​Some questions answered about the odd things in a dental surgery:

Some questions answered about the odd things in a dental surgery:

What is that blue light that shines in my mouth?

This is a curing light that sets a filling’s state from a moldable “plastic’ state into a hardened state. This makes the filling immediately set and useable. This only applies to white composite fillings. Amalgam silver fillings will set by themselves, usually by 24 hours.

What are the funny magnifying glasses my dentist wears?

These would be dental loupes. These magnify everything within a certain field of view. This is usually around x2-3 magnification.

What is the putty material used to take a mould of my teeth?

This will either be a material called alginate or a silicone putty material. Both are used to capture all the details of your teeth and surrounding gums and soft tissues. They are used for different situations which I wont go into in this article.

What is the instrument used to clean my teeth?

This would be an ultrasonic scaler. This vibrates at a very high, sonic, frequency and efficiently but gently removes the tartar and stains from your teeth. They will then use an abrasive paste to polish the surface of the teeth making feel very smooth.

When I had root canal treatment they was a machine used that kept bleeping?

That would have been an apex locator. This machine will tell your dentist where the very tip of your root is. This allows them to clean all the way down the root and not beyond. This avoids leaving behind any harmful, infected tissues and also prevents traumatizing the tissues beyond the tip of the root.

What are the strange numbers and words used when my dentist is looking at my teeth?

These are the numbers we give to teeth so internationally all teeth are numbered in the same way to avoid confusion amongst the profession. The words will be identifying any fillings or oddities in teeth and the surfaces of teeth they are affecting.

If you can think of any other questions you would like to ask please reply to this post.

David Hurst BDS (Lon)

​Are you grinding your teeth?

Are you grinding your teeth?

Life is stressful. We deal with stress in different ways but a common habit that forms is grinding our teeth, most commonly at night. Therefore, a lot of people are unaware that they are doing it. If you continue to grind our teeth either during the day or at night you may find that your dentist will have a thing or two to say.

Tooth to tooth grinding will lead to tooth wear and sometimes fracturing and cracking of teeth. It also overworks the muscles in the head, face and neck and can lead to headaches. It will also overwork your jaw and the muscles and ligaments associated. This can lead to a sore jaw, clicking jaw or even lock jaw. Sometimes it can extend to stiffness in the shoulders and upper back. These problems can be resolved but it is far more effective getting treatment sooner rather than later.

You need to be fully assessed by your dentist but the most common way this can be treated is by having a custom made mouthguard fitted. This is known as a splint and is worn during the night. It may feel odd in the beginning but it will protect the teeth and stop them getting worn, relax the muscles involved in the grinding and rebalance the jaw joint, known as the TMJ. Basically it’s physiotherapy for the jaw.

If you don’t take action then your teeth will continue to wear down and break and your jaw will continue to get worse. This will leave you with much greater treatment needed and a larger dental bill. So if you grind your teeth, ask your dentist and act know, before it gets worse.

David Hurst BDS (Lon)

Electric or manual toothbrush?

Electric or manual toothbrush?

The purpose of a toothbrush is to remove plaque, food and other particles from your teeth and gums so that they remain healthy and prevent disease and decay. In theory it should not matter whether your toothbrush is a manual or electric one. That being said it takes far more concentration and care cleaning your teeth thoroughly with a manual toothbrush than it does an electric one.

In my experience, an electric toothbrush is far easier to use and consistently achieves good results. They require little thought or effort to clean your teeth and gums well. You needn’t buy the most expensive one on the shelf but make sure that it is rechargeable via a pulp socket and not by battery as the latter offer a very poor performance in comparison.

Try an electric toothbrush once and you may be shocked at how clean your teeth feel afterwards.

David Hurst BDS(Lon). Dentist.

Which toothpaste should I use?

Which toothpaste should I use?

There are a variety of toothpastes on the market promising many things. From sensitive toothpastes and whitening toothpastes to ones that offer long term protection to the gums and fresh breath all day long. The main thing is that you have a toothpaste that contains fluoride. This is the active ingredient that helps to strengthen and protect teeth from decay and neutralise acid attacks on teeth. If a toothpaste does not have this then you leave your teeth open to possible decay and problems.

If you suffer with sensitive teeth then using a specialist sensitive toothpaste is obviously a good idea as these have an additional ingredient that really does help general sensitivity in teeth.

For children, make sure you use a children’s toothpaste that has a reduced level of fluoride, sufficient to keep their teeth healthy without overdoing the fluoride content.

Other ingredients, such as antibacterials (eg tricolsan), can be of some benefit but far and away the main thing you are looking for is fluoride.

David Hurst BDS (Lon). Dentist.

The Basics of Teeth Whitening

The Basics of Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening is probably the most sort after of all dental cosmetic procedures. This blog outlines all you need to know about tooth whitening without confusing you with unnecessary science or jargon.

There are typically two ways that a dentist will offer teeth whitening, home whitening or in-chair/in-office whitening. Both methods should, in theory, achieve the same results as long as everyone follows the instructions to the letter.

(It is important to note that prior to having any tooth whitening procedure you should have a full dental examination, scale and clean and relevant x-rays. This is to check that you do not have any cavities, active gum disease or other pathology with your teeth. Teeth whitening can worsen these issues and they should be addressed prior to any tooth whitening procedure.)

Lets start with home whitening. This method beings by having some impressions, or moulds taken of your upper and lower teeth. These will be used by the laboratory to fabricate some teeth whitening trays. Once these come back, your dentist will check that these fit properly. You will then be given some teeth whitening gels, which will be a certain concentration of either hydrogen or carbamide peroxide. This is the active ingredient which will whiten your teeth.

(NB: The concentration or strength is not as important as you think. Bleach is bleach is bleach! The stronger the concentration the faster it may work but with it will come more sensitivity. Chat with your dentist to decide which concentration is best for you.)

These should be used every evening, after you have eaten and brushed and flossed your teeth. You place a small blob of the whitening gel (about 2-3mm in diameter – a little goes a long way!) into each tooth reservoir on the inside of your whitening trays. Pop the trays in your mouth and have a look in the mirror. If there is any over spill of the gel onto your gums, take a dry piece of tissue paper and wipe it away. You should wear the trays for approximately 60 minutes. If you have quite marked sensitivity the following day, place some sensitive specialist toothpaste in your trays and wear them for 30 minutes. The next day reduce the whitening time by 10-15 minutes so that the sensitivity is less. Continue to reduce the time until you find an adequate amount of time that does not give rise to marked sensitivity. If you find that the gums have been irritated by the gels, don’t panic, this will usually be gone in hours.

You will need to wear your trays every night for 3 weeks. This part is extremely important. If you skip nights you will not get the results. The effect is cumulative and requires nightly application for it to work properly.

The other system is what we call in-chair or in-office whitening. It again begins with taking moulds (or impressions) for the whitening trays but prior to sending you away with the whitening gels, your dentist will give you a head start. They will apply some very high concentration whitening gel to your teeth in a controlled manner in the dental chair, often with the use of a whitening light or laser. The role of the light is to heat up the gel slightly, increasing its whitening effect. Once this procedure is completed, usually after 90 minutes, your dentist will give you the take home trays and whitening gels. The same instructions as above apply but you need only whiten your teeth for 3 days instead of 3 weeks.

Another thing to consider is that you must avoid all heavily staining food and drink such as tea, coffee, red wine and foods of high colorant, for example Indian food. These will hinder the whitening process. With this in mind, often people are put off by the thought of home whitening for 3 whole weeks and often choose to opt for the faster in office system, despite it more often than not being more expensive.

Possible side effects of whitening are usually limited to sensitivity only. Whitening causes no damage to healthy teeth. If your teeth are naturally quite sensitive then whitening will often make this slightly worse but can managed through the use of sensitive specialist toothpaste as previously mentioned.

How long will your teeth stay whiter for? Depends on how much wine and coffee you drink, how many cigars you smoke, etc. Everyday diet will always introduce staining factors to your teeth (unless you live off rice and water!). So keep hold of your whitening trays and when you feel that your teeth are starting to discolor then go to your dentist and by yourself some extra whitening gels to spruce them up again.

The last thing to consider is your expectations. Do you want dramatically whiter teeth? If so then you may be disappointed or your expectations may not be met. Tooth whitening usually will whiten your teeth a few shades giving them a far more subtle and attractive appearance rather than a dramatic change. But the truth be told, everyone’s teeth react differently to whitening so its very important to realize that there is no predicting just how white they will go.

Everyone’s case and everyone’s teeth are different. So to find which method will be best for you, discuss your teeth whitening needs with your dentist.

David Hurst BDS(Lon). Dentist.

Do you hate the dentist?

Do you hate the dentist?

Throughout my career I have found that the greatest battle for patients is overcoming their fear or anxiety of the dentist. “I hate the dentist!” is often how I am greeted, most often shortly followed by “no offence!”. None taken, we’ve just met so I seriously hope that it is not personal otherwise I may need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

It’s the dental treatment you hate, not the dentist. This usually stems from historical treatment that was either painful or pretty uncomfortable. This can sometimes be accompanied by a grumpy and uncaring dentist making the whole experience fairly poor. Dentistry as a profession has come on leaps on bounds in the last few decades and it continues to advance at a huge rate thanks to increased research and development along with technological advances. Dentistry, and us Dentists, are more than aware that a visit to the dentist can fill you with dread but we also know that the experience should be painless and not cause nightmares or sleepless nights.

The most common fears will be the expectation of pain, needle phobia, the noises, the sensations of a dental drill and the fear still lingering from a previous “bad visit”. The advances mentioned before can greatly help to reduce your fears and hopefully make them vanish in time. For example, modern dental anesthetics should be highly effective and thus eradicate any feeling of pain during a dental procedure. Even the administering of the anesthetic should be relatively pain free with the use of topical anesthetic gel, something your dentist may refer to as numbing gel. Some dentists may own a device that will self administer the anesthetic in a very slow controlled manner so that it is highly effective to the single tooth you are having treated but more importantly can barely be felt. This will go a long way to help you overcome your needle phobia.

The fact will then follow that if you have adequate numbness of the area you should feel no pain and nothing to fear. But the noise is horrible? Sounds like nails down a blackboard? Modern dental drills are becoming more and more quiet making them more tolerable but even then you should take along your music MP3 player and listen to this to help relax you and take away the noise.

These are all wonderful ideas and will most definitely help but the main thing for you to find is a dentist you trust and one you feel comfortable with. This should go without saying but dentists are only human and we all cant like everyone. It important to do some research not only online but more importantly from word of mouth speak to friends and relatives to ask if they have a dentist who they use and recommend. It will go a long way to making you feel happier about your visit in the chair.

There are no treatments in dentistry that should be associated with pain, including root canal therapy and wisdom teeth extractions, although post operatively these may bring some discomfort, your visit to the dentist should be pretty much without pain. If a patient comes to me initially petrified of what is to come, I see that as a challenge to prove them that it is not only not as bad as they expect but actually nothing to worry about at all. It can take several visits before this can be achieved but usually it is. If all else fails and someone is just too phobic then you can always request treatment under sedation so, under a controlled environment, you take the appropriate medications to help relax you. This though should be a last resort.

It is well known that nearly half of Australians do not visit the dentist. This is a staggering fact and one that profession has a duty to put right. I hope that with time, greater care and education people will no longer fears us as they have. We go through extensive training to get where we are and we have a professional obligation to continue our training throughout our careers. Remember we are only there to help you.

David Hurst BDS (Lon). Dentist