Tom Nolan - The Dentist in Town

New Receptionist

2012-01-20T08:02:00.000Z

Selina, our talented receptionist for the last two and a half years has decided to move on. We wish her all the best in her new career.

Emma will now be running our 'client facing interface' (Sorry, I read those words in a business magazine and they made my skin crawl to such an extent that I just had to use them - but only the once. Ever. Honest.)

I would like to welcome Emma to the fold and I'm sure she will be an asset to The Dentist in Town for a long time to come.

The Causes of Mouth Cancer

2011-10-28T07:35:00.000+01:00

Following on from my last post about Mouth Cancer Action Month, let's look at the causes of Mouth Cancer.

These are the main ones:

SMOKING

Smoking is considered the number one cause of mouth cancer, and the cancers linked to smoking tend to have the lowest survival rates. This is a worry because about a fifth of the UK's population smoke.

According to the World Health Organization, up to a half of all current smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease, including mouth cancer.

ALCOHOL

Excess drinking increases the risk of getting mouth cancer by 4 times.

People who smoke and drink are 30 TIMES more likely to develop mouth cancer.

POOR DIET

Around a third of mouth cancer cases are believed to be linked to an unhealthy diet. A daily 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, Omega 3 and high fibre foods help significantly to reduce this figure.

SMOKELESS TOBACCO

These are tobacco products that are not burned but are placed in the mouth or nose. While these may be less likely to cause lung cancer, they are much more dangerous in terms of mouth cancer.

The main types of smokeless tobacco used in the UK are:

Pan Masala (betel quid), Gutka, Khaini, Maras powder, Shammah . These are sucked or chewed.
Qiwam, Zarda, Mawa. These are chewed.
Gadakhu, Gul, Lal dantmanjan, Creamy snuff. These are dental products which are used as toothpaste or rubbed on the gums.
Nass. This can be sucked, chewed or snuffed up the nose.

Smokeless tabacco products are used mainly by people, especially women, in South Asian communities. South Asian women have a higher rate of mouth cancer than any other group.

HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS (HPV)

HPV, a recognized factor in cervical cancer, is now known to play a part in oral cancer when transmitted via oral sex and young people are particularly at risk. A recent study in the USA has connected 20000 cases of mouth cancer to HPV over the last 5 years - and the number of cases is increasing every year.

So, in the words of an old cop show, be careful out there.

Statistics supplied by The British Dental Health Foundation

Mouth Cancer Action Month 2011

2011-10-26T08:05:00.001+01:00

As you may or may not know, November is Mouth Cancer Action Month.

Why do we have a month dedicated to increasing awareness of mouth cancer?

Because it's a big problem and a serious one.

Every year in the UK, more than 6000 new cases of mouth cancer are diagnosed. On average, a third of these die of the disease.

To save lives, we need to be aware that the problem exists and that it isn't rare. We need to know what to be suspicious of and if we see something we're not sure about, we need to get it checked. (That's why it's called Mouth Cancer ACTION Month. Awareness without action won't cure many cases.)

There is a common misconception that the only people at risk from mouth cancer are older people, especially men, who have smoked and drunk too much alcohol over a number of years.

The truth is that the proportion of women contracting the disease is rising steadily and young people are increasingly at risk from poor diets, alcohol abuse and exposure to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

If mouth cancer is detected early, the chance of survival is in excess of 90%. Without early detection, it drops to less than 1 in 2.

Tomorrow we'll look at the risk factors and causes of mouth cancer.

In the meantime, here are the things you should watch out for:

Ulcers that do not heal with 3 weeks

Red or white patches in the mouth

Unusual lumps or swellings in the mouth

Finding one or more of these does not mean you have a serious problem and there could be another cause - but you need to find out. Please don't ignore anything you think is unusual.

Fresh Breath Basics

2011-10-12T11:19:00.001+01:00

This is quite a long post but I've been travelling a lot by bus lately and I've encountered a lot of bad breath. So....

Essentially, there are two types of halitosis or bad breath:

Short term halitosis is caused by food and drink – not just garlic or curry, which have lingering aromas, but also things like coffee and cheese, which leave behind a rotten smell that doesn’t resemble that of the original substance.

Low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins are notorious for causing foul breath. Normally, the body burns carbohydrates as a source of energy but if these aren’t available, it burns fats instead. This might be an effective way to lose weight but the fat-burning process produces chemicals called ketones that are released in the breath. You can try to mask the smell (see below) but the only cure is to introduce some carbs into your diet.

Chronic halitosis is caused by one or more of the following:

1. Poor oral hygiene – leading to food stagnation, plaque accumulation, tooth decay and infection.

2. Habits or behaviour such as smoking or dieting.

3. Post-nasal drip (catarrh)

4. General medical conditions

Numbers 1 and 2 (where the odour is coming from within your mouth, rather than through it from somewhere else) are much more common than 3 and 4. So if you have chronic bad breath, the odds are that you are either not keeping your mouth clean enough or you are doing something to harm yourself.

There are three possible sites from where bad breath can come:

· Your gums

· Your teeth

· Your tongue

Gums

People talk about gum disease as if it were something you might catch if you’re unlucky – like flu or Ebola virus. Sorry, but that’s not how it is. You might as well blame a bad hair day on ‘computer problems’. If you have gum trouble it’s because of something you have or haven’t been doing – which is good because it means you can change the situation.

Healthy gums are firm, pink and stippled, like orange peel. So if any areas of yours are squishy, red or shiny, you have a problem. Bleeding is another danger sign.

Briefly, here’s how it works:

Bacteria that live in your mouth digest any food debris you leave lying around and use it to make plaque, a sticky gel that keeps the bacteria and their harmful products in contact with the teeth and gums. Over time, the bugs use minerals from your saliva to build themselves a strong defensive ‘bunker’ – a hard shell known as calculus or tartar. Then they can really get to work destroying the attachment between your teeth and gums in a nice sheltered environment where your brush can’t get at them.

And infected gums discharge a variety of smelly fluids.

Tartar begins to form within 24 hours – and then you’ll need a hygienist to shift it for you and to show you how to stop it building back up again. That’s why we stress the importance of thorough cleaning EVERY day.

Teeth

One of the harmful substances that oral bacteria produce is acid (they find sugars a particularly handy ingredient for this). So while the bugs are destroying your gums, the acids work on your teeth, dissolving enamel and creating holes. As the tooth rots, food debris stagnates in the cavities where it also decomposes – and smells.

Tongue

If you were to magnify the surface of your tongue, you would see that it’s a lot like a shag pile carpet (only available in a smaller range of colours). Bacteria and food debris collect between the filaments, decompose there and contribute to a bad odour.

You will now appreciate why mints, gum and mouthwashes can only have a very temporary effect on breath freshness and at worst can mask a problem while it deteriorates.

The tongue is no exception. You need to brush – or gently scrape – your tongue. Special brushes and scrapers are available for this and most toothbrushes have a ridged area on the back of the head designed for this purpose (yes that’s what they’re for). It can take a bit of getting used to and you shouldn’t try to go too far back (because, apart from anything else, vomit is highly acidic and bad for your teeth) but persistence will pay off.

Smoking has a negative effect on teeth, gums and tongue. It causes bad breath both directly through its natural smell and by destroying the enzymes that protect the oral tissues from infection. And of course it multiplies the likelihood of developing mouth cancer.

So, if you suffer from bad breath, go see your dentist and hygienist. They will fix the problem for you and work with you to keep everything healthy and sweet-smelling.

Best of all, you could pop along to The Dentist in Town

Tom

Bruxism - Tooth Clenching and Grinding - Hurts

2011-09-22T09:33:00.000+01:00

There are more than 10 million people in the UK who get problems from clenching or grinding their teeth in their sleep – and that’s just the ones we know about.

That’s a hell of a big problem. And a harmful one.

These are the main symptoms:

Aching jaw joints

Clicking jaws

Morning headaches

Migraines

Difficulty opening and/or closing the mouth

Stiff neck

Tension headaches

Worn or broken teeth and fillings

Tender teeth (to pressure)

Sensitive teeth (to temperature)

Poor sleep quality

Almost everybody clenches or grinds their teeth occasionally, especially during times of stress. This usually lasts for only a few days and is relatively harmless - but when it becomes a regular thing, it needs attention.

If this applies to you, you should see your dentist – because they can help.

There are a variety of devices you can wear on your teeth at night to stop you clenching or grinding your teeth. These are not uncomfortable and are in most cases, very quickly effective. Your dentist will be able to fix you up with the dental splint or bite guard best suited to your individual situation.

So if you are suffering from any of the symptoms listed above, or if you think you might be clenching or grinding you teeth, please do something about it.

If you live near Birmingham, you can call us on 0121 236 8681 and we’ll sort you out.

Love your smile – don’t wreck it.

Tom

Birmingham tops table for Dentist Dodgers

2011-09-13T12:50:00.001+01:00

A new survey has shown that that the inhabitants ofBirmingham are by far the most likely people in Britain to avoid going to thedentist.

The top cities for not visiting the dentist are:

1. Birmingham 12%
2. Hull 8%
3. Bristol 7%
4. Nottingham 4%
5. Manchester 3%

Not surprisingly, Birmingham also tops the table for thelargest number of teeth lost per person. People are ignoring problems until thedamage is irreversible and there is no alternative to extraction.

Newcastle is at the other end of the table, for having thebest maintained dental health – probably because every Geordie in existence isappearing regularly on television these days and they need to look their best.

Of course the recession has had a big impact, but why does Birminghamdo so much worse than everybody else? Birmingham does not have the worstunemployment, it certainly doesn’t have the lowest average income levels andthere is no shortage of access to treatment at every level from free to private.In fact, the dental provision here is far better than most of the cities whichhave much higher levels of dental health.

I would be interested to hear any ideas you might have toexplain the situation – this does not apply to the Mancunian patient who toldme that the table merely reflects a four-fold difference in intelligencebetween his city and ours. He then started to discuss the football Premiershiptable but that was easily headed off with a nice long injection.

On a more serious note, if you are struggling to meet ourdental charges, remember that we have a Dental Therapist on the staff and shecan usually provide fillings (including white ones) for a much lower fee.

And, if finances are the only thing holding you back, pleasetalk to us and we’ll work something out. At the Dentist in Town we see everylost tooth as a personal defeat and we want to help all our patients keep theirteeth for life.

Keep smiling.

Tom

The Dentistin Town

0121 2368681

Back to School Mouthguards

2011-08-25T09:55:00.000+01:00

The new academic year starts soon and anybody taking part in a contact sport really needs a mouthguard.

Mouthguards protect the teeth, the soft tissues, the jaw and the facial bones. They also offer some protection against concussion arising from a blow to the face.

We supply a range of bespoke mouthguards, ranging from the basic model up to the 5 layer PlaySafe guards used by professional boxers.

Numerous university studies have shown that no mouthguard offers more protection than PlaySafe Professional.

But even a basic individually designed, tailor-made mouthguard is more comfortable and many, many times more protective than any you could buy over the counter.

Prices range from £40 to £85, depending on the model and any decoration – different colours, patterns, names, flags etc. that might be required.

The first step is to take impressions of your teeth. Basic mouthguards are made by a local lab while PlaySafes have to be sent to their specialist laboratory. Turnaround time is 1 – 2 weeks.

If you need one, please call us now on 0121 236 8681

Sleep Apnoea Causes Another Fatal Traffic Accident

2011-07-26T08:48:00.000+01:00

I'm sure you've heard about this tragedy on the news so I won't go back again over the damaging health effects of snoring and apnoea. Instead, I'll quote from the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2:

"Of all the medical conditions a driver can suffer from, sleep apnoea is the most likely to cause a serious accident."

Sleep apnoea is a condition that causes a sleeper to alternate between snoring and not breathing for several seconds at a time.

This can happen hundreds of times during the night.

Not only does this place a strain upon the heart and cause increased blood pressure, it also prevents the sufferer from ever reaching the level of sleep they need to refresh themselves.

It's not how much time you spend asleep that matters; it's how much of that time is beneficial. In cases of sleep apnoea, the answer can be - NONE OF IT!

A person getting no effective sleep night after night is a walking bomb.

If this applies to you or to someone you know, please, please don't ignore it.

So what can you do?

The short answer is that you need to get more oxygen to your brain while you're asleep. There are essentially 2 ways of doing this:

Push air into your lungs under pressure using a machine.

Open the airway so more oxygen gets through at normal pressure.

(In the long term, there may be other things you need to do as well, but this is what you need to do now.)

In most cases, opening the airway using a night guard that you wear on your teeth will achieve the desired result. As a Solutions 4 Snoring registered dentist, I can sort that out for you.

In cases where a night guard is not the best solution, I will refer you to The Birmingham Sleep Clinic.

The Sleep Clinic can only see patients who are referred to them (from their dentist or GP). The problem with getting a referral from your GP is that they cannot offer an effective alternative, so you may well end up being sent back here.

So call us now on 0121 236 8681 and arrange a free assessment.

There's no need to let snoring wreck your life - and it would be crazy to let apnoea end it (or somebody else's life).

Poor Oral Hygiene linked to Decreased Fertility

2011-07-05T14:21:00.000+01:00

Research at the University of Western Australia has shown a link between gum disease in women and a reduced chance of conceiving. In fact, gum disease is statistically as bad in this respect as obesity, delaying conception by 2 months (extended from 5 months to 7).

Gum disease in prospective fathers has been shown to reduce sperm quality too.

So, if you want to have a baby, you need to make sure you're both brushing and flossing properly. It would also be a good idea have a check-up and a session with the hygienist.

Kissing Makes You More Resistant to Tooth Decay

2011-06-21T20:21:00.000+01:00

After extensive research, scientists have discovered that kissing helps you resist tooth decay by stimulating saliva production. Of course, if your mouth's in a bit of a state, no-one's going to want to kiss you anyway. Seems to me the answer is to come to the dentist to get yourself sorted out then snog away as much as you can (with the right person) to keep everything healthy.

The Dentist in Town now has a Dental Therapist

2011-06-12T17:00:00.000+01:00

Over the last year a number of our patients have told us that they love having private dental care and they wish their friends and family could also afford to come to us.

So we’ve been thinking about this and we’ve decided to offer a Dental Therapy service.

If you don’t know what a Dental Therapist is, he or she is qualified to provide oral hygiene treatment AND fillings (but not veneers, crown bridges, root canal or extractions). Because of this narrower skill set, Dental Therapists charge less than dentists for a filling. In many cases, our therapist can provide a filling for LESS than you would pay on the NHS.

If you know someone who would appreciate the way we do things but is worried about the cost, this could be the perfect solution for them.

Ask them to call us on 0121 236 8681 and say they are interested in seeing our Dental Therapist.

And as a thank you for sending them to us, we’ll give you 15% off any treatment you have with me during the next 12 months. Refer 2 people and we’ll make that 20%. And we’ll knock 25% off if you send us 3 people and they have work done here – make sure they tell us who sent them.

For most of us it’s been a tough couple of years, so let’s take this opportunity to help ourselves while helping others. And if you have any ideas for other ways we could help you, we would be happy to hear them.

2011-06-02T07:35:00.000+01:00

Well I finally got around to watching the Channel 4 Dispatches programme 'The Truth About Your Dentist'. This is my response.

There are more than 24,000 dentists working in the UK in over 10,000 practices.

The programme featured fewer than 6 practices and fewer than 10 dentists who allegedly were “gaming the system.”

If these allegations are true, we are as shocked and upset as you are.

Programmes like Dispatches are there to expose the malpractice of all in the professions and business – bankers, politicians, business leaders, celebrities, healthcare professionals and others.

They do so in order to sell programming and advertising – so the more outrageous the better – if you dig deep enough you will always find a story which you can selectively slant to say whatever will guarantee funding for your next programme (and thereby maintain your income).

Here at The Dentist in Town we are very proud of our team, our standards of customer service and clinical care.

We hope that watching the practices and individuals featured in the Dispatches programme will have demonstrated the investment that we make in your dental practice, the care that we extend to our patients and the difference that we provide.

The truth about YOUR dentist is that we care.”

TV's Dispatches Investigates Unethical Dentists

2011-05-21T07:28:00.000+01:00

A TV documentary, 'The Truth about Your Dentist' on Channel 4 at 8.00pm on Monday 23 May promises to lift the lid on the unethical practices of some of the UK's dentists.

From what I've read about the programme, it will highlight problems with present-day NHS dentistry - the sort of issues that persuaded me, after 20-odd years, that I could no longer provide within an NHS framework the sort of care my patients deserved. These are also issues that should make make members of the public think very carefully about who they are going to trust to treat them and their families.

Of course the programme will be sensational and exaggerate outrageously - What people tend to forget is that a television programme is first and foremost a business deal for the people making the show. If it's controversial it attracts more viewers and without high viewing figures the programme makers can't get the funding they need for the next show they want to make. Nevertheless, it sounds as if there will be a lot of interesting content in 'The Truth about Your Dentist'.

Next Week Only

2011-05-20T10:40:00.002+01:00

I hope this will be as good for me as I know it will be for you.

Next week we find ourselves with an unusually gappy appointment book - and if the expected heatwave arrives, it will inevitably get even gappier as people decide they would rather sit in the sun than in the dentist's chair.

We can't sit in the sun.... so, in a blatant attempt to fill those gaps, for next week only, we are offering:

Check-ups for £16.75 - That's £10 off the usual price.
20% off all treatment - even if it's already booked in.

- If you're on Denplan and don't have to pay for your check-ups, we'll give you an extra 20% (in addition to your Denplan discount) off any treatment you need or fancy having done. That's a total discount of more than a third!

This is for NEXT WEEK ONLY, so if this appeals to you or if you know someone who would benefit, please call us as soon as possible because when the week is fully booked, that's it.

Whether we see you or not, have a great week.

Women Cleaner Than Men

2011-05-15T17:16:00.000+01:00

Another survey – this time attributed (to the American Journal of Periodontology) – has shown that women are on the whole much better than men at looking after their mouths. They have better oral hygiene, less gum disease and fewer cavities or restorations.

This confirms what all of us who work in dentistry know from personal experience and I suspect it comes as no surprise to most other people. The question is: why does this difference (about 30% - statistically very significant) exist?

All the old favourite rationalizations have been trotted out, including: media and societal pressure for women to look good/ as the vessels for bringing new life into the world, women are psychologically programmed to take better care of themselves/ women aren’t too arrogant to listen to advice... and so on.

There is some truth in all of these explanations but no positive proof that I have been able to find pointing to a single dominant reason as to why women should be more hygienic.

So I would be grateful to hear what you have to say. If you can shed any rays of light on this – serious or facetious – please send them in and, if they appeal to me, I’ll put them on here.

In the meantime, Ladies: Keep up the good work.

Gents: Let’s get our act together.

'The Smile Factor'

2011-05-11T15:55:00.000+01:00

I read that the public have voted Holly Willoughby the celebrity with the most attractive smile. Apparently, they also voted Kelly Brook into second place.

Now I don't disagree with either of these ladies being selected; they both have many excellent attributes, one of which is their smile. But am I alone is thinking it would be a good idea if the people who write these articles told us something along the lines of: 'Readers of [whatever] magazine have chosen...' or 'The first three people we stopped on [a certain London street] said that...' ?

Maybe I'm just having a bad day but I feel my status as a member of the public being stripped away by being kept in the dark about all these crucial life or death swings in public opinion. Nobody has asked my opinion. Nor have they sought the views of anyone I know - everyone I have asked today (23 people) claims complete ignorance. Of course they could be lying. Or perhaps somebody else is. If I wasn't so upset, I would be able to come up with a great ending for this post (honest).

Tattoed Teeth

2011-05-04T14:19:00.000+01:00

A plumber (clearly far too highly paid) has spent 6 hours and £1000 at a Bristol dentist having Prince William and Kate Middleton's faces tattooed on his front teeth. Apparently, the pictures will last for up to three months but will deteriorate with brushing - and they don't even, at least in this picture, look like them.

If anyone would like any stick men drawn on their teeth, I'd be happy to relieve you of a grand.

Gum Disease is a Major Cause of Strokes

2011-04-04T20:13:00.002+01:00

Evidence presented at the 89th International Association for Dental Research in San Diego suggests that gum disease carries a higher risk of causing a stroke than diabetes and almost as much risk as high blood pressure.

I haven't read the research yet so I'm not clear on the mechanisms involved but the claim aseems to be substantiated. It appears that good oral hygiene is about not losing a lot more than just your teeth.

'Grazing' at your Desk harms your Teeth

2011-04-04T06:53:00.000+01:00

Do you 'graze' at your desk? An increasing number of people do. In fact, a recent survey has shown that almost 70% of UK office workers snack several times a day while chained (literally?) to their desks or while on the go.

Unfortunately, oral hygiene measures have not kept up with this move away from a 3 meals per day lifestyle. In an ideal world, we should clean our teeth every time we eat. However, this isn't always a practical option.

So what can we do?

Chewing sugar-free gum will help by stimulating the production of saliva which works to neutralize the plaque acids that cause tooth decay.

Interestingly (at least to me) the survey found that lawyers and bankers were the most frequent snackers but also the most conscientious tooth brushers. People working in marketing and media were less good, and teachers were solidly at the bottom of the class. 68% of teachers admitted snacking up to 6 times a day, while cleaning their teeth only in the morning and at night.

Must try harder.

Yas Leaving

2011-03-21T16:45:00.000Z

Ill health has forced Dr Yassin (Yas) to leave us but he is hoping to do a few days as cover when needed later in the year. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.

Women Need More Dental Check-ups after the Menopause

2011-03-14T14:23:00.000Z

Research in America has shown that women who have undergone the menopause need more than two dental check-ups per year.

Members of this group are particularly at risk of osteoporosis and if you add in the effects of dental plaque, which causes loss of the bone around the teeth, the potential consequences are worrying, especially as researchers found increased levels of plaque in post-menopausal women compared with pre-menopausal women.

Professor Palomo, leading the research, believes that, after the menopause, women may need up to four dental check-ups per year.

I'm not fully convinced about this but if you would like to read the study for yourself, you can find it here:

Leena Palomo, Maria Clarinda A. Buencamino-Francisco, John J. Carey, Mala Sivanandy, Holly Thacker. Is long-term bisphosphonate therapy associated with benefits to the periodontium in postmenopausal women? Menopause, 2011; 18 (2): 164-170 DOI: 10.1097/gme.0b013e3181e8e2a2

What do You call Dentures?

2011-03-06T20:45:00.000Z

A question:

Why do many people refer to their dentures as 'plates'. Dentures are neither round nor flat – unless the technician who made them was on some really potent hallucinogen at the time. So why 'plates'?

Is it because people eat their food off them? Or do they leave them in the sink covered in beans and bits of liver? Or let the cat lick them clean? Are there people who hang their 'plates' on the wall, or put them on the dresser on those little stands? Should laboratories churn out commemorative dentures to celebrate (i.e. profit from) the forthcoming royal wedding?

Okay, I’m being facetious but the basic question is a serious one and I don’t know the answer. If anybody does, please email me.

Avoiding Routine Treatment Can Cost You More

2011-02-23T09:32:00.000Z

(and not just financially)

A survey carried out by The British Dental Association has supported previous polls showing that appointments for routine dental treatment are down 59% compared to three years ago.

Clearly, in these tough times there is a financial reason for this. Unfortunately, during the same period there has been a threefold increase in demand for emergency treatment.

There seems little doubt that there is a direct link here: people put off having routine work carried out and end up needing to have teeth extracted, root filled and/or crowned as a result. In almost all cases, this costs much more than the routine stuff would have cost – and the treatment is inevitably more of an ordeal.

Many dentists are delighted with this situation because the treatment needs caused by neglect are generally much more lucrative than routine maintenance. However, that is not how I want to run my practice.

Keeping your mouth healthy is much like running a car in that the best time to keep it working properly is before it causes trouble.

Smartphone Wrinkles?

2011-02-16T14:45:00.000Z

Cosmetic surgeons say they are experiencing a rise in the number of young women who are seeking Botox to smooth out wrinkles caused by staring at their smartphones.

Apparently, peering at a small screen causes your face to scrunch up, creating an area of tension around and between the brows.

So, to what degree is this a genuine story, rather than a case of recession-strapped surgeons trying to flog more Botox? I don’t know – but other skin specialists claim that a daily DIY face massage is all that’s needed to ease the condition.

Please note, though, they all agree that those affected need to do something.

Modern life, eh?

20% of Parents Regularly Let Their Kids Go To Bed Without Brushing Their Teeth!

2011-02-12T06:20:00.000Z

I read a very worrying statistic yesterday. According to a recent survey, in excess of 20% of UK parents regularly allow their children to go to sleep without brushing their teeth because (and I quote) 'it's less hassle'.

This statistic shocked me so much that I had to use it as a (not very snappy) headline.

Given that most tooth decay takes place during sleep because that's when the body produces less saliva to fight the bacteria that cause decay, such behaviour is building up a lot more 'hassle' in the long term.

And, as a father of 3, it has been my experience that if you let a child away with something like that once, it becomes much more difficult to avoid having to do so again.

There aren't many things these days that make me go all righteous but this is one of them. Most people would see a very great difference between allowing a child to go to bed with dental plaque in their mouth and taking a hammer and chisel to the child's teeth. I'm not at all sure I agree. Of course, one of these options allows the parent to believe the resultant suffering isn't their fault.

So that's all right then.

Gumshields - If you need one, you REALLY need one

2011-02-09T05:31:00.000Z

A mouthguard or gumshield is a plastic cover made to fit precisely over your upper teeth* and gums, protecting them from damage in situations where impact is likely – for example, playing contacts sports or teasing hygienists.

(*Some boxers wear double mouhtguards which also fit over their lower teeth. These became popular when Evander Holyfield wore them but they are less often used these days because they are bulky and many boxers complain that they interfere with their breathing.)

So how is a mouthguard different from a gumshield?

It isn’t. Mouthguard is just a more accurate name because these things don’t only shield the gums; they protect the teeth and can prevent damage to the jaws, neck and brain by absorbing and redistributing some of the force of a heavy blow.

(Actually, put like that, ‘mouthguard’ seems an inadequate term too. Headguards? No, that would be some sort of helmet. Lifeguards? No, that would confuse die-hard ‘Bay Watch’ fans. It looks as if we’ll have to stick with ‘mouthguards’ because they are guards that are worn in the mouth)

Where do I get one?

You can buy kits to do it yourself. With these, you soften the product in hot water and mould it in your mouth until it sets. These are better than nothing but they can fit badly, be uncomfortable and give you little protection. A major problem seems to be that you have to mould the plastic so it fits inside your lips but pressure from the lips often thins it down too much, giving you the least protection where you need it most – at the front.

A far better option is to have your mouthguard tailor-made for you by your dentist. This will fit accurately and offer maximum protection.

Mouthguards are available in a large range of coloured designs.

How long do they last?

Just like, say, running shoes, mouthguards wear out eventually and offer less protection. It is a good idea to take your mouthguard along for your dentist to check at each six monthly visit – or sooner if you’re concerned.

Children and teenagers will need their mouthguards replaced more often as jaws grow and teeth come through or fall out. Kids’ mouthguards will usually cease to fit long before they wear out (I was going to compare them in this respect to school shoes – but then I saw the state of my son’s shoes, which he’s had for about three weeks. Heigh ho.)

Sweet Drinks Rot Teeth - Fact

2010-09-11T12:33:00.002+01:00

The other day a woman brought her seven year old daughter to me for a second opinion. She felt her dentist had been negligent because, despite brushing regularly and despite regular check-ups, the girl had two decayed teeth.

What this mother failed to appreciate (and, I fear, still fails to accept) is that it is neither inadequate brushing nor irregular dental visits that causes tooth decay. That honour goes to SUGAR and, especially in children, sugar is delivered most dangerously in sweet drinks, such as fizzy pop and squash.

The hard fact that no parent wants to acknowledge is that, in 99% plus of cases, the fault lies not with the dentist (who sees the child a couple of times a year) nor with the child (who cannot be expected to understand that something so pleasant can be harmful) – the fault lies with the person who lets the child have the drinks.

I am not advocating a complete ban on squash and pop, merely that the quantity be limited, the timing controlled (NEVER less than an hour before bed time) and that the sweet drink be followed by a thorough rinsing of the mouth with water – which can be swallowed afterwards.

That’s right, I said ‘rinse’ not ‘brush’. You should never brush immediately following an acidic drink such as cola. The acid softens the surface enamel of the teeth which is then easily brushed away. Rinse thoroughly with water to dilute the acid and wait an hour for the enamel to remineralise from saliva before brushing.

This is why a sugary drink should never be consumed less than an hour before bed time. It is vital to brush teeth thoroughly before going to bed because the body produces less saliva during sleep. As well as repairing minor damage to tooth enamel, saliva is the body’s first line of defence against the bacteria that cause dental disease.

In short: damaging tooth enamel, especially at a time when the body is ill equipped to kill the bacteria waiting to take advantage of that damage, is not a great idea. Blaming someone else might make you feel better but it’s not going to help your child.

For a fuller account of tooth decay an other tips about how to keep your mouth, and your children's mouths, healthy, see my book:

Watch Your Mouth - An Owner's Manual

Beware Internet Teeth Whitening Gels

2010-08-23T10:34:00.005+01:00

Buying teeth whitening gel on the Internet is stupid. I tried for quite a long time to find a more tactful way to put that but purchasing medical products from an unlicensed source is too stupid for tact. It’s like buying cheap flights from a bloke who stops you in the street, or blindfolding your kids and getting them to race across the motorway – you might get away with it....

Even people who have had the sense to buy professional home whitening kits from a dentist are turning to the Internet for top-up gels. And a lot of them are regretting it.

Now I know there are people reading this who will say, ‘He would say that; he wants to protect his income.’ Well here’s a fact: in the last 6 months I have made almost three times as much from remedying misguided self-bleachings as I have from whitening teeth properly. An attempt to save a few quid can quickly turn into something much more expensive than it would have been to do the job properly in the first place.

Professional tooth whitening, carried out correctly, causes no harm. No structural changes are made to the teeth. Nothing is taken away or weakened. The same cannot be said for the work necessary to repair botched bleaching.

The recent kerfuffle in the press has focused on dangerously high concentrations of carbamide and hydrogen peroxide gels. These can cause chemical burns, leading to gum recession and all the problems that arise from that, and they can leave indelible brown marks on damaged enamel.

So what are the ‘cowboys’ doing to protect their business? They’re loading ultra strong gels (35% and more) into syringes marked ‘16% Carbamide Peroxide’. The idea is that these gels will work more quickly than real 16% gels and people will, therefore, think they’re better and buy more – and to hell with the damage they cause!

In addition to this, there are still a lot of acidic gels available, coming mainly from Eastern Europe. These almost instantly make the teeth look whiter by etching the enamel. Unfortunately, the whiteness is temporary but the loss of tooth structure is not.

Please, if you want whiter teeth, choose a safe way to get them. Don’t buy the equivalent of a ‘do-it-yourself landmine detector kit’. To paraphrase L’Oreal, you’re worth more than that.

For further advice on keeping your mouth healthy, beautiful and trouble-free, check out my book,

'Watch Your Mouth - An Owner's Manual'

A World Without Antibiotics

2010-08-16T15:51:00.001+01:00

I'm becoming increasingly disturbed by the number and variety of dental infections that are refusing to clear up quickly. This appears to be part of a general body-wide and world-wide pattern.

I reproduce her an article written by Sarah Boseley in The Guardian. This is particularly worrying as, unlike most of the over-sensationalized things we read in the press, it rings true.

Just 65 years ago, David Livermore's paternal grandmother died following an operation to remove her appendix. It didn't go well, but it was not the surgery that killed her. She succumbed to a series of infections that the pre-penicillin world had no drugs to treat. Welcome to the future.

The era of antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a couple of generations, what once appeared to be miracle medicines have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out. Once, scientists hailed the end of infectious diseases. Now, the post-antibiotic apocalypse is within sight.

Hyperbole? Unfortunately not. The highly serious journal Lancet Infectious Diseases yesterday posed the question itself over a paper revealing the rapid spread of multi-drug-resistant bacteria. "Is this the end of antibiotics?" it asked.

Doctors and scientists have not been complacent, but the paper by Professor Tim Walsh and colleagues takes the anxiety to a new level. Last September, Walsh published details of a gene he had discovered, called NDM 1, which passes easily between types of bacteria called enterobacteriaceae such as E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and makes them resistant to almost all of the powerful, last-line group of antibiotics called carbapenems. Yesterday's paper revealed that NDM 1 is widespread in India and has arrived here as a result of global travel and medical tourism for, among other things, transplants, pregnancy care and cosmetic surgery.

"In many ways, this is it," Walsh tells me. "This is potentially the end. There are no antibiotics in the pipeline that have activity against NDM 1-producing enterobacteriaceae. We have a bleak window of maybe 10 years, where we are going to have to use the antibiotics we have very wisely, but also grapple with the reality that we have nothing to treat these infections with."

And this is the optimistic view – based on the assumption that drug companies can and will get moving on discovering new antibiotics to throw at the bacterial enemy. Since the 1990s, when pharma found itself twisting and turning down blind alleys, it has not shown a great deal of enthusiasm for difficult antibiotic research. And besides, because, unlike with heart medicines, people take the drugs for a week rather than life, and because resistance means the drugs become useless after a while, there is just not much money in it.

Dr Livermore, whose grandmother died for lack of infection-killing drugs in 1945, is director of the antibiotic resistance monitoring and reference laboratory of the Health Protection Agency. Last year, the HPA put out an alert to medical professionals about NDM 1, urging them to report all suspect cases. Livermore is far from sanguine about the future.

"A lot of modern medicine would become impossible if we lost our ability to treat infections," he says. He is talking about transplant surgery, for instance, where patients' immune systems have to be suppressed to stop them rejecting a new organ, leaving them prey to infections, and the use of immuno-suppressant cancer drugs.

But it is not just an issue in advanced medicine. Antibiotics are vital to abdominal surgery. "You safeguard the patient from bacteria leaking into the body cavity," he says. "If you lose the ability to treat these infections, far more people would die of peritonitis." Appendix operations would carry the same risk as they did before Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.

It may not be over yet, he says, but "we are certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel to find antibiotics that are effective against some of the infections caused by bacteria."

Running out is not the only issue, he says. When somebody has a severe infection – say blood poisoning – causing a high fever, a hospital clinician will dispatch blood samples to the lab to find out exactly what he is dealing with. But that takes time. "He will start you on antibiotics because that will kill infection within 48 hours," says Livermore. "So during 48 hours, you are being treated blind. The more resistant your bacteria are, the less likely the antibiotic is going to work."

Studies have shown, he says, that the chances of dying from hospital pneumonia or septicaemia (blood poisoning) are twice as high if the bacteria are drug-resistant, rising in the case of pneumonia from 20-30% to 40-60%.

For a long time now, doctors have known they were in a race to stay a few steps ahead of the rapidly growing resistance of bacterial infections to antibiotics. Ten years ago, the so-called superbug MRSA caused front-page panic. Hospital patients were picking up Staphylococcus aureus infections that were resistant to the hitherto powerful antibiotic methicillin. All-out war, led by the government's former chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson, against MRSA and also C. diff (Clostridium difficile) has reduced the threat of what are known as Gram-positive bacteria. Hospital hygiene has been massively stepped up and, in response in part to public anxiety, pharmaceutical companies have put money into finding new antibiotics for those infections.

But it's like putting a finger in a hole in the dam, only to find the water surges out somewhere else. Bacteria are great survivors. The biggest threat now, experts believe, is from multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, such as NDM 1-producing enterobacteriaceae and an enzyme called KPC which has spread in the US (and in Israel and Greece) which also gives bacteria resistance to the carbapenems, the most powerful group of antibiotics we (once) had.

"The emergence of antibiotic resistance is the most eloquent example of Darwin's principle of evolution that there ever was," says Livermore. "It is a war of attrition. It is naive to think we can win."

So the game now is to keep bacteria at bay. Hygiene is an obvious weapon. Better cleaning, hand gels and stern warnings to staff and public alike have helped reduce infection rates in hospitals. But Professor Richard James, director of the centre for healthcare associated infections at the University of Nottingham, warns that bugs don't stay in hospitals (indeed, the NDM 1- producing bacteria appear to be widespread in the community in India, passed on through contaminated water, in which people bathe, wash clothes and also defecate).

"The worry is once these organisms are out in the community," says James. "There probably is some need for public education about infection and, for instance, kitchen hygiene when you are cooking. People of my generation were taught a lot about washing your hands before every meal. It was automatic that it was done. A lot of that has gone." There are some innovative ideas about, he says, on ways of teaching children in school to wash their hands – in the hope that they will then go home and pester their parents to do the same.

Beyond that, there is a real need to conserve those antibiotics we have. "To me, it has many parallels with the problems of energy in economies around the world," he says. Carbon trading was dreamed up to try to conserve oil and reduce its pollutant effects. There have now been a couple of interesting papers suggesting a Pigouvian tax – which he defines as one levied on an agent causing an environmental problem as an incentive to mitigate that problem – for antibiotics.

Like oil, he points out, antibiotic usefulness is finite. And the cost of drug resistance is not reflected in the price of the drug. "If you consider antibiotic sensitivity as a resource like oil, you want to maintain that by introducing a tax," he says. It would be worldwide and the proceeds could fund new drug development.

But should you tax life-saving drugs, especially in poor countries? "If you don't do anything, there won't be any antibiotics anyway," says James starkly. "At least it is a suggestion of something that could be done."

If anybody had doubted it for a moment, Walsh's paper shows that neither the UK nor any other country can pull up the drawbridge. "This report shows that the battle to control the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs through appropriate use of antibiotics must be fought at an international level," says Kevin Kerr, consultant microbiologist at Harrogate district hospital. "It illustrates the importance of considering health issues as a world issue – how antibiotics are prescribed and controlled in one part of the world can very rapidly have consequences elsewhere," says Christopher Thomas, professor of molecular genetics at the University of Birmingham.

"Frankly, pharmaceutical companies as well as governments and the European Commission need to really get their act together," says Walsh, who has been urging co-ordinated efforts across the world to put in place good surveillance systems to find out what resistance is developing and where, and then look for interventions. He had Columbia, Mexico, Thailand and India all willingly on board for one surveillance scheme, but the European Commission would not fund it. "What we need is for somebody to give us something like €3m [£2.5m] a year. It's not a lot of money."

The fact is that many people have still got their heads in the sand. But soon we will start seeing patients in NHS hospitals whose infections won't clear up. In the battle for survival of the fittest between human beings and bacteria, just now it looks as though the best we are going to get is a draw – if we are lucky.
After antibiotics: what happens when the drugs don't work

• Transplant surgery becomes virtually impossible. Organ recipients have to take immune-suppressing drugs for life to stop rejection of a new heart or kidney. Their immune systems cannot fight off life-threatening infections without antibiotics.

• Removing a burst appendix becomes a dangerous operation once again. Patients are routinely given antibiotics after surgery to prevent the wound becoming infected by bacteria. If bacteria get into the bloodstream, they can cause life-threatening septicaemia.

• Pneumonia becomes once more "the old man's friend". Antibiotics have stopped it being the mass-killer it once was, particularly among the old and frail, who would lapse into unconsciousness and often slip away in their sleep. Other diseases of old age, such as cancer, have taken over.

• Gonorrhea becomes hard to treat. Resistant strains are already on the rise. Without treatment, the sexually transmitted disease causes pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancies.

• Tuberculosis becomes incurable – first we had TB, then multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and now there is XDR-TB (extremely drug resistant TB). TB requires very long courses (six months or more) of antibiotics. The very human tendency to stop taking or forget to take the drugs has contributed to the spread of resistance.

Practice closed by Flood

2010-08-16T15:38:00.000+01:00

Apologies to anybody who has been inconvenienced by our enforced closure today (and probably tomorrow). This has been caused by a leaking valve in one of our dental chairs (leaking in roughly the same way that a fire hose 'leaks' when turned on full power). The damage has, thankfully, been minimal but the proximity of water and electrics has put us out of action for a couple of days.

Everything should be back to normal on Wednesday.

The Dentist in Town Has Joined DENPLAN

2010-08-05T09:21:00.000+01:00

To find out more, please call us on 0121 236 8681

Sensitive Teeth – Why Does It Happen? How Can You Stop It?

2010-08-05T09:17:00.000+01:00

If you suffer from sensitive teeth, check out the following article:

Sensitive Teeth

SNORING - MORE BAD NEWS

2010-08-01T08:04:00.000+01:00

It seems that almost every day another problem is discovered that can be attributed to snoring. An American study has shown that snorers have a significantly higher risk of developing carotid artery atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries supplying blood to the brain) This increases the risk of having a stroke. The more a person snores, the greater the risk. It is not yet known why this should be the case.

Fortunately, snoring can be treated. The simplest way is by wearing a special bite guard at night to move the jaw forward and open up the airway.

If you feel you have a problem (or if your partner does) give me a call on 0121 236 8681. Let’s see if we can increase the quality – and the length – of your life.

A Book EVERYBODY should own!

2010-07-25T18:07:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed that I haven't exactly been pouring out blogs and tips of the week lately. This is largely because I've been ridiculously busy with taking over the practice and responding to the feedback from our questionnaire - and also because I've developed the 'tips' idea into a book.

It seemed to me that there was a need for a simple owner's manual for the human mouth. I had a look to see what was out there and I found books that were either far too academic to be useful or ones that were produced by journalists who knew how to write but didn't really understand the nuances of what they were writing about.

So I've put together 'Watch Your Mouth - An Owner's Manual'. It's designed to be a practical guide to keeping your mouth in working order. The style is similar to the Tips of the Week and I think everyone in the world should have one (not just because I've written it)

The book is available in paperback and as a download. If you're interested, you can check it out here:

Watch Your Mouth - An Owner's Manual

KATIE MOVING ON

2010-05-15T20:42:00.000+01:00

Our wonderful dental therapist, Katie is leaving us. Katie lives in Rugby and has been commuting every day. Understandably, that has finally become too much of a chore and she has got a new job that's a 5 minute walk from her house. We wish her all the best for the future.

We are searching for a replacement but it may take a while because we are being VERY fussy. So please bear with us if this means you have to wait a little longer for a hygiene appointment. It will be worth it in the end.

Yet another Unusual Use for Dental Floss

2010-03-28T14:56:00.001+01:00

Aparently (I haven't tried this one), dental floss is great for removing a ring that's stuck on your finger. Poke one end of the floss under the ring then wrap the rest tightly around your finger from the ring down to your nail. Then the ring will slide down over the floss 'corset'.

Other uses for Dental Floss

2010-03-12T14:47:00.002Z

Someone has emailed me an unusual use for dental floss. Where they got it, I don't know. Neither do I know why they sent it to me, but I've tried it and it works - so I thought I'd pass it on.

Separate photographs

Sometimes photos stick together and you're scared to pull them apart because you know you're going to ruin at least one of them - but if you gently work a length of dental floss between the pictures (I had to get someone else to hold the photos for me) they should separate.

If anybody has any other unusual uses for anything dental, please email them to me and I'll let everyone else know.

2010-01-28T10:31:00.001Z

VALENTINE GIFT

2010-01-27T08:23:00.001Z

Are you stuck for a Valentine's gift?

We have a Special Luxury Gift Package including: teeth whitening, an extended 'Bright Sparkle' session with one of our hygienists, a romantic meal for 2 at Strada, a hairdo at a prestigious City Centre salon, plus surprise 'Extras'.

So go on, treat your loved one.

Or, of course, you can treat yourself - As L'Oreal so rightly say, You're worth it.

Call us on 0121 236 8681 for details.

Closed over Christmas

2009-12-09T11:32:00.000Z

The Dentist in Town will be closed from lunch time 23 December and will reopen on Moday 4 January. If you're one of our patients and you have an emergency during this time, call us on 0121 236 8681 and we'll make sure you;re taken care of.

Have a great Christmas - or Hannukah, or whatever is your thing.

Pre-Christmas Rush

2009-12-03T07:09:00.000Z

We're experiencing the usual pre-Christmas rush on teeth whitening as people want to be all bright and sparkly for their works parties and on into the new year. In fact, there's more demand than ever this year. This is probably because, in a recession, few things have as big an impact for as little money (£187.50) as teeth whitening.

I've been prompted to write this because I left it too late to buy advent calendars for my kids and now I'm in big trouble. Please don't make the same mistake if you want to whiten your teeth for Christmas.

If this is something you want to do, I would urge you to get it under way ASAP. It's important to realize that booking in with a dentist is only half the battle. The dentist then has to place your work with a laboratory - and the labs are rapidly becoming inundated. There is a very real danger that, possibly by the end of next week, they won't be able to get whitening trays back to us (or any other dentist) before Christmas.

At the moment there's no problem. I'll let you know as soon as that changes.

All the best

Tom

Dentistry and The Daily Mail

2009-11-12T21:08:00.000Z

It isn’t often I read the Daily Mail but I was looking through one in Costa and I came across this article – so I nicked it to copy out for you. In my (admittedly weak) defence, it was twenty minutes before the place shut so I wasn’t depriving anyone of their paper. Anyway, here’s the article:

If you’re feeling down in the mouth, brace yourself for more bad news: research shows you should make an appointment with a dentist.
     Pessimists are more likely to have poor oral health, including decayed, missing or wonky teeth.
     And it seems their negative view of the world also extends to the dentist’s chair.
     The link was made by comparing the personalities of 1,037 people in their early 30s with their dental records.
     The men and women were asked to fill in two questionnaires, one to gauge how they felt about dentists, the other to rate character traits.
     Around a quarter admitted they were scared of the dentist, avoided check-ups and only make appointments when in pain.
     As a result, they had more tooth decay than those not worried about treatment, and had twice as many rotten or missing teeth and fillings by the age of 32.
     Those scared of the dentist were also more easily stressed, less sociable and less likely to turn to others for comfort, the Journal of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology reports.
     Professor Murray Thomson, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, who led the study, said: ‘The non-anxious types tend to have more robust personalities and are more able to cope with what life throws at them.’

Now, is it just me being picky or is this another case of stating the bleedin’ obvious? ‘Anxious people avoid the added stress of going to the dentist and as a result have worse teeth than people who do go.’ Someone received funding for that astonishing piece of research. But then, I haven’t read the original academic paper and it’s possible that the journalist who summarised the findings may have got them as jumbled as most things concerning dentistry that I’ve ever read in a newspaper. I’ll let you know if I ever get around to checking it out.

(P.S. Those anxious people wouldn’t need to get stressed if they came to see me)

New Hygienist

2009-10-28T11:22:00.000Z

I would like to introduce you to Louisa, our new hygienist. Lesley and Katie will still be with us but, for various reasons, neither of them can work the latter part of the afternoon. Louisa will fill that gap. Initially, she'll be here on Thursday afternoons but we will extend her hours in line with demand - and we know you're going to like her.

We hope to have a photo in time for our Novemver 5th newsletter. If you're not on our mailing list and you would like to receive the newsletter, please fill in the box on the right.

Preventing Tooth Decay in Toddlers

2009-10-03T15:19:00.004+01:00

A spoonful of sugar may indeed help the medicine go down but it seems that the sugar substitute, xylitol, has medicinal properties of its own. Recent research has shown that a few drops of xylitol, given as a syrup, may help prevent tooth decay in baby teeth.

Xylitol, has been used for years as a ‘safe’ sweetener in chewing gum and some medicines. It was introduced because, unlike sugar, the bacteria in dental plaque cannot use it to produce the acid that causes tooth decay. Now researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have discovered it goes further than that. It seems that xylitol actually kills acid-producing bacteria in the mouth.

This is good news because there is increasing evidence that tooth decay is on the rise amongst young children in the UK, especially in higher-income families. In fact, according to the British Dental Health Foundation, almost fifty per cent of children below the age of five in Britain show signs of tooth decay – even though the causes are well known and decay is easily preventable. This figure is a national average, the numbers being very much lower in areas where drinking water is fluoridated. However, even in fluoridated areas, decay seems to be increasing slowly.

The optimal dose appears to be 4 g of xylitol syrup given twice a day but research is not yet complete. It will, therefore, be a while before xylitol dental syrup is available. When it is, we’ll let you know.

ATTENTION EMPLOYEES OF BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

2009-09-30T11:10:00.000+01:00

My son recently fell off a swing and broke his arm. We took him to the Children’s Hospital where everyone was absolutely superb.

As a personal thank you, until the end of October, I am offering half-price examinations and treatment (INCLUDING COSMETIC WORK) to all bona fide employees of Birmingham Children’s Hospital. This means that coming to see us will, in most cases, be significantly cheaper than the NHS – even though we’re a private practice.

AND we’re only 5 minutes walk from the hospital.
So call us now and let me start giving something back to you.

Tom Nolan
The Dentist in Town – 0121 236 8681
10 The Minories, Temple Court, Birmingham B4 6AG (The pedestrian arcade on Bull Street)

NEW RECEPTIONIST

2009-09-23T06:14:00.000+01:00

Our brilliant young receptionist, Jenna has left us to become a teacher (clearly, dealing with my tantrums provided her with valuable experience and inspiration) We haven't managed to get rid of her completely, though, as she'll be doing some part-time work for us.

Jenna has been replaced by Selina, an equally briliant young receptionist. Like Jenna, Selina has worked extensively abroad. Also like Jenna, she claims never to have been extradicted.

If you're in town, do pop in for a coffee and to say hello.

We're Supprting Macmillan

2009-09-13T12:42:00.008+01:00

Macmillan Cancer Support are holding their big Coffee Morning on Friday 25 September.

But maybe you can’t make that – or maybe you would like to go twice?

To help maximise the work of this fantastic charity, we’re holding a follow-up event from 9.30 – 12.30 on the following Monday (28th September) Everybody welcome.

Come along for a cuppa, a chat, a look around if you’ve never been here before and make a small donation to Macmillan Cancer Support.

We’ll also donate 10% of the cost of all bookings we receive that morning to Macmillan – and we’ll help you to help others by knocking 20% off the fee.

There will be other goodies as well! – Watch this space.

Come along to The Dentist in Town

10 The Minories, Temple Court, Birmingham City Centre B4 6AG 0121 236 8681

Jenna is Leaving

2009-08-25T13:58:00.001+01:00

Jenna is leaving us to pursue a teaching career. She'll still be doing some part-time work for us but, after September, her smiling (slightly deranged) face will no longer be seen in reception. She'll be a hard act to follow but we're pulling out all the stops to find a superb replacement.

FAQs

2009-08-24T11:26:00.003+01:00

I get a lot of questions emailed to me every week and I think it's about time we made the answers generally available so other people can benefit. I thought about putting the question and answers on here but decided it would be easier to find what you want if they have a site of their own.

You can find the Q & A at

http://dentistintownfaqs.blogspot.com/

If you have any questions you would like answered, please email them to

reception@dentistintown.co.uk

Please include your name - but it won't be published.

Stay well.

Tip of the Week

2009-08-21T09:25:00.004+01:00

We've added a Tip of the Week section to our website - cunningly accessed via the 'Advice' button in the top menu. So if you would like some straightforward, practical advice to help you keep your mouth healthy, that's where you'll find it (just click on the green 'Tip of the Week' above)

May today be the best day of your life so far.

15 Mistakes People Make in Looking After Their Teeth

2009-08-10T09:35:00.001+01:00

We all know we have to take care of ourselves if we’re going to be healthy. What tends to get overlooked is the fact that different parts of the body require different degrees of maintenance and most of us underestimate the amount of attention we need to pay our mouths.

See how many of the following mistakes you make.

1. You don’t go to the dentist often enough. This means that when you do go, any gum disease or cavities are more advanced and, therefore, need more extensive treatment than they would have needed if you had gone sooner. It may even be that a tooth that could have been easily repaired will now have to be lost. This makes for a more traumatic appointment, which in turn makes you not want to go back, which... you get the idea. Regular routine maintenance really does make life easier all round.

2. You presume that if you haven’t got any pain there’s nothing going wrong. Well, that idea is wrong for a start. Tooth decay and gum disease are usually quite advanced before they cause any discomfort – and ‘more advanced’ = ‘more treatment required’.

3. You don’t understand that tooth decay and gum disease are progressive – you can’t let things slide and then pull it all back to be just as good as it was before. That is not a reason to do nothing. However bad things are now, they can only get worse unless you take action.

4. You underestimate the role of the hygienist. If you think she just gives you a ‘polish up’ to make your teeth look better, you are very, very wrong. This is a topic for another article but I’ll say now, speaking as a dentist, that in many fundamental ways, the hygienist’s work is more important than mine.

5. You have an ‘It can’t happen to me’ attitude – ‘Yeah I’ve seen all the stuff on TV about various things disintegrating if you soak them in Coke but it doesn’t do anything to MY teeth.’ I suppose we’re all guilty of that one in some area of our lives.

6. And, speaking of fizzy drinks, you assume that the diet varieties are safe because they don’t contain sugar – but they are acidic, and acid dissolves teeth. Fruit juice is also very acidic.

7. You try to reduce the harmful effect of acidic drinks by brushing your teeth immediately afterwards – when the enamel has just been softened by acid and is easily worn away! You should rinse thoroughly with water immediately after an acidic drink but don’t brush for at least half an hour.

8. You don’t clean in between your teeth. You might brush for the prescribed time but you never floss or use interdental brushes. So you leave plaque undisturbed between the teeth – and plaque bacteria are never idle.

9. You don’t appreciate the nature of plaque. Essentially, it’s a jelly-like slime that coats your teeth and is teeming with potentially harmful bacteria. In fact, plaque has a higher concentration of germs than faeces! So, which would you rather have in your mouth – the safer one, or plaque?
10. You don’t brush your tongue. A lot of bugs – especially those that cause bad breath – live on the surface of the tongue. A good antiseptic mouthwash will help but you should brush as well.

11. You use a manual toothbrush with a horizontal scrubbing motion. Not only does this fail to remove plaque in the ‘nooks and crannies’, it can damage your gums and wear groves in your teeth so that they become sensitive and more prone to decay. Correct brushing technique is the subject of another article but the simplest way to avoid these problems is to use an electric brush.

12. If you use a manual brush, you choose one with a head that is too big. If the brush is too large, it contacts 2 or more of the prominent tooth contours and doesn’t get into the recessed areas in between. You need a brush with a small head so you can winkle it into the difficult areas. Yes it will take longer – because you’re being thorough.

13. You open your mouth too wide when brushing your back teeth. This makes it difficult to get at the surfaces on the cheek side of these teeth.

14. You think that because bleeding gums are common, they’re normal. They’re not. Bleeding is an early sign of gum disease and if you ignore it, it will get worse and eventually your teeth will get loose – and all sorts of other problems in between. Trust me, doing nothing is NOT the easier option here.

15. You feel embarrassed about going to the dentist because you’ve left it so long and you think your mouth is in a shocking state. This is totally unnecessary. In the first place, you’re probably being unduly pessimistic – and even if you’re not, I guarantee we’ve seen worse, and we have no interest in making moral judgements about people; all we want is to help everyone be as healthy as possible. And, however bad things are, unless you take action, this is the best they will ever be.

So, do any of the above apply to you? If so, you know what to do.

Why Do My Gums Show So Much?

2009-08-10T09:12:00.000+01:00

Why Do My Gums Show So Much?

2009-08-06T11:33:00.000+01:00

The Dentist in Town is looking for a fantastic, totally brilliant in every way, receptionist. If this might be you, call us on 0121 236 8681.

Americans say Amalgam is safe

2009-08-05T12:42:00.000+01:00

The American Association of Dental Consultants has declared amalgam safe for fillings in teeth. Given that they work in the most litigious society on the planet, it's probably safe to presume the findings have been tested beyond any reasonable doubt.

If you would like to read the report, you can find it at:

http://aadc.org/site/articles/amalgam-safety.pdf

Tom Nolan

Tooth Erosion - Please DO NOT use Antacids

2009-08-02T11:40:00.000+01:00

Following my article about tooth abrasion and acid erosion

http://hubpages.com/hub/Are-These-Destroying-Your-Teeth

a few patients have told me that they regularly chew an antacid such as Rennie or Gaviscon to neutralize acids in their mouths. I'll tell you what I told them - please, please don't do that. Apart from there being no conclusive evidence that antacids significantly reduce acid levels in all areas of the mouth, it is potentially dangerous to over use these medicaments.

In order for digestion to work properly, the stomach has to maintain a level of acidity. If antacids are taken too frequently or in high enough doses to reduce stomach acid to below normal, the body protects itself by reacting with a surge of acid production - and it produces more acid than is needed to return things to normal. This in turn leads to heartburn and other digestive symptoms. So then you take more antacids to ease the symptoms. This leads to more rebound acid production, which causes more indigestion - and you're in a downward spiral.

In addition to this, antacids containing calcium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate are readily absorbed by the body and could, in sufficient dose, cause a systemic pH imbalance. It has been suggested that this could lead to kidney damage.

Each type of antacid also has its own set of potential side effects. If taken in excessive doses or for long periods of time, antacids containing magnesium and sodium bicarbonate can have laxative properties. Those containing aluminum and calcium carbonate or bismuth subsalicylate can cause constipation. And of course, as with all medicines, there are other side effects which occur in rare cases. These include nausea, headaches, urinary effects, altered appetite, muscle weakness, urinary tract disorders and allergic reactions.

So, to avoid eroding your teeth:
Reduce your intake of acidic foods and drinks and limit them to meal times.

Avoid brushing your teeth for half an hour following citrus fruit or an acidic drink.
Rinse your mouth with water immediately after eating or drinking something acidic.
Stimulate saliva production with sugar-free gum.
Do not over use antacid medicaments.

If you want to discuss any of the issues raised here, or anything else, you can contact me via

reception@dentistintown.co.uk

Response to Travel Sickness Article

2009-07-24T21:13:00.000+01:00

In response to my article about travel sickness

http://hubpages.com/_fzcm7mms8y1x/hub/Travel-Sickness---Dont-Let-It-Ruin-Your-Trip

Judith Roberts writes:

I have suffered from motion sickness in cars and on buses, aeroplanes and boats ever since I was a child. I first went on an aeroplane in 1956 when my parents were employed in Nigeria and my brother and I went out there for the school holidays.

I have found Travel (Sea) Bands the most effective treatment for nausea and motion sickness and I have used these since about 1995. I can bring them in to show Lesley next I come (in September) if you have never seen them.

I was in Boots in the city centre recently and I saw that they now have some for children, priced about £7. You may find these worth a try.

Thinking about it further, I started using travel wristbands over 20 years ago; some time in the late 1980s. At that time I understand they were being fairly widely used in NHS cancer wards for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. You’ll probably be aware that the anti-sickness drugs used to counteract the chemo. side-effects were far less effective then than they are now; and the acupressure bands were found to provide very effective relief in many cases.

Best regards

Judith

Thanks for this, Judith. I'm sure a lot people will find it very helpful.

Don't Believe The Ads

2009-07-19T08:44:00.000+01:00

Or at least don't take them at face value.

I'm sure you've seen that toothpaste ad on the telly where they put a blue light behind a model's front teeth. Surprise, surprise, the light shines through near the biting edge and we're led to believe that this is a bad thing, that the tooth has been thinned by 'acid erosion'.

Of course, the voice-over doesn't SAY the teeth have been damaged by acid erosion (the thing the toothpaste is designed to combat) but the implication is clear. They talk about acid erosion and then they show you an image of teeth that are 'thin' enough to allow light to pass through them. You're left to join the dots.

However, the, very important, fact that they leave out is that the 2 millimetres or so at the tip of a healthy tooth consists entirely of enamel, which is translucent. In other words, light is MEANT to shine through it. If the blue light didn't shine through, that would indicate that the tooth had been unduly worn down to the point where the underlying dentine was at the biting edge. Dentine does not allow a lot of light to pass through.

In fact, when we make crowns or veneers we seek to recreate this characteristic of healthy teeth and make the tips translucent, which helps them look more natural.

I suppose the cynical amongst us might think there is a very good reason why the advertisers don't say outright that there is a link between what they are telling us and what they are showing us. We might also suspect that their lawyers might have had a hand in that decision. I couldn't possibly comment.

The sad thing is that the toothpaste in question is actually a very good product. Presumably, without the dramatic demonstration of apparent catastrophe, it just wasn't 'sexy' enough to sell. I wonder what that says about a society where it takes an illusion to make something 'real' enough to be worthwhile?

My next hub will explain the reality of acid erosion. It will also cover abrasion, with which erosion is often confused.

Travel Sickness - Don't Let It Wreck Your Holiday

2009-07-05T13:37:00.001+01:00

I used to suffer from travel sickness. Then one of my kids began to feel nauseous and develop a headache on any car journey lasting longer than 10-15 minutes.

So I researched the topic. If it's of any use to you, you can find advice at:

http://hubpages.com/_fzcm7mms8y1x/hub/Travel-Sickness---Dont-Let-It-Ruin-Your-Trip

I grew out of my travel sickness many years ago (unless I try to read on a bus) but this simple advice has worked well for Rosie. She will now sit happily in the car for two hours or more at a time.

Pregnancy Gingivitis

2009-06-27T21:15:00.000+01:00

Bleeding gums are so common during pregnancy that many people believe this is normal.

It isn't.

Pregnancy gingivitis is the same as any other gingivitis. Gums become red, swollen and tender because they are being irritated and damaged by bacterial plaque on the teeth. Elevated hormone levels make your body REACT more strongly to this irritation when you are pregnant - but they do not CAUSE it.

No plaque = no problem.

So the answer is, as is often the case: practise meticulous oral hygiene. For a start, you must brush thoroughly - even though this is likely to increase the bleeding in the short term. It does this because the sensitized gums react to contact from the brush - but, unless you remove the plaque that is causing the problem, the situation will not improve. You must also clean between your teeth using dental floss or interdental brushes if you have sufficient space to get them in. Your dentist or hygienist will advise you and devise a programme tailored to your specific needs.

Visit your dentist regularly (whether or not you are pregnant) and respond quickly to any bleeding because periodontal problems (i.e. problems of the structures that support the teeth) are progressive - and they ALWAYS leave you in a worse state than you were in before you had a problem. The damage may progress quickly or slowly - but it is permanent. Nip it in the bud immediately you notice a problem. Time is an expert at taking everything away from you and it doesn't need your help - especially when you're in the process of bringing new life into the world.

Half-Price Mondays

2009-06-19T15:43:00.001+01:00

If you've never been to see us before, you're being really cruel to yourself. Put it right now by clicking the link on the right to our 'Special Offers' page. You'll be glad you did.

Dentist at the Tennis

2009-06-15T15:02:00.000+01:00

I went to the Aegon tennis tournament at The Priory on Wednesday and saw some great tennis in the morning. Play was rained off in the afternoon, which was disappointing but hardly a surprise. The thing that bugged me was how little there was to do while we were hanging around, hoping for a restart. The Priory Club could, and should, have provided much more to keep us entertained (and keep us spending our money) during bad weather. Indeed, a greater variety of catering and retail outlets (as they have at Wimbledon) would enhance the occasion during good weather too.

So what did we get? We got a down-market tent in which we could cram together and pay way over the odds for cardboard sandwiches and drinks which had to be drunk from plastic cups; a coffee stand, a crepe stall and an over-priced shop selling tennis clothing and equipment. That was it! It was like being back in the 1970s, when to expect customer service was a fanciful notion - not to mention, an outrageous imposition. The average school fayre does better than that.

One Priory member, who is also a Dentist in Town patient, defensively pointed out that the tickets were much cheaper than at Wimbledon. Fair point. The tickets were very reasonably priced - for a full day of top class tennis but, with our summers, you need a contingency plan.

And it's not as if it would cost the club anything to provide a larger and more varied experience. The Priory is not short of space, and vendors and entertainers would jump at the chance to rent a pitch at such a prestigious event.

So why don't the Priory make more of an effort? It's hard to come to any conclusion other than 'They can't be bothered'. The Priory members have their plush club house (which, by the way, I don't begrudge them - it's part of what they pay their subs for) but for the rest of us it seems to be a case of, 'We'll let the plebs in if we really have to but I'll be damned if we'll pander to them!'

It's a shame. If you ever notice the slightest hint of that attitude at The Dentist in Town please let us know in no uncertain terms.

Meanwhile, stay healthy.

Apology

2009-06-13T06:37:00.000+01:00

Apologies to anyone who fell victim of our total systems failure - computers and phone - yesterday. It's all fixed now and should be working properly on Monday.

Is Yoga Beneficial During Pregnancy?

2009-06-04T06:49:00.000+01:00

A patient (don’t worry, I’m not going to name you) recently asked me if I thought she should give up yoga because she’s pregnant.

This might seem like a strange question to ask a dentist but I get this sort of thing all the time. People know that dentists are required to have a sound knowledge of general medicine and – perhaps equally important – if a question doesn’t relate to our specialism, the asker doesn’t have to worry that we’ll try to treat them on the basis of it. This is not always the case with their G.P.

Nevertheless, I’m neither an obstetrician nor a yoga instructor – but I know people who are. So, in the interests of keeping you informed, I asked questions.

This is what I learned:

Provided you use basic common sense, listen to what your body is telling you and avoid any pose or movement that causes physical discomfort, you will not harm yourself or your baby. On the contrary, yoga can be immensely beneficial during pregnancy. It also helps the birth and post delivery stage because your body will be more flexible. This enables you to adapt to various positions during labour. The ligaments will also be more elastic, reducing labour pain.
Yoga improves posture, reducing back problems which are common during pregnancy.
Yoga boosts circulation and reduces fluid retention.
Stretching exercises relieve aches and pains – but avoid excessive stretching or twisting of the abdominal area.
Also avoid any postures that require strong use of the abdominal muscles.
Postures involving balance should be treated with care because your centre of gravity changes dramatically during pregnancy.
Yoga has psychological as well as physical benefits – and you can’t have too many of those. By encouraging breath and body awareness, it reduces stress and helps prepare for the birth.
Stay well hydrated, stopping frequently for water breaks.
During pregnancy, avoid ‘hot’ yoga such as Bikram which can dangerously raise body temperature.
If you are uncomfortable lying on your back, as is often the case during the later stages of pregnancy, don’t try to do so.
You may be more prone to dizziness when standing from a sitting or lying position, so avoid sudden positional changes.
Yoga is also beneficial postnatally because it strengthens the abdominal muscles and the pelvic floor. It will also help you regain your shape more quickly. Do not, however, attempt it for 6 weeks after the birth.

In conslusion, I asked the obstetrician and the yoga teacher to sum up their advice.

Obstetrician – ‘It’s all common sense, basically. If it feels okay, it probably is. On the other hand, if your body is complaining, don’t ignore it.

Yoga instructor – ‘Don’t try to do this alone. Consult a qualified teacher. There are specific yoga classes for pregnant women.’

So there you have it.

The governing body for yoga in Great Britain is The British Wheel of Yoga. Check them out at http://www.bwy.org.uk/ for further advice and a list of local registered instructors.

Stay healthy.

Tom Nolan

The Dentist in Town

http://www.dentistintown.co.uk/

Trust me - I'm a dentist

2009-05-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

Is it gullible of me to wonder if my MP really does need me to pay for thirty Ukrainian beauty queens to drain his family moat before he can continue his work of running the country so brilliantly? Is it possible to be a good politician and a bad crook at the same time? Or do you have to be good at both? And what does this have to do with dentistry?

It’s a matter of trust. In a tough economic climate, people become increasingly sceptical about anything they’re told they need (as opposed to something they want – most of us tend to decide that we want something and then look for reasons to justify spending whatever it takes for us to get it) But need is different. If something doesn’t hurt and isn’t disfiguring, it gets relegated down the priority list. This decision then has to be justified so we won’t feel stupid later on if things go badly. Consequently, anyone who insists that we really should address an inconvenient problem becomes a money-grabbing git.

Of course, sometimes this is exactly what they are. There are plenty of dentists who will look you in the eye as you walk through the door (before they have even glanced in your mouth) and announce that you’ll be dead by Tuesday unless you sell your children and pass the proceeds on to them (okay I’m exaggerating but, unfortunately, not by much)

How can you tell if you’re being ripped off? Getting a second opinion doesn’t necessarily help because there are a lot of grey areas. One clinician will look at a tooth and decide it needs immediate attention, while another clinician may feel it more appropriate to re-examine that tooth in six months before carrying out any treatment. And neither of them is necessarily wrong.

So how can you, the patient, know what to do? Let me tell you, you DO know. Listen to your instincts. If you feel comfortable with the dentist and the staff, they’re probably okay. If , however, there’s a niggling doubt, go somewhere else. You may be doing them an injustice but most people are pretty shrewd most of the time.

No doubt by now you’re cynically wondering what prompted me to write this piece. Has someone questioned my integrity? It’s something more bizarre than that: this morning a patient told me that fluoride (a scientifically proven ‘magic bullet’ for the reduction of tooth decay) is nothing more than ‘an advertising gimmick’. I mentioned this to a colleague who, instead of being surprised, informed me that her mother will not accept that fluoride isn’t a type of mint flavouring.

Ah well.

P.S. The desensitising agents in sensitive formula toothpastes do work if you give them time.
P.P.S. Fluoride is not a flavouring agent.

Extended 25% off tooth whitening offer!

2009-05-01T14:43:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed that we're still running the 25% discount on tooth whitening that we brought in for Comic Relief.

We've been able to offer teeth whitening at £187.50 instead of the usual £250 because we negotiated a reduced price for the gel with one of our suppliers.

The good news is we've managed to get more of the gel at the lower price and we can pass the saving on to you.

The bad news is that the price of the top brand whitening gel has just gone up so when our current supply runs out, we'll have to charge more.

So, if you fancy being all bright and sparkly for summer (and the Met Office says it's going to be 'a sizzler') it would be worth getting a move on.

Whiten Your Teeth the 'Dentist in Town' Way

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend

Tom

Boost Your Memory 3 – Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training on Nintendo DS

2009-04-06T09:27:00.000+01:00

Another installment in my 'Improve Your Memory' series.
You can find it here:

http://hubpages.com/_fzcm7mms8y1x/hub/Boost-You-Memory-3--Dr-Kawashimas-Brain-Training-on-Nintendo-DS

I've been looking at the price of these and the cheapest bundle - Ninetendo DS Lite + Brain Training - was at Amazon UK. If you're interested, there's a link on the right of this page. This is for a black console but there are plenty of colours at various prices.

Above all, don't forget to go to the dentist and hygienist regularly.

Play Games to Improve Your Memory

2009-03-30T17:02:00.001+01:00

http://hubpages.com/_fzcm7mms8y1x/hub/Playing-Games-to-Improve-Your-Memory

How To Improve Your Memory

2009-03-27T09:33:00.000Z

As this isn't a dental topic, I'll give you a link to my Hubpages articles, rather than go into any detail here.

Do check it out and let me know what you think.

Here's the link:

http://hubpages.com/_fzcm7mms8y1x/hub/How-to-Improve-Your-Memory---and-Retrieve-the-Knowlege-already-in-Your-Brain?done

Happy Photo

2009-03-23T14:27:00.000Z

Someone sent the photo at the top of the page to me attached to an email and it made me feel good on a particularly shitty day - so I thought I'd share it with you (and I left it at the top so it would be the first thing you see)

What To Do If A Tooth Gets Knocked Out

2009-03-16T06:51:00.000Z

When I was dropping my son off at school the other day a little girl fell in the playground and knocked out one of her front teeth. It was lucky I was there because no-one seemed to know how to react - apart from scaring the life out of the already traumatised child by saying things like, 'Oh my God!' and 'What a shame at that age!' and... Well, you know the thoughtless
way people carry on.

So, in case you ever find yourself in this situation, here's what you should do:

Find the tooth.
Pick it up by the crown - DO NOT touch the root. If there is any obvious dirt on the tooth, rinse it under gently running water but DO NOT rub the root and DO NOT remove
any bits of attached tissue. DO NOT use soap, toothpaste, mouthwash, or any other chemicals. DO NOT dry the tooth or wrap it in a tissue or cloth (sorry about all the shouty capitals but these things make the difference between the tooth 'taking' when reimplanted, or being rejected by the body)
If possible, put the tooth back in the socket. If this is not possible, it is vital to keep the tooth moist. The best way to do this is to hold it in the mouth between cheek and gum. If the person is too upset or too young and there's a danger they might swallow the tooth or spit it out, you can immerse it in cold milk or water.
Take the victim (and the tooth) to the dentist immediately. Research shows that reimplanted teeth have a higher long-term success rate if treated within 30 minutes - although it is possible to save a tooth after 30 minutes if the tooth has been kept moist and handled properly.

I hope you never need to do any of this but, if you do, you'll be able to help - AND to stop someone else making matters worse.

Curry's Get It Right

2009-03-15T07:13:00.000Z

I’m delighted to announce a great customer experience at Curry’s in The Bull Ring.

My Mum bought a small TV there a few months ago (against my advice – I wanted to get it for her on the Internet). Anyway, this week the telly died. So, first thing on Saturday morning, she and I took it back to the shop. My previous experiences had led me to expect a bit of a battle, but it didn’t turn out like that at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The girl in customer services smiled, was chatty and made lots of eye contact with both of us. She asked what the problem was, checked the receipt and asked if we would like the same model or a different one as a replacement.

A few minutes later, we were leaving the store with a new television. At no time was there any mention of sending the old one away for repair (although it would be nice if they did so then gave it away to a charity or resold it at a discount). We weren’t given the old, ‘We’ll have to check if the manufacturers are prepaired to offer a refund.’ There was no guilt trip for complicating their lives and none of the crap retailers often trot out when they want to hold on to your money.

So well done Curry’s. Never thought I’d say that but now I’ll be happy to spend spend some money with them – next time I have some money to spend.

Comic Relief Dentistry

2009-03-04T07:30:00.000Z

If you've been down The Minories recently, you've probably noticed the posters telling you what The Dentist in Town is doing for Comic Relief. In case you don't know, we're doing cheap check ups (£20) between now and Red Nose Day and we're donating £5 from each one to Comic Relief (imagine the impact it would have if the big retailers were prepared to pass on 25% of their income!)

So, if you haven't been in for a while or if you know someone who is overdue for a check-up, why not do the world some good while you're doing yourself some good.

Stay well.

Free Dental Guides

2009-03-03T07:02:00.000Z

I've produced a series of free guides providing information about different forms of dental treatment. To date, there are Dentist in Town Guides to:

Tooth Whitening
Porcelain Veneers
Crowns
Bridges
Implants
Dentures
Composite Bonding

with more to follow.

If you would like any of these free guides, email us at

reception@dentistintown.co.uk

and we'll send them straight out to you.

Stay healthy.

Snoring

2009-03-01T07:17:00.000Z

Stop Snoring

A lot of our patients have been asking what they can do to stop their partners (and sometimes themselves) snoring - so, clearly, it's a major problem.

Snoring is serious. Not only does it strain relationships, but it can have a very damaging effect on the snorer's health - especially when accompanied by apnoea (where the snorer repeatedly stops breathing for a few seconds at a time).

The Sleepwell device that we supply is unquestionably effective but it's also quite expensive and a number of you want to know if we can recommend anything cheaper that works.

So I've been looking into it for you.

And I've found something - The Snore No More Cure.
You can check it out and, if it appeals to you, order it at

http://productsupplycenter.com/web196807/

Most of the supposed ‘cures' for snoring - from nasal clips to surgery - are ineffective (and some are positively harmful) but this system works. It also has the benefit of eliminating the causes of the problem rather than merely seeking to minimise the effects.

If you or a loved one snores but you don't want to spend £285 on a Sleepwell (although it's worth every penny), I recommend you try out this inexpensive American product.

All I ask is that if this system works for you, you remember who pointed you in the right direction.

But if for any reason it doesn't work, please get in touch. Then I can either provide you with a Sleepwell appliance (and of course we'll deduct what you paid for the Snore No More Cure - It's not our product but, if you bought it on my recommendation, that's only fair) - or if necessary refer you to the Sleep Clinic at Heartlands Hospital, with whom we work closely.

You should never ignore snoring, especially when accompanied by apnoea, and for around £25 this could make a huge difference to your life.

http://productsupplycenter.com/web196807/

Sleep well

Tom Nolan

The Dentist in Town

P.S. Snoring is a problem in which I have a strong personal interest. For many years, as Lesley will tell you, my snoring was a real problem. Medical colleagues advised me that unless I got it sorted out, my children might have to grow up without a dad. And even if my heart withstood the strain, I was becoming increasingly worried that I would fall asleep while driving. So I did something about it. And I've never looked back.

Can't Afford It?

2009-02-14T08:41:00.000Z

As the recession continues to tighten its grip, some people remain unaffected while, tragically, others struggle just to keep their lives together. And then there are those of us in the middle, who aren't yet desperate but who have to be careful. We've had to realize that we can't have everything but have to prioritise, deciding what to do without in order to get something more important.

My maternal grandmother would have approved of that. She used to say that being able to have everything would turn you into a bad person just as surely as not being able to have anything. She may have been right. She was a smart lady.

So what's my point?

In common with, I'm sure, all dentists, in recent months I've had a lot of patients tell me they would love to have x,y or z done but they can't afford it at the moment. Now I don't know the state of those people's finances and I certainly wouldn't want to pry in that area, but something struck me about the reasons two of them gave me for not going ahead with treatment that would benefit them enormously:

"I can't afford that right now because I've just bought a new Merc."
"I can't afford that because I'm going to buy a 46 inch HD telly."

Both of these statements tell me that these two could afford the treatment offered - and more - if it were a priority for them. But it isn't. A new car or a better TV is more important to them than their smiles. Fair enough. I have no problem with that. Each individual has to make the decisions that are right for them and for their families.

The important point is that we should take responsibility for making those decisions. There are two questions we have to ask ourselves:

1. Do I really want this?

If the answer is "no", that's okay. Decision made. Move on.If the answer is "yes", we are faced with the second question

2. How can I afford this? What would I have to do without to make it possible?

But human beings don't like to take responsibility. It's so much easier to blame something outside of ourselves - like the economic state of the world. At times I've found myself wanting to blame the recession for everything from my shaving rash to not being able to find a pair of matching socks in the morning - when both of those things are clearly my fault, for not shaving properly or not putting my socks away with due care when they were washed. Okay so this is an extreme, and not particularly relevant, example but you get my point (and, by the way, my point ISN'T that anybody's financial position is their own fault. This is all about being honest with ourselves about our reasons for doing, or not doing, something.)

Yes it's tough but that's what being an adult is all about, isn't it? Certainly for me (and I know I'm not unique) every day is a constant stream of decisions, some of them straightforward and some almost paralysingly difficult but they all have to be made.

I have friends who embrace the old hippie ethos. They believe their destiny is in the stars and that they should lie back and enjoy the ride because even the bad times are interesting. Good for them - but that's not who I am. I sometimes wish I could be but I'm not and I have to deal with it.

Do you know who you are?

(Tom would like to emphasize that the views expressed in this article are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of his partners at http://www.dentistintown.co.uk/ - who do blame the recession)