Welcome to Seymour Dental – Maintenance

All I ask of people is one hour a year, 5-10 minutes a day and think before eating, drinking and smoking. You may have had your mouth cleaned, repaired, renovated or even resurrected! Now is the time to preserve it.

One hour a year are two check up appointments with cleaning and fluoride treatments. For some people cleans may be required every 3 months due to gum issues. The aim is to keep the bacteria count down which reduces the occurrence of decay and often irreversible gum problems. Think of check ups as a review of the mouth and a time of being dentally coached. Think of regular maintenance as a protection of your investment of yourself. A six monthly visit is a regular reminder of the importance of your mouth. A regular professional clean ensures that any areas missed by your own cleaning are picked up by the dentist. Cleaning techniques may need to be corrected. It’s a time to discuss new treatments or other options that can be used to improve your mouth. This can include bleaching, veneers, crowns and implants. All this is to try and prevent crisis treatment and suffering. Decisions can be made over time, rather than in a stressful situation. This makes for not only a happy patient but also very happy dentists and staff!

5-10 minutes a day is the time needed to clean the teeth (and dentures) daily with a toothbrush, floss and interdental brushes if needed. The dentist can only help you help yourself. Reducing bacteria daily in the mouth also reduces mouth odour, bleeding of the gums, as well as decay. The reduced bacterial loading has other health benefits for heart disease and diabetes. We are only given one body! It’s a matter of making it regular daily habit that you don’t even think of it.

Think before eating, drinking and smoking is important in controlling the environment of the mouth. Sticky sweet foods increase the availability of sugars to feed the bacteria that cause decay. Soft drinks are high in sugars, acidity and some brands are high in caffeine. This changes the environment to favour bacteria that damage teeth and gums and the caffeine dries the mouth out. A dry mouth means the saliva flow is less and saliva protects and repairs the teeth and gums. The teeth become soft and wear easily and the decay rate is higher and more aggressive. Smoking and excessive alcohol also dry the mouth and increases the risk of oral cancer.

It’s time to take care of yourself as there is only one of you!

Next week: STOP OVERBRUSHING!