

Sugar containing soft drinks in feeder cups are a common cause of early decay in infants.

I have a crown on my front tooth. I have had my teeth whitened recently and the teeth look great but now the crown is obviously darker and looks terrible. What do I use to whiten the crown to match my teeth?

Unfortunately, the colour of a crown will not be altered by tooth whitening chemicals. Your Dentist should have warned you that following whitening procedures, your crowned tooth would no longer match to your own teeth.

Your only option to change the colour of a crowned tooth is to actually replace the crown.

This and similar problems with whitening procedures are covered in the publication:

Dentistsecrets – Tooth Whitening, Is it Whiter than White?

When I changed Dentist I asked that my records and X-Rays be transferred to the new Practice as I have had a lot of Dentistry done in the past which includes root canal work and bridgework. The old Dental Surgery refuses to send them on, saying that they are not mine and I cannot have them. What can I do?

You need to sign a request form at your new Dental Surgery for release of your records and X-Rays to them. There is no legal reason for the old Practice then not to forward all information

Have you asked the old Practice why they are worried about another Dentist seeing their records of your past treatment? As there is no reason for them to hold them, perhaps they have something about your past care that they wish to hide.

My son uses an inhaler for asthma. The advice pamphlet that we get with it advises that he brushes his teeth after using the puffer. At the last visit to our Dentist, we were advised to brush first because there were signs of enamel damage which the Dentist says may be from the use of the inhaler.

What is your advice?

We agree with your Dentist.

It used to be recommended that you brush teeth after using inhalers for asthma so that you had removed any plaque that would make the teeth more prone to decay in the acidic environment that the inhaler produces.

Current thoughts are that it is best to brush teeth before the use of asthma inhalers. This means that plaque which may cause decay is removed first, but the natural body defence to acid attack on the teeth from the saliva is not affected. When you brush your teeth after use, the protective buffering affect of the saliva is reduced, so the teeth are more prone to decay and the softened enamel is more prone to damage by abrasion from the brushing,

I think I may be allergic to my Dentist. Is this possible?

Each time I have seen her, even after my check-up (when I had nothing done), my lips and mouth are burning and sore afterwards.

It is possible that you are allergic to the gloves that your Dentist wears, rather than being allergic to your Dentist. This is a relatively common allergy to the latex that clinical gloves are made from.

Mention this to her at your next visit.

As this is a common problem, all Dental surgeries should have alternative types of protective gloves to use; either nitrile or vinyl.

Ask your Dentist about this or call the surgery before your appointment to check that they don’t have to use the latex gloves for you.

Are all lollies bad for your teeth?

Plaque on the teeth uses sugar in the diet to cause decay. Not only chocolates and lollies are the problem; anything that you eat or drink that contains sugar will be used by the plaque bacteria.

The longer the sugar is available, the more damage it can cause, so chewy, sticky lollies are more damaging than those that are quickly washed out of the mouth.
The more often you have sugar, the more often the teeth are at risk of damage.

But, there are alternatives available. There are many sugar-free chewing gums on the market as well as sugar-free chews and lollies. Some are flavoured using natural fruit sugars (which do not cause decay), others use sugar substitutes.

Chocolate is also available without sugar.

Be warned though, some artificial sweeteners do have a laxative effect if you eat a lot.