Preventive Dentistry
Preventive Dentistry – Prevent Dental Problems
We want to make sure you don’t have to visit us too often, which is why we are focussed on prevention to reduce your future dental work needs. Our preventive dentistry treatment options include fissure sealants, fluoride applications and de-sensitising treatments.
At Your New Dentist, we continue to be huge advocates of preventive dentistry because we want to help you take back control of your oral hygiene. Tooth decay is a massive problem across Australia and is 5 times for common than asthma. In fact, every year, at least 11 million new tooth decays develop.
Government reports indicate that it is the second most expensive disease related to diets in the country and 90% of all cases can be prevented. According to the Australian Dental Association (ADA), at least 57% of Australians will experience tooth decay at some point in their lives. This can affect your personality, appearance and confidence.
In a nutshell, bacteria present in your mouth will cause the formation of acid from sugars. This attacks your tooth enamel surface and weakens it, which causes decay. Once this decay reaches the dentine, you cannot reverse it. Without any treatment, this decay will grow and turn painful.
There are some alarming statistics you should be aware of to make sure that you don’t suffer from a tooth decay problem in the future:
- 30% of Australians confirm they brush only once a day with most people skipping the night-time brush.
- Most Australians skip flossing their teeth altogether.
- 35% of parents say their children brush only once a day, while more than 60% accept that their kids will have decayed teeth at some point.
- 83% of Australians say that bad breadth and decayed teeth are huge turnoffs on while out on a first date, which is more than bad body odour and poor dressing.
- According to some estimates, nearly 600,000 and 1 million days are lost from school and work respectively every year because of poor dental health.
- Productivity loss and costs associated with bad dental health is around $2 billion every year.
As you can see from these shocking figures, tooth decay is a bigger problem than you could have imagined. Many people are under the mistaken assumption that teeth problems are hereditary but this is not entirely true. Only a handful of issues may be passed down. We want to help you change the way you perceive tooth decay by showing you how you can prevent it in the first place through simple measures:
- Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste – when you brush regularly, you bring down your risk of decay significantly.
- Floss every day – flossing is important to remove food stuck between teeth to prevent the formation of plaque.
- Consume sugary and acidic foods in moderation – sugars and acids can also form plaque easily so avoid consuming them too often.
- Eat calcium-rich foods – some foods like yoghurt, cheese and milk tend to neutralise the effect of acidic foods so they help protect your teeth for longer.
- Eat saliva-producing foods – some foods like sugar-free gum can help to produce more saliva that protects your teeth from decay.
We also provide professional teeth cleaning because stubborn calcium build-up from your saliva (tartar) cannot be tackled by regular brushing – even if you’re regular with brushing twice a day. This tartar is present in at least 95% of the cases we’ve seen despite good dental hygiene habits. If you leave this for too long, your gums will get inflamed and infected over time. A professional teeth clean removes tartar and stains, which significantly lowers your chance of gum disease.
We have always believed that prevention is far better than cure, which is why we take the initial steps to keep your teeth as white and healthy as possible with treatment options designed to help you reduce your visits to us in the future.