- Home
- 5 Tooth Care Lessons for a Summer of Sport
The football season may have ended but don’t worry, there is plenty more sport on the way to fill the gap. The annual all-star event that is Wimbledon is just around the corner and so too is a packed calendar of rugby, cricket and other popular sporting events. When you think about your average sports star, no doubt you imagine somebody at the peak of their physical condition and health. But here’s a twist for you – the average person is more likely to win a medal when it comes to healthy teeth! In fact, a sportsperson is almost twice as likely to experience dental problems in comparison. So why do athletes have problems with their teeth, and what can we learn from this?
1. Protect your teeth
Whilst it is less of a problem for the majority of individuals, receiving blows to the face and mouth is a particular issue for many athletes. This can also affect people who participate in a variety of sports and other activities. Then there is the risk of impacts from objects such as cricket balls or hockey pucks, which can be just as damaging as rugby tackles and collisions.
If you play a contact sport such as rugby, hockey or boxing or enjoy a physically challenging activity that may involve contact with the face, always ensure you are wearing adequate protection such as high-quality gum shields. In all cases, don’t be afraid to seek advice from your dentist about how best to protect your teeth and gums from the risk of damage. If you are part of a team, make sure that the medical staff have procedures in place for damaged teeth – and of course, get yourself to a dentist as soon as possible if you have any loose, chipped or otherwise damaged teeth following a match.
2. Make time for your dentist
One reason that athletes in particular experience above-average levels of dental problems is that their intensive training programmes tend to make it hard to invest time in routine dental care appointments. Coaches, trainers, physiotherapists and other medical staff all form part of the athlete’s core support team, but dentists seem to be conspicuous by their absence.
If you are a sportsperson, taking the time to visit your dentist at least twice a year – or more frequently if recommended – can really help to identify issues at the earliest stage and address them before they develop into a serious problem.
3. Eat right
When you picture the diet of an athlete, you probably see lots of greens, loads of fruit and plenty of lean meat – a perfect picture of a healthy, balanced diet. When it comes to mealtimes, most athletes do indeed tend to eat well. Unfortunately for the teeth, what they consume during training is often far from ideal. The high intake of carbohydrates coupled with consumption of sports drinks and energy supplements is believed to be a big contributor to tooth decay and other problems.
Keen sports people should consider how often they consume sports drinks and similar products. They should opt for low sugar or even sugar-free products wherever suitable. Also a stringent brushing regime is an absolute must for any sports person – even if you do ache by the time you get to the bathroom!
One top tip that can be very effective is to rinse the mouth with plain water each time you consume an energy boosting product – so take advantage of water whenever it’s offered – even if it’s just for your teeth.
4. Stay hydrated
We’ve already mentioned how important it is to use water to reduce acid levels in your mouth. Simply staying properly hydrated is just as important for your teeth as it is for your body as a whole.
The frequent dehydration that many sports people experience has now been identified as a major factor in their poor tooth conditions. Research indicates that dehydration reduces the protection offered by saliva. Saliva plays a key role in protection against tooth decay, dental erosion and gum disease.
Whatever you are doing, both work and play, be sure to stay sufficiently hydrated. And as in the previous piece of advice, make it sugar neutral wherever possible for the greatest benefits.
5. Rest and recover
Your immune system plays an important role in helping you to maintain healthy teeth as well as a healthy body. Whether you are a professional athlete, a senior manager, a self-employed business person or a busy parent, the chances are you are constantly under pressure. Being stressed on a regular basis can quickly undermine your immune system. This can have a knock-on effect on your teeth and gums.
To protect your teeth, look for ways to relax, recharge and find a balance. Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet that offers your body the vitamins and minerals it needs. For a sportsperson, this is an absolutely vital part of the regime.
At Perfect Pearls Dental Implant Clinics, there’s not much we can do to protect you from knees, elbows and flying objects – but you can rely on us to get your smile restored once the dust (and bruises) have settled.
We offer a full range of treatments to restore damaged or missing teeth from individual implants to a complete new set – and at prices that are as competitive as you are.
To find out more or book an appointment, call us on Wolverhampton 01902 500823. Alternatively, contact us online.
- Home
- What does sugar do to your teeth?
Easter is coming – that much is evident from the incredible amount of sweet delights on display in every supermarket. Apart from Christmas, there is perhaps no other time of year during which we allow ourselves to overindulge. We all know that sugar is bad for the health in general, but what does it do to the teeth? Now seems like a better time than ever to look at this all-important question.
The battle of the bacteria
Our mouths are full of bacteria, both good and bad. Essentially, our mouth contains its very own ecosystem. There are bacteria which are good for our oral health and harmful bacteria which create acid and destroy our teeth. Unless you’ve experienced tooth decay, you’ve probably never really paid much attention. Even if you’ve had problems caused by cavities you may not be aware of the constant battle that is being played out inside your mouth.
How do cavities start?
Harmful bacteria feed on the sugar in your mouth and create acids. These acids then begin to attack the enamel surface of your teeth. It is this shiny protective layer that protects the more delicate inner layers of your teeth as well as the root. As the acids attack, a process known as demineralisation takes place. This is where acids actually cause the minerals to be removed from the enamel.
At the same time, your saliva is constantly helping to fight demineralisation. Saliva is rich in calcium and phosphates, which help to replace the minerals and repair the damage caused by acid. Another key weapon in the fight against cavities is fluoride, which also helps to repair and strengthen damaged enamel.
Why does your sugar intake matter?
Saliva and fluoride both help, but if there is a regular supply of new sugar their ability to fight off decay will be extremely limited. If you regularly consume sweets throughout the day the acid levels in your mouth are likely to be kept at a high-level meaning that ultimately bad bacteria wins the day. It is important to note that starchy foods can also be bad news. This is because they stick in the mouth and help to create a perfect environment for acid to grow.
Obviously one of the big problems with Easter is that we can easily find ourselves eating sweet treats throughout the holiday period and thus significantly increasing our risk of tooth decay.
How do cavities lead to missing teeth?
Once the harmful bacteria in your mouth has taken hold and started to seriously damage the outer layer of enamel, cavities can quickly progress into the softer inner layers which offer much less resistance. This will initially lead to discomfort and pain, and ultimately loss of teeth if not treated quickly.
If you have invested in procedures to replace previously damaged or missing teeth, it is essential to avoid cavities in order to ensure the long-term success of your treatment.
How can I prevent cavities?
Firstly, by maintaining a healthy diet and avoiding both sweet and savoury snacking between meals as much as possible. You should also brush your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes, using a fluoride toothpaste.
Secondly, make sure you keep regular appointments with your dentist, who will be able to monitor the health of your teeth and gums as well as offer personalised advice to help you keep your mouth in the best possible shape.
Here at Perfect Pearls, we offer a range of treatments to help patients with damaged or missing teeth put the smile back on their face, with prices that will also leave you smiling. From tooth whitening and straightening to root canal work and dental implants, we offer a range of top quality, low cost dentistry at some of the best prices available in the UK. To book an appointment now, call us on Wolverhampton 01902 500823. Alternatively, get in touch.
- Home
- 4 Ways Smoking is Harming Your Teeth
This month doctors, dentists, pharmacies and others in the healthcare sector have been helping people all over the UK to give up smoking as part of the Government’s ‘Stoptober’ campaign. Whilst the impact of smoking on the heath has received much publicity over recent years, the damage that smoking does to your teeth and gums receives much less attention. So just what does smoking do to your teeth and gums?
1. Tooth Discolouration
With every cigarette you smoke, you are introducing nicotine and tar to your teeth. Both of these substances have a very strong staining effect. It can quickly cause visible changes to the appearance of your teeth. Even after a relatively short time of smoking, smokers can often see a noticeable yellow staining of the teeth. With prolonged or heavy smoking, the staining will get progressively worse and in some cases leave the teeth almost brown. Whilst there are a number of consumer products on the market which claim to remove such staining, the only safe and truly effective remedy is professional cleaning and whitening by a qualified dental expert, which can be an expensive process.
2. Damage to Salivary Glands
Whilst most people know what saliva is in a general sense, few people know a lot about what saliva is comprised of, why we need it and how it works. Saliva is mostly water, but also contains a number of important proteins and minerals that help to protect tooth enamel and prevent tooth decay and gum disease. One of the ways it achieves this is by reducing the acidity level in the mouth. A healthy body makes between 2 – 4 pints of saliva a day. Smoking causes inflammation of the salivary glands located in the roof of the mouth. Consequently depriving your teeth and gums of this essential protection mechanism.
3. Plaque and Tartar
Plaque is a sticky, colourless film of bacteria that forms over the teeth. It is responsible for that ‘furry’ feeling you experience if you do not brush your teeth for any prolonged period of time. The bacteria in this film produce acids which eat away at your tooth enamel and cause decay. In some cases, the damage can extend into the roots, causing considerable discomfort and damage. When plaque is allowed to stay in your teeth, it can harden into tartar. Tartar forms above and below the gumline and can cause many gum problems. It can only be removed by a dentist with specialist apparatus – brushing will not remove it.
4. Delayed Healing
As well as causing several direct problems to your teeth and gums, there are also many indirect effects of smoking. One important effect of smoking is that it introduces carbon monoxide, which attaches to the blood cells and restricts the ability of your blood to carry oxygen to the parts of the body that need it. It is not just your vital organs that are affected by this. Reduced oxygen can cause a significant delay in healing. This includes healing after dental surgery such as tooth extraction or periodontal treatment. Not only can smoking cause you to require surgery – it can also prolong the healing process afterwards.
Conclusion
Making the decision to stop smoking is the single best way to protect your teeth from the many harmful and potentially expensive effects that smoking causes. With so much support available, Stoptober is a great time to make the commitment and give up for good. Whether you are a smoker or have recently stopped, it is essential that you visit your dentist and dental hygienist, who will be able to offer you the best treatment and advice to keep your teeth in the best possible condition, as well as discuss cosmetic solutions such as tooth whitening to restore your shine and help you reclaim your smile.
For more information about how Perfect Pearls can help you restore your smile, give us a call on Wolverhampton 01902 500 823. Alternatively, enquire online for a swift response.
- Home
- 3 Things You Didn’t Know Were Connected To Your Dental Health
For years, going to the dentist has been perceived as being all about tooth decay. Your bi-annual visit to the practice was typically about removing plaque, filling holes and preventing gum disease – little more than a process of routine maintenance not unlike that you would subject your vehicle to.
In recent years, however, a growing amount of research has begun to show that going to the dentist is about far more than just your teeth and gums. In fact, poor dental hygiene has now been linked to a number of much more serious illnesses.
1. Alzheimer’s Disease
It may sound far-fetched, but since 2013 UK researchers have been studying links between gum disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. The link was first established by scientists from the University of New York, who found evidence of a link between gum inflammation and Alzheimer’s in research that spanned a period of twenty years. The team concluded that those with gum inflammation at the age of 70 were significantly more likely to have a low DST score – a measure of cognitive function.
Perhaps most interestingly, the P. gingivalis Bacterium which is usually associated with chronic gum disease has also been found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease. A 2014 study concluded that chemicals released by the brain’s immune system in response to P. gingivalis could reach the brain ‘inadvertently’, damaging functional neurons in the area of the brain related to memory.”
Research in this field is still in its early stages and far from conclusive but may have significant implications in the future.
2. Pancreatic Cancer
A connection between gum disease and pancreatic cancer was first reported by a team from Harvard in 2007. Their study looked into the issue of periodontitis, which affects the tissue that supports the teeth and can cause loss of bone around the base of the teeth. It was found that there was a strong link between periodontitis and the occurrence of pancreatic cancer.
Subsequent research concludes that men with gum disease have a 68% increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with those who had never had it.
Whilst a clear link has been identified, researchers have yet to discover the exact cause and efforts are continuing to understand the relationship better.
3. Heart Disease
Did you know that poor oral hygiene can increase your risk of heart disease? Joint research by scientists from Bristol and Dublin in 2008 revealed that bleeding gums resulting from poor dental hygiene were a considerable factor in increasing the risk of a heart attack. This has been attributed to bacteria from the mouth is able to enter the bloodstream and stick to platelets, which can then form blood clots, interrupting the flow of blood to the heart and triggering a heart attack.
What is perhaps most interesting about the findings is that gum disease as a risk factor for heart attacks is completely independent from other factors – meaning that it can affect anybody regardless of age, health, lifestyle etc.
Early Days
Research into the links between gum disease and serious illnesses is relatively new, and therefore it will be some time before hard and fast cause-effect links can be proven, and even longer before you can expect your dentist to be considering such things in the course of a routine check up.
However, the evidence so far confirms that the health benefits of observing good practice when it comes to your oral hygiene have much wider implications than ever previously realised. If you don’t already follow the tooth brushing guidelines and commit to at least two minutes of brushing twice a day, now has never been a better time to start.
And whilst your dentist will not be performing advanced medical health screening for the foreseeable future, it’s clear that regular dental check ups can still make sure that early warning signs are not missed and help to ensure specialist referrals are made at the earliest possible opportunity.
- Home
- Tooth Decay Can Lead To Heart Disease – Here’s How
One person has a heart attack in the UK every three minutes, according to The British Heart Foundation. Around 110,000 men and 65,000 women in the UK suffer a heart attack each year.
You probably know you should watch your diet and keep fit to keep your heart healthy. But did you know you should be brushing and flossing your teeth regularly too?
Tooth decay and gum disease could put you at risk of heart disease and stroke. Here’s the science bit.
Experts had long suspected a link between poor oral hygiene and a higher risk of heart attack. But it wasn’t until 2010 that Bristol University dental scientist, Howard Jenkinson, discovered what it was:
Common bacteria.
Streptococcus bacteria are known to cause tooth plaque and gum disease. Normally they stay in your mouth. But Prof. Jenkins discovered if you have bleeding gums (a typical symptom of gum disease), Streptococcus could escape into your bloodstream and help form blood clots. Blood clots that travel into the heart or brain can cause cardiac arrest or stroke by blocking the flow of blood.
The bacterium has a protein on its surface (PadA) that forces platelets in the blood to clump around it. This shield protects the bacteria from the body’s natural immune system and antibiotics. Unfortunately, the platelets gathering together in this way can also cause small blood clots.
While scientists are developing drugs that could stop potentially lethal blood clots from forming, the best way to heart attack and stroke is to lead a healthy lifestyle and look after your teeth and gums.
The British Heart Foundation has a plenty of advice on preventing heart disease, and here are our top tips at Perfect Pearls for looking after your heart and your smile.
- Make your diet rich in vitamins and minerals by eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
- Eat three meals a day and no more than two snacks, instead of grazing between meals
- Brush your teeth right before you go to bed and again before you eat or drink in the morning
- Clean between your teeth with interdental brushes or floss to prevent plaque build-up
- Use an anti-bacterial mouthwash
- Invest in an electric toothbrush – particularly if you have limited movement and struggle to clean your teeth
- Always tell your dentist about changes to your health – it could help them prevent gum disease
- Home
- Say ‘No’ to the vending machine
Whether it be the swimming pool, shopping centre or hospital – all of us with children and grandchildren will have at some point faced the screaming tantrums as we attempt to drag our little ones away from a vending machine stocked full of chocolate and sweeties.
After all, it’s sometimes difficult for us as grown ups to resist the temptation of a Mars bar or Double Decker.
It’s not surprising then that earlier this month experts in nutrition from University College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have made fresh calls for vending machines stocking confectionary and sugary drinks to be removed from government controlled areas such as schools and hospitals.
It follows a new study published in the BMC Public Health journal which suggests the target for sugar consumption should be no more than 3% of energy intake.
Researchers from University College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reckon sugar is the most important factor in the development of tooth decay and an increase from near-zero sugar to 5% of energy intake doubles the prevalence of decay in children.
The study added that the treatment of problems costs between 5% and 10% of total health expenditure in industrial countries.
Here at Perfect Pearls we see on a daily basis the problems tooth decay can cause in adults especially those in their late 50s early 60s who come to us for implants, mini implants and other treatments and we would agree with the experts about vending machines.
So until such time as we get they are removed from public areas we would appeal to all parents and grandparents to continue saying no to the vending machine and help protect our children’s teeth now and for the future.
