Diabetes is on the increase for various reasons and at Brightside Dental, we see many diabetic patients. Most people will have friends or family members who are diabetic. Diabetes Week aims to raise awareness about the life-long health condition suffered by 3.2 million people in the UK. The week, running from 11th – 18th June, encourages diabetes sufferers to look after all aspects of their health. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Diabetes-Week/  

For diabetics, oral health problems are even more common than for the average person. Diabetes can cause mouth infections, periodontal (gum) disease, dry mouth and a fungal infection called thrush. It is therefore essential to keep your oral hygiene tip-top.

Ketan Shah from Brightside Dental, recommends following these five dental health tips, to help diabetics keep their mouth healthy, breath fresh and their smile stunning

1.Get a Good Toothbrush

Don’t underestimate the power of a good bristle. Ideal toothbrushes have soft, nylon bristles with rounded ends. Electric toothbrushes also work well. You should change your toothbrush about every 3 months to avoid ineffective, bent bristles that don’t properly clean your teeth.

2. Dump the Junk Foods

Diabetes sufferers will know that eating after an insulin injection is a good way to combat low blood sugar and keep energy levels up. Avoid junk foods, which although they may be quick to eat, can cause unnecessary weight gain and rot your teeth. Trade in high-sugar and high-fat snacks for apples, nuts, and fruit smoothies.

3. Stub Out Those Cigarettes

As if we need any more reasons to quit smoking! This dangerously bad habit increases the risk of serious diabetes complications, including gum disease.

By stubbing out the smokes, you will:

• Prevent yellow teeth.
• Decrease the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and amputation.
• Improve your blood circulation.
• Potentially improve cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

 4. Keep an Eye on Your Mouth

When you brush your teeth, keep an eye out for any strange signs. If you do experience any unusual symptoms, head to your dentist immediately. Look out for the following:

• Loose or wobbly teeth
• Pain when chewing
• Drastic changes in sense of taste
• Dark spots or holes in your teeth
• Bleeding or sore gums
• A sore or ulcer that doesn’t heal

5. Get Regular Check-Ups

Regular dental check-ups and hygiene visits are the best way to keep on top of your dental health. Check with your dentist to know how frequently you should visit and make sure you inform them if you have diabetes. The more they know about you, the better advice they can give.

Follow these 5 dental health tips for diabetics

If you suffer from diabetes, don’t let it ruin your teeth and gums. Make sure you follow these 5 dental health tips to keep your teeth white and your breath fresh. You can join in with this year’s Diabetes Week to raise awareness of the condition and ways to help control it by sharing these five management methods.

You can share your stories of courage and hope in the face of diabetes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #iCan.

 National Smile Month takes place between May15th to June 15th this year. This campaign was created 40 years ago and its goal is to improve people’s oral health. It focuses on raising awareness of important oral health issues and makes positive changes to millions of people. National Smile Month highlights three key messages: Brush your teeth before going to sleep and at least one other time during the day with a fluoride containing toothpaste, cut down the frequency of sugary foods and drinks and visit the dentist regularly as recommended.

There are many ways one can get involved with the campaign. You can purchase a ‘smiley’ which has the three key messages displayed on it, take a picture with it and share it on Facebook or Twitter along with a positive message about your smile and oral health. Around half a million of people have used them over the last few years as it is fun and educational too. There are competitions you can get involved in, for example nominating somebody who has done something good or always has a smile on their face. There are many other opportunities, events that one can get involved in and make donations to provide more information and support for children, elderly and vulnerable people with special needs and those living in deprivation around England.

National Smile Months Advice For Maintaining A Health Mouth

Caring For Your Mouth

• Brush your teeth last thing at night and at least one other time during the day with a fluoride toothpaste.
• Clean in between your teeth at least once a day using interdental brushes or floss.
• To check if you have bad breath lick your wrist, let it dry and give it a sniff, if it smells your breath probably does too.
• If you use mouthwash don’t use it directly after brushing as you rinse away the fluoride from your toothpaste.
• Quit smoking to help reduce the chances of tooth staining, gum disease, tooth loss, and in more severe cases mouth cancer.
• Make sure your toothpaste contains fluoride; it helps strengthen tooth enamel making it more resistant to decay.
• Change your toothbrush every two to three months or sooner if it becomes worn as it will not clean the teeth properly.

Visiting A Dentist

• Visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.
• If you are nervous about visiting the dentist, make sure they are aware of why so they can improve your treatment.
• Help to overcome dental anxiety by taking a friend with you for support or listen to music to help you relax and focus on something else.
• Your dentist will carry out a visual mouth cancer check during your regular check-up.
• Visiting a dental hygienist can help give you excellent tips and advice on preventing dental problems.

Diet And Your Oral Health

• Chew sugar-free gum after eating or drinking, especially sugary foods, to help protect your teeth and gums in between meals.
• Wait an hour after eating or drinking anything before brushing as then enamel will be softened and you could be brushing away tiny particles.
• A varied diet that is rich in vitamins, minerals, and fresh fruit and vegetables can help to prevent gum disease.
• Finishing a meal with a cube of cheese is a great, and tasty, way to reduce the effect of acids from the foods damaging your teeth.
• Avoid snacking and try to only have sugary foods and drinks at mealtimes, reducing the time your teeth come under attack.
• If you have a sweet tooth try to choose sugar free sweets and drinks which contain xylitol as it can actively contribute to your oral health.

Children’s Oral Health

• Weaning your baby off the bottle early can help them avoid developing dental problems.
• All children up to three years old, should use a smear of toothpaste with a fluoride level of no less than 1000ppm (parts per million). After three years old, they should use a toothpaste that contains 1350ppm -1500ppm.
• Parents should try and supervise your children’s tooth brushing until they are about 7 years old.
• Take your child to the dentist early, as soon as their teeth start to appear, this will help them get used to the sights, sounds and smells of a dental practice.
• Use a timer or brush a long to a song to ensure your children are brushing for the correct amount of time.
• Use a reward chart to track your children’s brushing habits and get them actively involved in brushing their teeth.
• Use disclosing tablets to show areas of your children’s mouth which may need better brushing.

Is your child playing with the toothbrush rather than getting any actual brushing done? Is the toothpaste falling off the bristles every time? Are they insisting on eating sweets before bedtime? Every parent worries about about their child’s teeth, and no parent wants their child’s beautiful smile to be ruined by cavities!

But, children do get cavities frequently. In fact, 42% of children aged between 2 and 11 have dental cavities in their primary teeth (milk teeth), and 21% of children aged 6 to 11 have cavities in their permanent teeth. Tooth decay occurs when teeth are exposed to acid on a regular basis, most often when eating sugary foods and drinking sugary drinks. Minerals start to be eroded, and eventually a cavity forms. 

Fortunately, preventing tooth decay isn’t as much hard work as you think. Dr Ketan Shah from Brightside Dental shares his ten top tips for keeping your child’s teeth cavity free.

1. Teach Your Child About Cavities

Step one to ensuring your child doesn’t get a cavity, is to teach them what a cavity is as soon as they’re old enough to learn. Sometimes this is as simple as drawing a picture with sweets and fizzy drinks, and colouring a tooth in black. You don’t need to scare your child, just let them know that teeth can get dirty and it’s important to keep them clean.

2. Brush Your Child’s Teeth with Them Twice a Day

Everyone, children included, should brush their teeth twice a day: once in the morning and once before bed. Young children cannot sufficiently clean their teeth by themselves, so until your child is 7 or 8 years old, you will need to help them brush. Try brushing your child’s teeth first, then letting them finish off so they can build their independence.

3. Use Fluoride Toothpaste

By the age of 2, you can introduce your child to fluoride toothpaste, provided that the amount of fluoride is less than 1,500 ppm. Fluoride is a natural mineral which is found in water, soil, and rocks. It prevents plaque from forming acids which erode enamel and decay teeth. It also strengthens areas of the teeth that have been weakened already. The simplest way to choose is to check the age guidelines on the toothpaste tube.

4. Cut Down on Sugary Foods and Drinks

Most parents know this, but it’s really important to limit your child’s intake of sugary foods and drinks. When we have food or drinks that contain sugar or starch, the bacteria in our mouth turns it to acid. The acid then attacks our enamel. Cut down your child’s consumption of sweets, cakes, fizzy drinks, and even fruit juice.

5. Limit Snacks Between Meals

Although our saliva goes some way to defending our teeth from the acid attacks, if we eat too many snacks throughout the day, the acid will win. Try to stop children from snacking too often between meals to give their teeth a chance to repair themselves. If they do snack, try to encourage them to snack on vegetables, like carrot sticks or cucumber slices.

6. Don’t Let Your Child Eat or Drink at Bedtime

Be strict: don’t let your child eat or drink after they’ve brushed their teeth ready for bedtime (except for water). Our saliva flow decreases when we go to sleep, so at night our teeth are at their most vulnerable to acid attacks.

7. Take Your Child to the Dentist for Regular Check-Ups

You should take your child to visit the dentist about once every six months(or as recommended by the dentist). Not only is the dentist able to check on the health of your child’s teeth and gums, but they can catch any signs of decay early on. Dentists are also there to help your child learn how to take care of their teeth and will be able to give them some top tips on effective brushing – if they don’t listen to you, hopefully they’ll listen to their dentist!

8. Talk to Your Dentist about Sealants

If you’re really concerned about your child’s permanent teeth, talk to your dentist about dental sealants. Sealant are thin, plastic coatings that cover the surfaces of the back teeth to prevent germs and food particles from getting stuck in the grooves. They can help to reduce the risk of dental decay, in conjunction with following the other advice in this list.

9. Don’t Be Scared of the Dentist!

An estimated 9-15% of people avoid having a dental check-up due to fear of the dentist. Even if you yourself aren’t all that keen on sitting in the dentist chair, don’t let your child know that. Talk about the dentist in a positive way, and focus on the fact that they are there to help. Taking your child along to the dentist, even if they’re not having a check-up themselves, is a great way to introduce them to the strange sights and sounds of the dental centre. If you do this from a young age, your child is less likely to be scared of visiting the dentist when it’s their turn for a check-up.

10. Set a Good Example

Children learn through copying others, especially their parents. If you don’t brush your teeth twice a day, your child won’t want to either. Set a good example by keeping up good oral health practices yourself and your child will want to do the same.

Thumbsucking (or finger sucking) can be an appropriate and useful behaviour for young children. It allows comfort and often entertain themselves. It’s often a dilemma as a parent whether to give a child a dummy or to allow them to suck their thumb.

But when should this habit become a concern? While this harmless habit subsides without concern or intervention in most infants by about the age of two, some children increase their thumbsucking to such frequency and intensity that it becomes a social and dental problem.

Thumbs push the teeth out and because of the way the thumb is forced against the inside of the upper front teeth, thumbsucking can cause overjet (buck teeth) and other dental malocclusions such as narrow dental arches which can mean teeth are more likely to be crowded. If thumbsucking continues into an older age it can also cause an issue if orthodontic treatment is indicated as the treatment may not be successful if the habit continues.

Here are some tips to help your child break the habit:

• Praise your child for not sucking.
• Children often suck their thumbs when feeling insecure or needing comfort. Focus on correcting the cause of the anxiety and provide comfort to your child.
• For an older child, involve him or her in choosing the method of stopping.
• Your dentist can offer encouragement to your child and explain what could happen to their teeth if they do not stop sucking.

If these tips don’t work, remind the child of their habit by bandaging the thumb or putting a sock on the hand at night. Your doctor or paediatrician may prescribe a bitter medication to coat the thumb or the use of a mouth appliance.