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Oral Health affects General Health

approximately how long each day do you spend brushing your teeth?

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
Three minutes twice a day, all my life unless I’ve eaten something with garlic. No mouth problems, I have my original teeth (age 58).
 
As always, there is no one answer for everyone, but I would not either use mouthwash daily or recommend that anyone else does. The Prof. is no doubt eminent, but, having done the experiments, I have to disagree for general advice to a population.
 
The major damage to mine was done as a teen/young adult, I stopped the rot - so to speak - since then but they still need a load of work, probably expensive work I can't afford at that.
 
Once a day for decades and I’m still alive and kicking.I’ve a leak from one tooth that needs popping once a week on average; for some reason it’s decided not to go for my brain. We lost our dentist during the pandemic. I’ve tried to re-sign but it’s a two year wait apparently and will probably become effectively private. Anything plays up now it’s toast. Both my parents have a full set of falsies by the time I was ten so things have improved :)
 
1. Not all mouthwashes are the same. A dentist once told me to use Colgate Fluorigard every day.

2. I have sensitive incisors and have been prescribed Oral B Duraphat for the past year. It has completely eradicated the problem.

3. I had a large food trap which was annoying and probably would have led to decay. Every NHS dentist said they could do nothing. During covid I went to a private dentist and he instantly knew what to do: a ceramic onlay. I feel annoyed that no NHS dentist mentioned it, even if it wasn’t a solution available on the NHS.

4. A dentist told me to avoid flossing. He said that floss is hard to use properly and there’s always a risk that it will damage fillings and crowns. He said that all the evidence is that interdental brushes are at least as effective, and in practice more effective because easier to use correctly.

5. I would not use an NHS dentist for endodontics. They just don’t have the equipment, and probably not the skills, to do a proper job - the probability of failure is known to be much higher with NHS endodontics - according to my NHS dentist. They are reimbursed very little for it, apparently.
 
Do private dentists offer payment plans and the like, or is it a "if you can't afford the lump sum it it's not for you" kind of deal?
 
MUTTY1 said:
Once a day for decades and I’m still alive and kicking.I’ve a leak from one tooth that needs popping once a week on average; for some reason it’s decided not to go for my brain. We lost our dentist during the pandemic. I’ve tried to re-sign but it’s a two year wait apparently and will probably become effectively private. Anything plays up now it’s toast. Both my parents have a full set of falsies by the time I was ten so things have improved :)
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Have you tried your local Dental Hospital yet? Should they refuse to take you now wait until it's an emergency.
 
mandryka said:
1. Not all mouthwashes are the same. A dentist once told me to use Colgate Fluorigard every day.

2. I have sensitive incisors and have been prescribed Oral B Duraphat for the past year. It has completely eradicated the problem.

3. I had a large food trap which was annoying and probably would have led to decay. Every NHS dentist said they could do nothing. During covid I went to a private dentist and he instantly knew what to do: a ceramic onlay. I feel annoyed that no NHS dentist mentioned it, even if it wasn’t a solution available on the NHS.

4. A dentist told me to avoid flossing. He said that floss is hard to use properly and there’s always a risk that it will damage fillings and crowns. He said that all the evidence is that interdental brushes are at least as effective, and in practice more effective because easier to use correctly.

5. I would not use an NHS dentist for endodontics. They just don’t have the equipment, and probably not the skills, to do a proper job - the probability of failure is known to be much higher with NHS endodontics - according to my NHS dentist. They are reimbursed very little for it, apparently.
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Good post.
 
I have a bigger risk of periodontal pockets than tooth decay. I cannot remember the last time I needed fillings due to tooth decay. So my dental hygiene routine is simple: Brush twice a day with electric toothbrush, floss nightly, see my dental hygienist twice yearly and get a full check up annually. Also, I don't add sugar to my tea or coffee, and I drink plenty of water during the day. Both my dentist and hygienist recommended that I don't use mouthwash on a regular basis for the reasons @hc25036 outlined earlier.

I'm 58 years of age, but still have all 29 of my adult teeth. Only one wisdom tooth has come through and there are no signs of the other three under x-ray. How odd, but I have no complaints. In my estimation, good dental hygiene is a habit, not a quick fix. If there is a problem with a tooth or your gums, get it treated as soon as possible. It never gets better on its own.
 
chartz said:
Thanks. No smoking either, ever. I’m certain that helps. A few fillings though :D
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Indeed, smoking is bad news for gums- not to mention tooth stains. Relatives who heavily smoked had to have many extractions by their 20s.
 
James said:
I have a bigger risk of periodontal pockets than tooth decay. I cannot remember the last time I needed fillings due to tooth decay. So my dental hygiene routine is simple: Brush twice a day with electric toothbrush, floss nightly, see my dental hygienist twice yearly and get a full check up annually. Also, I don't add sugar to my tea or coffee, and I drink plenty of water during the day. Both my dentist and hygienist recommended that I don't use mouthwash on a regular basis for the reasons @hc25036 outlined earlier.

I'm 58 years of age, but still have all 29 of my adult teeth. Only one wisdom tooth has come through and there are no signs of the other three under x-ray. How odd, but I have no complaints. In my estimation, good dental hygiene is a habit, not a quick fix. If there is a problem with a tooth or your gums, get it treated as soon as possible. It never gets better on its own.
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Periodontal disease - as you’ll know - is a different kettle of bacteria. The need here is to keep the gums healthy and not shrinking back from the teeth (hence ‘getting long in the tooth’). Once you have pockets, bacteria (not the tooth decay ones) can get in and live a merry life loosening your teeth from their sockets. Much more important to keep the interdental spaces clean once you get into middle age.
 
I’ve never used floss. A fashion thing I guess.
I go to the dentist’s once a year for a scrape that’s all. He never mentioned flossing.
 
hc25036 said:
Periodontal disease - as you’ll know - is a different kettle of bacteria. The need here is to keep the gums healthy and not shrinking back from the teeth (hence ‘getting long in the tooth’). Once you have pockets, bacteria (not the tooth decay ones) can get in and live a merry life loosening your teeth from their sockets. Much more important to keep the interdental spaces clean once you get into middle age.
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eguth said:
Have you tried your local Dental Hospital yet? Should they refuse to take you now wait until it's an emergency.
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I did actually phone them when I Had an acute episode a couple of years ago. Basically, unless your face was twice it’s normal size they wouldn’t see you. I was quite shocked but fortunately it didn’t develop into anything. Most of my teeth are on a plate now so much less chance of sudden agony:)
 
chartz said:
I’ve never used floss. A fashion thing I guess.
I go to the dentist’s once a year for a scrape that’s all. He never mentioned flossing.
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You must have very good bacterial biome going on in your mouth. FWIW, I did not know about flossing until I started to get gum problems in my forties. A toothbrush cannot reach under the gum line and is not particularly effective in the tight space between teeth.
 
Paraphrasing Thomas Hardy; 'The Skill of the Floss' (Sorry, that's a bit obscure, Jude). Candy floss was the only type I could cope with. I've got some floss tape, which is different to the string-like stuff I had years ago; it is slightly easier I s'pose but not much.
 
I have a generally poor history of oral care but from the sounds of it have dodged a bullet. I had Mr Filling for my dentist in my early years with seemingly every 4 monthly trip ending in a no pain relief filling leading to fear of the dentist and as soon as my mother ceased being responsible for my dental appointments I stopped going. I did brush but sporadically and probably no more than once a day.

I probably went 15 years before a dentist visit at my longest break but did visit very occasionally and bizarrely had no treatment other than some serious descaling each visit. I suffered a broken tooth and had an emergency repair/filling about 20 years ago and that filling is still there and doing its job well.

I discovered a fantastic dentist with that repair and have been going regularly to her ever since. She is sadly retiring but I now take better care of my teeth flossing a couple of times a week but brushing every day and since my youth have had only one decay based filling and the repair mentioned above.

My brother has shocking teeth - never got over the dentist fear and my dad also has terrible teeth with plates and crowns and all sorts of nonesense.

I am grateful for my teeth being strong, maybe down to genetics and enforced fluoride treatments when younger. My wife has never had a filling, my daughter has never had a filling and my son only had two when he was young - first molars and fortunately nothing since.
 
You can buy floss picks - essentially a piece of floss held in a tiny hoe - which even my large hands can use fairly accurately.
 
Has anyone mentioned those Te-Pe thingies, like tiny bottle brushes with a little plastic handle, I find them brilliant for getting in between teeth and pushing out food which tends to get stuck between mine due to awkward gaps. I also smear a bit of toothpaste on and try to get a decent clean in the gaps. Much better than floss in my view.
(I do brush as well of course)
 
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