A surprising number of people are very self-conscious about their smile. Sometimes it is because they have yellow or broken teeth. As a result of their self-consciousness they do not smile as often as they should. This is a shame, because they do not benefit from the good hormones that would be released if they smiled more. In addition, they do not connect as well with other people. This makes a real difference in their day-to-day lives. People do not respond as well to them as a direct consequence of them not smiling readily.

What Problems Can Cosmetic Dentistry Fix?

Cosmetic dentistry can fix a wide range of problems with your teeth. If you have discoloured teeth, they can be lightened. Any broken teeth you have can be capped. Your unattractive metal fillings can be replaced with white ones. Even uneven or wonky teeth can be fixed. A good cosmetic dentist will fix your smile and take years off your face at the same time.

What Are Dental Veneers?

A dental veneer is a thin layer of restorative material that is bonded to your existing teeth to fill in gaps and correct the appearance of misshapen of chipped teeth. At the same time a veneer should improve the colour of your teeth giving them a smoother and brighter appearance.

There are two main type of dental veneer. The main type is composite veneer which is applied directly to your existing teeth. The other type is porcelain veneers which are fabricated by your dentist and bonded to your teeth. Nowadays, composite veneers are more common and less likely to debond than porcelain veneers.

What Are Crowns?

Crowns are similar to veneers in that they too cover imperfections in a tooth. However, they are made and applied in very different ways. A crown normally encompasses the whole tooth and can repair far bigger imperfections than a veneer and protect the underlying tooth which may be necessary , particularly if the tooth is heavily filled or root-treared.

Each crown is tailor made outside of the mouth by the dentist and is bonded to your tooth at a later date.

Good Dental Veneers and Crowns Take Skill and Experience

Where you get your dental veneers and crowns done is very important. The more experienced and skilled the dentist is the better. Getting dental veneers and crowns to look natural and stay in place for decades is very much an art form, which some people liken to sculpture. This means that it is important to see examples of previous work your dentist has done and to discuss how each individual tooth can be repaired before going ahead with this kind of work.

Dental bridges and implants are two different products, but they are both designed to replace missing teeth. A dental bridge is a false tooth that is physically connected to adjoining teeth or dental implants.

A dental implant is a fake tooth, which is literally implanted into the patients jaw. This is achieved by screwing a small peg into the patients gum and screwing or gluing a false tooth, usually made out of porcelain, onto that peg.

Both dental bridges and implants can be fitted painlessly and are designed to last many years with proper care.

Who Needs Dental Bridges and Implants?

Anyone who is missing a tooth or several teeth can benefit from dental bridges and implants. Not only do they improve the patient’s appearance and self-esteem, they also help to maintain the health of surrounding teeth. A full set of teeth helps prevent other teeth moving or breaking or put under extra strain. A full set of teeth ensures that the patient can eat properly and eat a full range of foods to stay healthy.

Why is Dental Hygiene so Important?

One of the main reasons as to why dental hygiene is so important is to keep teeth and gums looking good. Good dental hygiene can help to prevent cavities and in the worst case scenario – losing teeth. A healthy mouth however not only looks good, but smells good too! There is nothing worse than bad breath (halitosis) as I’m sure you know. Good dental hygiene keeps the teeth free of plaque and free of debris and gum disease – the main causes of halitosis. There is also a known connection between gum disease and heart attacks. Another good reason to look after your oral hygiene!

How Can A Dentist Help?

When you visit your dentist for a check-up he will not only be looking at your teeth, but your gums and mouth as well. Your dentist can help to clean your teeth but he will advise you that prevention is always the best option. Poor dental hygiene can lead to gum disease and also oral cancer in some cases. Your dentist will know how to recognise the symptoms for both diseases, and both can be cured if caught early enough.

Prevention is the Key

Although the diseases associated with poor dental hygiene can be cured, I am sure you would agree that not getting them in the first place would be better. Below are a few tips to follow to ensure that your teeth and gums remain healthy:

• Clean your teeth at least twice a day. When cleaning your teeth it is always a good idea to give your tongue a good scrub too!

• Floss in between your teeth daily.

• Eliminate tobacco.

• Drink water after you eat to help clear your mouth of food particles and bacteria.

• Visit your dentist regularly.

Many people underestimate the importance of dental hygiene until they find themselves with poor oral health. Making good dental hygiene a daily habit is the best way to ensure your teeth and gums remain healthy, and it only takes a few minutes each day.

Though teeth tend to be brilliantly white during childhood, these teeth often fade in colour throughout adulthood due to teeth mineral structure changes and foodstuff, bacterial pigment and tobacco stains. This is when you should start to consider teeth whitening.

There are many methods of teeth whitening, like bleaching strips, a bleaching pen, bleaching gel, laser bleaching, and natural bleaching. Teeth whitening can be carried out by a dentist or at home, though a dentist’s services tend to be both higher quality and higher cost than home products. It is also worth initially consulting a dentist for advice on which treatment to use, depending on the extent of the teeth discolouration.

You should be able to benefit from the effects of teeth whitening for several years – provided that you don’t persist with habits which tend to decrease teeth whitening, like smoking or consuming dark-coloured liquids, such as black coffee, tea and cheap red wine. Teeth whitening products are often inexpensive, given the benefits , so you have no excuse not to consider them.

If you think your weight could be the cause of your snoring consult a GP or even a fitness instructor at your local gym who will check your height to weight ratio and inform you of the level of your weight problem.

Now if you do have serious weight problems losing weight can be very hard. However, help is at hand. Initially, you need to ensure you eat the correct amount of calories every day in combination with regular exercise. Don’t be concerned. It doesn’t mean you have to cut out all your favourite foods; just eat less of them. And in terms of exercise start off with walking, cycling or a cross trainer in a gym, all of which are low impact on a body not used to exercise and burn fat. You can then build up to more strenuous activities like pull ups, press ups and sit ups as well as running, swimming (once your body is in better shape!) weights and rowing.

There are many people who can help with this, including GPs, dieticians and fitness professionals all of whom are trained to help you lose weight. There is prescribed medication and excellent un-prescribed weight loss aids which actually work as long as do your bit in terms of exercise and diet and for more serious cases of obesity,even surgery is possible as a last resort.

If your snoring is not caused by your weight then there are other solutions at hand such as snoring gadgets which can be stuck on your nose at night such as nasal strips, as well as gadgets that look like gum shields which are worn in the mouth. These can be brought over the counter. However getting guidance from a dentist is adviseable.

There are also more advanced snoring devices, some of which can be fitted yourself. However, as having the correct fit is so important, consulting a dentist is adviseable at this stage and if you decide to try a snoring device, having them professionally fitted or professional instruction how to fit yourself at night is important.

If changes to your lifestyle, sleep position, snoring gadgets and devices still do not work then as a last resort can consider surgery Your GP or Dentist can advise who to consult. Surgery may involve removal of part of the palate, tonsils or tissue in the throat using conventional surgical methods or lasers. This in turn may widen your airway making it easier to breathe as you sleep.

It is worth noting that even with surgery there is no guarantee it will cure your snoring for good. It would need to be in conjunction with lifestyle changes, for example if you resume drinking, smoking and overeating, chances are the snoring will come back. Also being fit and healthy can also feel mentally great once give it a chance!

Hope this two part series has been helpful with any snoring problems you or your partner may have. For further information please contact your GP, Dentist or Fitness Professional.

It also means you don’t get a good, restful night’s sleep which can cause drowsiness or tiredness during the day-a potential danger to yourself and others.

For anyone living in the same household as a snorer, it can be a problem which keeps the whole house awake. In a close relationship, it can cause even bigger problems.

However, if you know someone who needs assistance with combating snoring, help is at hand. Some simple lifestyle changes could help such as changing sleep position. You are more likely to snore if you sleep on your back; so ensuring you lie on your side could help-possibly using aids such as a clothes peg on the back of your nightwear.

Snoring can also be caused or aggravated by nasal problems. Short term problems caused by colds or flu should pass. However, there may be underlying problems such as asthma or an allergy such as hay fever or dust allergy.

Other factors, such as diet or weight, smoking and alcohol consumption can also cause some people to snore. So modifying your vices could make all the difference!

Try dealing with these basic issues first to see if that helps. It is recommended that you check your sleep patterns to gauge the size of the problem or even to be aware that the problem exists, as you may well sleep through it. If you have a partner, it may be worth asking them.

However, if the problem is not solved by some of the more basic solutions check back early June for part 2 dealing with some more advanced solutions.

1. Eating. Teeth are necessary to chew your food. Chewing increases blood flow (and therefore oxygen) to the brain so living on McDonalds and baked beans isn’t going to do your brain much good. You also need to be able to swallow.

2. Air. It is vital to have a good, open airway, both when you are awake and, especially when you are asleep. Snoring is a sign that you are not breathing properly, meaning that oxygen is not entering the bloodstream and, in particular, the brain which is often why you wake up tired and groggy in the morning. It is also associated with sleep apnoea, which is a serious problem.

3. Bacteria. There are many different bacteria in the mouth and they are there to protect you against harmful bacteria. It is therefore important to maintain a healthy bacterial balance. Tooth decay and gum disease upset the balance and put an added strain on the body’s defences. Breathing in and swallowing these harmful bacteria put an added burden on the system and can cause problems such as upset tummy amongst other things.

4. Jaw. A correctly-functioning jaw may well reduce headaches and make a huge difference to your general wellbeing.

Why is it worse in women? Oestrogen is necessary for the production of the lubricant (synovial fluid) in the joints because it affects the availability of magnesium to help in the production. So, when the oestrogen level drops, as it does on a monthly basis-and even more so at menopause-the amount of synovial fluid is reduced. This is why some women take large doses of magnesium for PMT headaches.

Why does this matter? In a normally functioning joint, it usually does not matter because the jaw joint manages to accommodate. However, if the jaw joint is not functioning properly, the situation is different. The body may accommodate most of the time but when the oestrogen drop causes a drop in the lubricant, the malfunctioning joint can no longer accommodate as it is drier and this may cause many symptoms, such as headaches, neck pain, shoulder and lower back pain, clicking hips or knees, tingling in the fingers, pain behind the eyes, ear pain, tinnitus, blocked or itchy ears or occasional vertigo or dizziness. Very often, the situation is rectifiable and the symptoms may reduce or even disappear.

It is better to deal with this kind of situation sooner rather than later to prevent or reduce damage to the joint which can become severe even to the point of having to undergo joint replacement.

Interestingly some movement disorders-including Turrets syndrome are now seen as being related to jaw joint dysfunction and are often treatable.

Breast feeding can help your child’s jaw development
Breast feeding is considered important for many reasons such as helping them resist infections due to the transfer of the mother’s immunity to the baby via the breast milk.

It is also important to the development of the jaws. The tongue is the strongest muscle in the body and the act of breast-feeding forces the tongue into the palate and causes the upper jaw to develop correctly towards its genetic potential thus allowing the lower jaw to grow into its correct position. This, in turn allows the jaw joint to form correctly in its proper position and allows the teeth enough space to come in straight without crowding so that it is less likely to need orthodontics or, even worse, extraction of teeth.

I always say that, ideally, they should come when they are pregnant. There are good reasons for this. The main reason from the mother’s point of view is to maintain a healthy mouth during pregnancy. She also needs hygienist care after the birth of the baby and during lactation.

It is good to bring the baby at that time and every check-up visit to allow the baby to consider the visits normal, routine and fun before it is necessary ever to look in his mouth and polish his teeth. Children who have never been to the dentist until they have trouble, associate dentistry with pain, a dreadful attitude to have as a child as it tends to have a negative long term effect on the child’s feelings about dentists.

Children need to know that nothing happens without their express permission- no matter how young they are. They should know that they and only they have the right to say what happens to their own bodies- an extremely important life lesson.