Millions missing their smile factor

The UK’s leading oral health charity is urging people to change their attitudes towards their teeth and dentists, or risk losing their ‘Smile factor’ forever.

The British Dental Health Foundation has spent the last month promoting good oral health as part of its National Smile Month campaign. However, the Foundation believes the nation is still not making oral health a priority and people generally need to adopt a different attitude to their teeth and oral care if they are to keep their ‘Smile Factor’ – the theme of this year’s campaign.

The Foundation is asking the public to look again at their oral care and has published a new ten point checklist designed to challenge and change attitudes towards their teeth.

Take a look at the Foundation’s ten point checklist on their website…

Stem cell research and tooth regeneration

In 1968, the very first Adult Dental Survey in England and Wales found, what now, seems to be a somewhat remarkable statistic – over a third of adults had none of their natural teeth. Considering where we are today in terms of our oral health as a nation, it is quite unthinkable.

Thankfully, since then a transformation has taken place across the UK in terms of how we choose to look after our teeth. Tooth loss in adults still remains, but not nearly to the same extent. Today, only six per cent of adults in England and Wales are edentate, but new stem cell research could make any amount of tooth loss a thing of the past.

Read the full post on Dr Nigel Carter’s Blog.

Dentists more scary than snakes or spiders

It’s not good news for Dentists as the latest piece of research by the British Dental Health Foundation suggests that visiting the dentist makes people more nervous than snakes or spiders.

The research echoes last month’s Adult Dental Health Survey which revealed half of adults – especially women – were classified as having moderate to extreme dental anxiety.

The Foundation asked 1,004 people – in the lead up to National Smile Month 2011 – what made them most nervous from a list including heights, flying, injections, doctors, snakes, spiders, going to hospital and visiting the dentist.

Read the full story here

Dental forum has the Smile Factor!

One of the busiest dental websites in the world has opened its doors to an all-new online forum to help practices and event organisers share ideas during National Smile Month.

To coincide with the re-launch of www.dentalhealth.org, the British Dental Health Foundation has introduced a forum where dental practices can come together to discuss the up-and-coming campaign while sharing thoughts about any event ideas.

Taking place between 15 May and 15 June, the Foundation will run its 35th National Smile Month campaign – with this year’s theme being the ‘Smile Factor’.

Read the full story here

MRSA discovered on braces

A recent study has revealed some of the bacteria found on orthodontic retainers, worn after orthodontic treatment is completed, can be associated with the hospital superbug MRSA, a condition which can lead to blood poisoning.

The research, carried out by the UCL Eastman Dental Institute in London⁽¹⁾, also found a further two thirds of retainers examined contained a type of yeast connected with fungal infections, with both types of organism found potentially harmful to the population.

According to the British Orthodontic Society, nearly one million people in the UK began orthodontic treatment last year, and with more adults than ever before wanting treatment, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter, took the opportunity to encourage those who wear removeable braces or retainers to develop high standards of oral hygiene.

Read the full story here: MRSA discovered on braces

Happy the Hippo to help young children look after their teeth

Happy the Hippo to help young children look after their teeth ‘Happy the Hippo’ has been recruited by the British Dental Health Foundation to help teach young children how to look after their teeth.

Around one third of children under the age of 12 in the UK continue to suffer from dental decay. Happy will be joining the Foundation in May to help lead the 35th National Smile Month campaign.

Despite major improvements in children’s oral health over the past 40 years, many children are still being affected by dental decay.

Read the full story here…

Smoke without fire

It’s great to hear this month that NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) are developing plans to produce guidance to help people who use smokeless tobacco – a leading cause of mouth cancer and many other medical conditions.

Smokeless tobacco is mainly used by people from South Asia. It’s very difficult to determine actual usage but NHS estimates suggest that Bangladeshis are the biggest users with nine per cent of men and 16 per cent of women indicating that they used these products. However, usage could be much higher.

Read the full blog post here…

Strokes – gum disease more harmful than diabetes

New research suggests that gum disease carries a higher risk of causing a stroke than diabetes, and its impact is nearly the equivalent of high blood pressure as a major cause of strokes.

High blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes (diabetes mellitus) are widely recognised as major risks which contribute to non-fatal strokes (ischemic strokes). In recent years there has been growing evidence of the link between gum disease (periodontitis) and strokes.

The latest research indicates that people are twice as likely to suffer a non-fatal stroke as a result of gum disease, compared to diabetes. The data also suggests its impact is equivalent to people with high blood pressure.

Click here and read the full story.

Landmark ruling in the whitening wars

Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation,             Dr Nigel Carter: Blog

The line between cosmetic treatment and beauty therapy has always thrown up some interesting debates, particularly when it has come to the treatment of tooth whitening. A procedure that, until now has been widely offered not only by dentists but astonishingly by those who work in salons and health spas too.

It is a practice that I have consistently been extremely concerned about in terms of danger to the public and one that I think has too often wriggled through the net, evading the eyes of the law makers and regulators here in the UK.

That’s exactly why I was delighted to hear last week about a landmark ruling and the first case of its kind in this country. The General Dental Council (GDC) successfully prosecuted a non-registrant for performing tooth whitening, which the GDC itself regards as the practice of dentistry. The accused, who pleaded guilty to four offences including practising dentistry while not registered as a dentist or dental care professional between October 2010 and March 2011 was charged under the Dentists Act 1984….

Read Dr Carter’s full blog here

Dental care being put off as household budgets squeezed

Latest statistics show around one in four adults in England are thinking twice about looking after their oral health due to financial constraints.

The latest findings released by the Adult Dental Health Survey – undertaken every 10 years – reveal just over a quarter (26 per cent) of adults said the type of dental treatment they opted for was influenced by cost, while nearly one in five (19 per cent) said they had delayed having treatment for financial reasons.

Household budgets are already under pressure with the highest levels of inflation for 20 years, low pay rises and high unemployment. With NHS dental prices set to increase from 1 April 2011, the first rise for two years, there is growing concern that dental health will be increasingly seen by many as a low priority.

Read the full story here.