Kevin Leitch » Dental Care

Aren’t all dentists specialists?

samon — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:42:07 +0000

There are several types of Dental specialists and specialist areas. Periodontics, Geriatric dentistry, Orthodontics, cosmetic Dentists and oral surgeons. In order to have specialist status the practitioner, like those dentists in Kent, will have completed at least two extra years in training. A consultation with your regular dentist is sometimes a good option to determine what type of specialist you need to see to get the most suitable treatments.

Specific Specialities

Endodontic is a type of specialist dentist who is skilled at treating nerves and blood vessels inside the teeth. An Endodontic carries out procedures such as the removal of a root when multiple roots have grown for one tooth. In some cases the Endodontic is required to cut the tip of a root or remove dead tissue from the root. This is commonly recognised as root canal treatment. Oral surgeons are responsible for removing tumours in the mouth throat and neck as well as extracting teeth. Orthodontics are responsible for straightening teeth whilst Paedodontists are solely committed of carrying out a variety of treatments for children. A prosthodontist specialises in repairing broken and missing teeth.

There is a specialist for just about every aspect of dentistry and some of the treatments overlap into duties of different types of specialists.

Smile makeovers; the new age of smiles is upon us

samon — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:39:36 +0000

A smile makeover is just the thing to boost our morale and give us more confidence. They used to cost a small fortune, but these days the industry is awash with new methods of whitening and straightening our teeth at a much cheaper rate. Tooth whitening is now available through beauty salons and is performed by trained technicians, rather than a dentist. You need to make an appointment and see the technician first for an inspection, if your gums are good, then you will have the treatment in around an hour, some even make home visits. They start with a gum shield which is made of soft rubber, this is placed in the mouth to keep the teeth exposed and protect the gums, lips and tongue from getting damaged. A gel is brushed onto the teeth and a blue intense light source is focused on the gel, this reacts and makes the enamel run to re-colour the teeth white again. You will need to have 3 x 15 minute sessions in the hour to complete the treatment. It will leave you with a slightly set of sensitive teeth for a few days, but it isn`t painful. Then you will need to follow a strict diet to ensure that you don`t discolour your new white teeth again. You can get a top up when you need it, but it should last a year at least. Another way that is much more permanent is the new Lumineer, this is a veneer that fits over the front of your teeth, and they can be used to disguise discoloured, wonky, cracked and chipped teeth and are a true smile makeover because they will also close gaps in between teeth. They come in a much thinner version to tradition veneers, so they don`t need to have any enamel shaved off before fitting, all they will need at worse is a roughening of the tooth front to ensure a good adhesion. They are tough as well and will last you a good 20 years or so, they are becoming most popular of late as more people seek an economical method of getting a permanent set of white, straight teeth. They are a great morale and confidence booster as well as looking good, we all wants a movie star smile and either of these two methods is great for achieving that. Your dentist will be able to give you more advice on veneers.

Baby teeth come before adult teeth. It makes sense that way…

samon — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:16:42 +0000

The time to start taking care of your child’s teeth is right from the beginning of your pregnancy. You may be surprised to know that there are so many different factors that add up to the possibilities of babies having problems with their normal teeth because of reasons related to pregnancy and to the kind of foods that they have from birth to age three.

Normally babies are born with their teeth already embedded in the gums and the teeth start to erupt between the ages of four to eight months. By the time your child is three years of age, he or she will have a full set of 20 teeth. Some of those teeth may look crooked, however, there is no reason to worry about this, because they will eventually straighten out. However, it is not unusual to find children with tooth decay in their baby teeth as the teeth are more susceptible to infections as the enamel is thinner.

Some research done by Reading dentists claim that children that are fed breast milk develop stronger jaws and healthier teeth. It is also strongly recommended that mothers should not take any over the counter medications during their pregnancy and that they should avoid sugars and smoking and alcohol at all times.

It is also recommended that babies and young children should not be regularly given sugary drinks, especially before going to bed. The sugar content on some of these drinks is very high and this will have bad effects on the children’s teeth.

It is important to make sure that the baby teeth are strong and that they don’t fall out prematurely. This can cause the permanent teeth to grow in the wrong place or to grow in crooked, which will definitely create problems in the long run.