Month: June 2015

The Risks of Snoring

Snoring may be considered humourous, but it’s anything but funny.

Whilst snoring has always been seen as something quite humourous and often used in films to depict someone as such; the fact is that snoring should be taken more seriously. On a superficial level, if our partner snores, we are likely to get poor quality sleep, leaving us tired the next day. Over a period of time, this tiredness could accumulate and even result in poor health.

For the person who snores though; although they may be unaware of it, the health risks associated with it are even more profound.

What causes snoring

Snoring is caused when the airways become partially blocked by the soft tissues in the mouth. This causes vibrations, resulting in the snoring sound that we are familiar with. This partial blockage, especially if it happens frequently throughout the night, results in a restriction of oxygen into our bodies. The end result of this is that we are likely to feel anywhere from tired to exhausted the following day.

This tiredness can prevent us from leading our lives to the full and may cause problems with concentration at work, or more dangerous still, when driving.

In extreme cases, sleep apnea may be the cause of snoring. This is where the oxygen is blocked for several seconds, and may result in us waking, gasping for air. If this occurs, it is important to see your GP.

Somnowell

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The wrong way to start your day….

Can morning breakfast really affect your oral health….?

Few of us have the luxury of being able to start our day in a relaxed manner. For most of us, the day starts with the alarm clock (or the children) waking us up, dragging us, perhaps reluctantly, into the day ahead.

As our energy levels may be low in the morning, we quite naturally want to boost these by eating breakfast, but, given the lack of time often available once we have got the children ready for school, this can be a hastily put together affair.

Sugar boost

One of the most likely breakfast options is cereal. This should be a good healthy start to the day, however, most cereals, although not all, contain high levels of sugar, in addition to any that we may add ourselves.

This is probably washed down with a cup of tea or coffee which may also have sugar added to it.

As you can see, we are already starting to consume a sizeable amount of sugar, some of which will stick to our teeth, contributing to erosion of the enamel. This enamel is what protects the softer part of the teeth, and erosion can lead to sensitivity or even decay.

Education

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An Attractive Smile is Not Just About The Front Teeth

Cosmetic fillings discussed….

When we consider our appearance, and our smile in particular, we tend to think of our front teeth as these are the most visible when we hold conversations or smile. Our rear teeth though can be easily forgotten and thought of purely as functional teeth for chewing food.

This is unfortunate because, however attractive our smile is, if we laugh, any rear teeth that have been filled with the traditional amalgam filling could be highly visible to others.

White Fillings

At Beau Monde Dental Care, our Bristol dentists have been offering tooth coloured fillings for our patients for a number of years.

Whilst there was, for some time, a debate about how strong these white fillings were, recent developments have seen them become stronger and they now offer sufficient strength for most fillings in the rear teeth too.

Because of this, our patients who have had them are able to laugh and smile freely, confident in the knowledge that they will not be revealing unattractive dark fillings when they do so.

Mercury

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Why do Dentists ‘Scale and Polish’ Your Teeth?

A commonly used procedure to prevent serious oral health problems.

It is likely that most of us reading this blog will have heard a dentist suggest ‘a little scale and polish’. Only occasionally though might the dentist also explain why they are doing this, especially as it is usually a relatively minor procedure.

Because it is a non invasive treatment which rarely warrants a local anaesthetic, it is likely that we think that this is being done purely for aesthetic purposes. Although it can have this effect to some degree, the fact is that it plays a very important role in keeping gum disease at bay.

Gum disease prevention

Prevention is certainly better than the cure and, at Beau Monde Dental Care, we do all that we can to offer appropriate advice to our Bristol dental patients to help them prevent the onset of gum disease.

Unfortunately, gum disease is prevalent in this country and is currently the leading cause of tooth loss. It can often occur in places, such as behind the back of the rear teeth, where it can be difficult to keep clean.

To help with your own oral care regimen, a professional scale and polish performed by one of our Bristol dentists or hygienists, will remove any hardened bacteria that has build up in the form of plaque.

Periodontitis

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