On behalf on Underwood Dental Care, we wanted to wish Lisa safe travels as she heads to China on a student exchange program in hope to learn Chinese. Lisa has been with us since we were established in 2009. Thanks Lisa! Stay safe!
Tooth whitening and tooth wear
An interesting fact to start. A recent study said that enamel samples treated with orange juice for 20 minutes over 5 cycles (to simulate daily exposure over 5 days) had a 64% decrease in micro-hardness versus no statistically significant changes in samples treated with 6% hydrogen peroxide (a component of many whitening packages). (Source: Ren Y et al, Effects of Tooth Whitening and Orange Juice on Surface Properties of Dental Enamel, Journal of Dentistry, June 2009, Vol 37, No 6, pg 424-431)
What does this mean for me?
Caring for your children’s teeth
Often I find parents present to the clinic with their young children after noticing something “different” in their developing mouth. It’s useful to have some basic knowledge about your children’s, and how to care for their developing mouth.
Baby teeth start to form in the jaw bone before birth, but usually erupts at about six months of age, but can occur as early as birth or as late as the child’s first birthday. Children usually have a total of 20 primary teeth- with the first adult tooth usually erupting at the age of six.
Common Q & A’s about Wisdom Teeth
If I had a dollar for every patient that came through the door worried that their wisdom teeth are going to infect the rest of their mouth, or cause infection thus needing removal…I’d be happily retired by now. There are many misconceptions and old wives tales about wisdom teeth. The best way to clarify these issues, is to identify some basic Q&As regarding these teeth.
What are Wisdom Teeth?
The wisdom teeth are the 3rd molars in each quadrant of the mouth. Some say that they are called “wisdom teeth” as they generally appear so late – much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are presumably “wiser” than as a child, when the other teeth erupt.
Is it normal to not have wisdom teeth?
Wisdom teeth are the most variable tooth in the mouth. Many people do not have a complete set of wisdom teeth. Some people may have only two or three and others have no Wisdom Teeth. Having all, none, or some Wisdom Teeth is considered normal. Wisdom Teeth erupt (come up, into the mouth) behind the second (12 year old) molar and do not replace any baby (primary) teeth. Wisdom Teeth usually erupt when a person is between 15 to 20 years of age, however this is extremely variable. Occasionally Wisdom Teeth may erupt much later in life. This is particularly likely if other molars are removed as this may allow a previously trapped (impacted) Wisdom Tooth to erupt.
Tongue Piercings… are they safe?
As people are running out of body parts to pierce, many are turning to eye brows, cheeks, lips and commonly, the tongue.
Like with piercing different parts of the body, piercing the tongue involves a needle going through the midline of the tongue, to insert a stud, hoop and or barbell shaped piece of jewellery. This is usually done without anaesthetic, and recovers after 4-6 weeks.
If you already have a tongue piercing and don’t want to know the detrimental effects of them… then stop reading here…
…however…
please consider what it means for the state of your teeth and oral health.