DENTAL CARE

Scale and Polish

Dental cleaning, also known as prophylaxis, is a professional procedure performed by a dentist or dental hygienist to remove plaque and tartar buildup from teeth. It involves scaling to remove deposits, polishing to smooth the teeth, and may include fluoride treatment. Regular dental cleanings help prevent gum disease, cavities, and other oral health issues. 

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Fissure Sealants, or Dental Sealants

Fissure sealants, or dental sealants are a preventative dental treatment used to protect the chewing surfaces of teeth, particularly molars, from decay. They are a thin, plastic coating applied to the grooves and pits of teeth, acting as a barrier against food particles and bacteria that can cause cavities. 

 

There is a golden rule that fissure sealants should be applied “as soon as possible after the molars and premolars have erupted”. When the second molars erupt fissure sealants should also be applied - the second molars erupt between 12 and 14 years of age.

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Composite Fillings

A composite filling, also known as a tooth-colored or white filling, is a dental restoration used to repair teeth affected by decay, cracks, or fractures. It's made of a tooth-colored mixture of plastic and ceramic, making it aesthetically pleasing and suitable for visible areas of the mouth. 

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Composite Veneers

Composite Veneers are thin white shells that fit over the front of your existing teeth to protect your enamel or exposed dentine from sensitivities, enamel wear, and acid erosion, and to improve their appearance.

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Crowns

Dental crowns, often called caps, are custom-made coverings that encase a damaged tooth, restoring its shape, size, strength, and appearance. They are used to fix a variety of issues, including damaged, broken, or decayed teeth, and can also be used for cosmetic enhancements. 

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Bridges

A dental bridge is a fixed prosthetic device used to replace one or more missing teeth by joining artificial teeth (pontics) to adjacent natural teeth (abutments). It helps restore chewing and speaking ability, maintains facial shape, prevents surrounding teeth from shifting, and improves smile aesthetics. 

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Root Canals

Dental crowns, often called caps, are custom-made coverings that encase a damaged tooth, restoring its shape, size, strength, and appearance. They are used to fix a variety of issues, including damaged, broken, or decayed teeth, and can also be used for cosmetic enhancements. 

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Gum Disease Treatments

Gum disease treatment aims to control infection, reduce inflammation, and prevent further tissue damage. It often involves a combination of professional cleaning, improved oral hygiene, and potentially medications or surgical procedures. Early intervention is key to reversing gingivitis and preventing the progression to periodontitis, which can lead to tooth loss. Scaling and root planing is similar to routine dental cleaning. But it cleans deeper beneath your gums, removing plaque and bacteria where your toothbrush and floss can’t reach. The procedure is usually done in at least two visits using local anesthesia.

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For loose teeth in gum disease, 'periodontal acid treatment' coupled with conventional deep cleaning is essential with subgingival curettage, and for some loose teeth, they can be stabilized and periodontally splinted with special periodontal splinting techniques, to reinforce and to restore the teeth masticatory function. Periodontal acid treatment after mechanical debridement is significantly superior to basic mechanical debridement alone, disruption of microbial adhesion and reduction of biofilm accumulation on the tooth surface is probably of eminent importance.

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​​​​​​​​Dental Implants

Dental implants are artificial tooth roots, typically made of titanium, that are surgically placed into the jawbone to support replacement teeth like crowns, bridges, or dentures. They offer a durable and natural-looking solution for missing teeth, restoring both function and aesthetics. 

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TO HAVE GOOD TEETH FOR LIFE - DENTAL ADVICE

The story of your teeth is wholly based on dental preventions. Prevention is better than the cure, and starting with your baby teeth, whereby regular checkups, prophylaxis, and topical fluoride applications forms the very basis. Oral hygiene is paramount.

As soon as the first adult molars erupt around the age of 6 years, and as subsequent adult premolars and molars erupt, pit and fissure sealants or dental sealants should be applied to all these biting surfaces to prevent tooth decay. These dental sealants are pivotal and fundamental disciplinary measures (rituals) to avoid fillings and root canals for the future. One simple application can last 10-15 years and are regularly checked, and can be easily topped-up at any time, or after 10-15 years, only as necessary. This is why adults in-theory should not need dental sealants, if they were supposedly already applied and installed during childhood. But if not, then this could reflect upon the numerous fillings, root-canals, and crowns subsequently treated on the back teeth.

Braces (orthodontics) are subsequently important to correct all malocclusions and crowding, to improve the biting efficiency and occlusion harmony, for a balanced bite, and more importantly is to correct crowding, and to eliminate stagnation areas between crowded teeth so that food and plaque traps are eliminated and brushing is rendered easier, and the teeth are more cleansable. This avoids tooth decay between teeth and prevents gum disease. Braces is primarily a prevention care.

*Wisdom teeth occur from around the age of 20, and ideally, they should be electively removed if they are clearly impacted, or if they are considered highly susceptible to tooth decay and recurrent infections.

 

HOW TO MAINTAIN GOOD TEETH FOR LIFE:

Teeth are important, nothing grows back, and you must maintain them very well. Maintaining your teeth is such a challenge for everyone, and because the teeth do not grow back, not even the enamel, they are highly susceptible to wear and tear, and deterioration. The most important structure to preserve is your enamel layer, the outer hard white enamel shell which protects the rest of the tooth inside (dentine and nerve), just like the skin of an orange or an apple, because once the skin is gone, the rest of the fruit without the protective layer will spoil very quickly. Enamel will wear, for sure.

You must know, and be aware of these secret key factors which become primarily important to preserve your enamel and teeth. The damages are irreversible.

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-ABRASION: People are brushing their teeth too hard nowadays because they want to have whiter and cleaner teeth, but this is destructive because they could be wearing their enamel very quickly to severely limit the lifespan of the enamel; and as the outer white enamel layer is only about 1mm thickness, as soon as it is worn down to 50% or less, the underlying yellow dentine shows through, and then they wonder why their teeth are looking yellow? And then, they start brushing, in fact scorching their teeth even harder! The enamel wears very quickly like so, and then it’s gone. All along, dental plaque is only very soft and does not require vigorous heavy brushing. Thorough brushing up-and-down, or in circular motion is better than across-brushing, Overbrushing, or brushing teeth too hard or too often, can lead to several oral health problems. These include enamel wear, tooth sensitivity, and create receding gums. 

*It's important to use a soft-bristled toothbrush, gentle motions, and to brush for about two minutes, twice a day. Or use an electric brush. Never use a worn and flared brush because you’ll start pressing it harder onto the teeth, and yet miss the gum margins. Change the brush regularly every 1-2 months.

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-ATTRITION: Teeth grinding (bruxism) is extremely destructive, this is an involuntary clenching, grinding and gnashing of the teeth that usually happens during sleep. Causes can include stress. Treatments include night guards or bite splints (to be worn at night), repair of tooth damage, and surely stress management therapy if required.

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-EROSION: Dental erosion occurs when acid starts to dissolve and soften the enamel surface of your teeth. It is most often caused by acid from food or drinks. Excessive vomiting can lead to tooth erosion because stomach acid is in contact with your teeth. 

 

In all events, as soon as any portion of the enamel is worn, the underneath dentine is openly exposed, and because dentine contains nerve endings, sensitivity occurs quickly. Bacteria can easily enter into the dentine tubules and travel into the pulp to cause pulp infection and could result in a root canal treatment, and a crown.

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SIMPLE REMEDIES:

If the teeth enamel is worn, due to overbrushing and/or erosion, an extra addition of enamel layer in the form of advanced composite veneers is the simplest and most effective solution to preserving the teeth because no teeth preparations are required, and this inert layer is totally harmless. The benefit is to provide a barrier, a protection layer (from yourself).

For abrasion cavities with exposed dentine at the necks of teeth, at the roots, composite bonding and/or composite veneers covers the root surfaces as well and prevents further gum stripping by your brushing, and prevents further gum recessions, and reduces sensitivities.

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For bruxism cases- teeth grinding, stronger and more durable reinforced "special composite fissure sealants" can be easily added onto all your back teeth, like adding an extra "enamel layer" onto the chewing surfaces of your back teeth to grind on, to serve as a new chewing surface platform to prevent and to resist further grinding wear and damages to your precious back teeth, replenish the worn enamel, raise your bite (add height) to also alleviate lower front teeth incisal edges wear, and like so, this effectively works in lieu of, and replaces your night guards, and once installed, you might not even need to wear any night guards if you dislike wearing them; or you could still continue to wear nights guard for your maximum protection (against yourself).

 

REGULAR CARE:

Maintaining good brushing and flossing habits, regular 6-12 months checkup and cleaning is paramount. Whilst coffee and tea stains are generally harmless, but the hard tartar which builds on the teeth roots (calculus, or calcified plaque), must be regularly removed because they can migrate down deeply alongside the root surfaces into the gums underneath to destroy the gum and bone attachments, which translates into gum disease. Like peeling a banana skin, once detached, it can never reattach, and this is irreversible damage.