We are pleased to publish on our blog, an email from Simon Hearnshaw, Chairman of the LDC to Peter Ward, Chief Executive of the British Dental Association (BDA), calling for fluoridation of our water supply. If you also believe in this cause, please join us and sign the petition too.

In the early 1980′s as a Dental Undergraduate I was taught the huge benefits of water fluoridation. It was, and remains a central plank of teaching on the prevention of dental caries. So why after nearly 30 years has nothing really happened?

As a Practitioner working in a city centre Practice for almost thirty years I understand the benefits of establishing a preventive philosophy in my Practice. I see the results daily of a long campaign on diet and oral hygiene in terms of reduced caries rates and healthier dentitions. I am though fully aware that all of this work would be massively supported and massively dwarfed in impact by the introduction of fluoridation in my area. So why are we still waiting?

Late last year I decided that the time was right to try and blow away the inertia surrounding fluoridation and try to raise the profile of this public dental health measure. The e-petition can be accessed at:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18219

The strategy is to gain some serious momentum for fluoridation amongst the Dental Profession and then to begin looking at how we can engage patients and local stake holders in order that when a local consultative process on fluoridation is commenced in our individual areas we have a strong local support that can lobby effectively. For too long fluoridation has been de-railed by poor communication, misleading information and myth.

The purpose of the petition is simply to demonstrate support. Debates on targeted use can begin later. Let’s face it, if the profession cannot endorse fluoridation – how can we expect the public to support it?

The BDA could and should demonstrate support for the e-petition and fluoridation in general. Printing this letter in the journal and having a lap top available at the Conference in April to enable delegates to sign would be a start.

Strangely there does seem to be a reluctance to tackle fluoridation within the profession. This is an opportunity to break out of this state of mind and finally work towards establishing fluoridation nationwide. Are we up to the challenge? I hope so.

We owe it to future generations to move this forward. If not, why waste time teaching it?

Simon Hearnshaw.

Chairman Hull and East Riding Of Yorkshire L.D.C.

Babies teeth start to show when they are six or seven months old…although it has been known for some babies to be born with teeth!

Most children will have a full set of 20 milk teeth by the time they are about three years old.

At the age of five or six, these teeth start to get pushed out by permanent teeth growing behind the milk teeth. The process of moving from milk teeth to permanent teeth takes several years – and although permanent teeth can look  huge in a seven-year-olds mouth – by the time teenage years hit – jaws have developed and grown and the “big” teeth sit more normally.

By the age of 14, most children have lost all their milk teeth and have a full set of 28 permanent teeth.

About around the age of 20, four more wisdom teeth usually grow in at the back of the mouth. These often have to be removed as they can cause discomfort and squash the other permanent teeth.

The wisdom teeth complete the adult set of 32 teeth.

This festive season there will probably be more acid flowing through your mouth than at any other time – and that causes tooth decay.

We at 543 all want you to relax and enjoy this Christmas and New Year – but do spare a thought for your teeth! Alcoholic drinks, sweets and high sugar foods will all leave acid on your teeth – so remember the basic rules to keep your smile gleaming:

Try not to snack between meals – this causes separate acid attacks on your teeth enamel. Rationing out the Christmas treats throughout the day – whether it’s food or drink – does prolonged damage to your teeth as opposed to having one giant sitting!

Not that we would wish to encourage eating sugary and acidic foods – but it is Christmas!!… so the best time to eat the naughty things is at meal times and not snacking on them all day long.

But remember… always wait for an hour before brushing your teeth after meal times as brushing them straight away can rub the acid into tooth enamel.

543 Dental Centre carries out an alternative way to straighten your teeth without braces – with the American product Invisalign.

Invisalign works through a series of invisible, removable and comfortable aligners that are custom made to fit your mouth. The system doesn’t use metal wires or brackets, so no one can tell you are even wearing them.

You wear each set of aligners for about 2 weeks, removing them only to eat, drink, brush, and floss. As you replace each aligner with the next in the series, your teeth will move – little by little, week by week – until they have straightened to the final position your dentist at 543 has prescribed. You’ll visit about once every 6 weeks to ensure that your treatment is progressing as planned.

Invisalign has trained more than 48,000 dentists around the world, started more than 73,000 patients in treatment and manufactured more than 32 million unique Invisalign aligners.

Take a look at the video on our website.

To find out more or contact us at the dental centre and we can make you an appointment with one of our dentist to assess whether this system will be suitable for you.

Every time you laugh or frown your muscles move – and over time these form into permanent wrinkles or creases. Here at 543 we offer easy and affordable non-surgical cosmetic procedures to help reduce the appearance of these fine lines and wrinkles.

Procedures available with us include dermal fillers, anti-ageing treatments and non-surgical facial rejuvenation treatments.

With non-invasive procedures now the preferred choice for many, 543 provides the latest non-surgical treatments by highly qualified practitioners.

Sara Feldt, Treatment Co-ordinator at the practice, said: “The in-depth training 543 Facial Rejuvenation Practitioners have to go through to qualify enables us to offer complete clinical and aftercare services. The use of highly effective and longer lasting medical grade treatments helps to provide comfortable and high quality treatments.”

Contact us on 01482 565488 if you would like to find out more.

Believe it or not rationing out the Christmas sweets throughout the day does prolonged damage to your child’s teeth as opposed to letting them have one giant sitting!

Not that we would wish to encourage eating sugary and acidic foods – but letting your child have a few sweets from their stocking at various intervals between meal times causes more acid build up in the mouth.

The best time to eat sweets is after meal times and not snacking on them all day long. The worst thing you could do is let your child have a few sweets every few hours. If you must then let them then do so after meal times and then get them to brush their teeth – therefore removing the acidity which causes tooth decay.

But remember…….always wait for an hour before brushing your teeth as brushing them straight away can rub the acid into tooth enamel.

You should brush your teeth for two minutes at least twice a day, using as much pressure on your teeth as the weight of an orange. Brushing for long periods may not necessarily get rid of any more plaque – but you could be damaging the enamel on your teeth especially if you are pressing too hard.

After eating or drinking acidic food or drink, such as fruit or fizzy drinks, you should wait about an hour before cleaning your teeth. By brushing straight away, you can rub the acid into the enamel on your teeth.

Eating a diet rich in sugar and starch increases the risk of tooth decay, and sticky foods can be a particular problem because they are more likely to remain on the surface of the teeth. Frequent snacking also increases the amount of time that acids are in contact with the teeth.

The ideal to keep your teeth in good condition is to clean them regularly to get rid of any plaque build-up and don’t snack on sugary foods between meals.

The Big Bad Wolf (nicknamed BBW) had a fabulous day at The Deep in Hull during half-term.

BBW was warmly welcomed by visitors to the region’s watery attraction. BBW met up with his “wife,” Mrs BBW, AKA, Hannah (the receptionist who is hotly pursued by the furry one!) and enjoyed looking around all the tanks and displays at the packed visitor centre.

As always BBW was keen to promote his message of looking after your teeth – and what better way to spread his messages than at The Deep which was packed with children enjoying the half term holidays!

To see more of BBW’s day trip out take a look at the 543 Facebook page. We will keep you posted with where BBW will take to for his next adventure…

You may not know if you need a filling. Many smallish holes in your teeth give no pain, in fact decay can sometimes eat out part of the tooth from the inside and you would have no idea it was happening.

If your teeth are sensitive to hot, cold or sweet food and drink, you may need fillings. Persistently sensitive teeth should be checked by a dentist and toothache should be investigated.

Dental x-rays may show early decay that is not presenting a patient with symptoms and you may be able to see colour changes to a tooth that can indicate early decay.

To avoid decay and the need for fillings then the most sensible advice is to avoid sugary food and drinks and if you do eat or drink them brush your teeth afterwards or at least swill out your mouth with water to remove the sugary debris from your teeth.

We are pleased to be supporting this e-petition, which seeks to raise the profile of water fluoridation (the process of adding fluoride into the public water supply).

Adding fluoride to the water supply will have a positive effect on our oral health. It helps to prevent tooth decay and cavities, meaning dental treatment for these problems will reduce over time.

This is a cost effective and safe public health measure that has already been introduced in some areas. In these areas, decay rates are significantly lower than non-fluoridated areas.

This is a great campaign that could really make a difference to the dental hygiene of many people.

Please join us in supporting this by signing the petition and liking the campaign on Facebook. If you would like some more information about water fluoridation then here are some more benefits to the process.