Our Chelmsford children’s dentist looks at this basic, but important, piece of dental care equipment.

As a parent, there are many things that we have to teach our children, almost from the moment that they are born.

It is widely believed that children learn much about the world around them within the first few years of their life, refining this as they grow up.

Because of this, it is important that we enable them to understand the importance of looking after their teeth from an early age. Some of this is within our immediate control, such as making sure that they don’t eat too many sweets, but some will depend on them learning good habits from their parents.

One essential area which we can teach them as soon as possible, is how to clean their teeth well in the morning and at night. Whilst young children should be supervised until we are sure that they are doing this correctly and efficiently, it is good to encourage them to take the bulk of responsibility as early as is practical.

Baby gums and bacteria

Before we look at buying a toothbrush, parents should be aware that, even before they have any teeth, oral care is important. Whether being breast or bottle fed, bacteria will accumulate on the baby’s gums and these should be cleaned, after feeding, with a clean damp cloth. Once the first set of teeth come through though, it will be necessary to buy a toothbrush for them, in order to keep their teeth clean and healthy.

Below, the children’s dentist at Blue Sky Dental offers some thoughts for parents with children approaching this age.

What toothbrush to buy for young children

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Our Chelmsford dental team offers their advice on patient co-operation.

Dentists and their teams are highly skilled people. Not only have most spent many years at university, studying to enter the profession, but many also go on to do extra years of intense study in order to be able to carry out more complex procedures such as dental implant placement and endodontic care.

Contrary to the opinion of some, we don’t actually enjoy having to perform sometimes uncomfortable procedures, and like a doctor would, we would much rather that patients look after their teeth so that these procedures become almost redundant. Sadly, in this high sugar diet world, the likelihood of that happening is probably a long way off. There are though, many things that patients can do to help us, and in turn, help themselves.

General care

The most obvious thing that you can do is to take responsibility for your own oral health. This is a topic that we have covered previously, but essentially, and briefly, means eating a sensible tooth friendly diet and brushing your teeth effectively twice a day. Also using dental floss at the end of the day for better gum health and making sure that you receive regular professional care at Blue Sky Dental.

In addition to the essentials above, there are a number of things which will enable us to take good care of you when you visit our Chelmsford practice.

Please keep your appointment

We understand that there may be occasions when you need to cancel an appointment for a genuine reason. All we ask are two things. Firstly, do make sure that you re-arrange, preferably at the same time that you cancel. If you intend to do so a little later, there is always a chance that you may forget, or simply not get around to it.

Secondly, if you need to cancel and re-arrange an appointment, please give us a minimum notice of 48 hours wherever this is possible. This will allow us to fill that spot, possibly with someone who is in real pain with a toothache. We know that you would want a fast appointment if you were in this situation, so please be considerate and help others who may be too.

Arrive on time for your appointment

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Helping you to get the best out of your visit to Blue Sky Dental.

Right from the early days of our Chelmsford dental clinic, we have strongly believed in creating the most positive environment for our patients. Whilst having a modern, well-equipped practice, with experienced and highly qualified dentists is our prime concern, we also believe that it is important that we don’t let the ‘little things’ slip in doing so.

We understand that some people don’t look forward to seeing a dentist, with a few positively dreading it. To help with this, and to encourage patients to keep up regular visits to have their oral health checked, we believe it is important to make sure that the environment and service provided by us is first rate, calm and relaxing.

A welcoming smile

We often say that your smile is important to us, and it is. Just as important though, we feel, is the smile that you are greeted with by our reception team. This is most patient’s first point of contact when they come through our front door and we want to make sure that this is a positive experience. All of our reception team are fully trained and made aware of issues such as patient anxiety and how to help as much as they can, within their role.

From a practical viewpoint, we also know how important it is when you bring children to our practice, to process your appointment as quickly as possible so that you can go back to reassuring them. To this end, we have a very efficient system of registering incoming patients which avoids you having to spend too much time filling in forms etc.

We think that you will also find our waiting rooms to be comfortable and welcoming, with facilities such as a TV, magazines and toys for children to distract them. We are always happy to receive feedback on how we can improve this part of the experience for you.

Treatment rooms

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Looking after yourself, and the extraction site, will lead to a faster and more comfortable recovery

We all want to avoid needing to have a tooth extracted, especially when it is an adult tooth that has to come out. Thankfully, with the range of specialist services available at Blue Sky Dental, we can offer many ways to hopefully avoid this final outcome.

In some situations though, removing a tooth is the best, or only, option that is realistically available. We have discussed the actual extraction procedure in an earlier blog and today, we take a look at how you can help to look after yourself and also aid the healing process for a speedy recovery.

Initial aftercare

Once a tooth has been extracted, the dentist will apply some sterile gauze to the area which you should keep in place for a short while until they remove it. This acts to stem the blood flow from the site and initiates the formation of a blood clot. This clot protects the socket and starts the healing process. You should do everything possible not to dislodge the clot (more of that later) and you will be given some extra gauze for use at home in case it does come out. If the clot comes out again after you have used this additional gauze, you can use a CLEAN handkerchief to stem the flow again. Once the dentist is happy that the clot has formed, you will be able to leave our Chelmsford dental surgery.

Caring for the clot

It is important not to dislodge the blood clot as this will slow down the healing process and may lead to a ‘dry socket’ where the extraction site is exposed. This can be very painful and can also lead to infections. If you are in any discomfort following an extraction, please contact us straight away. There are many ways that a clot can be dislodged; for example you should avoid poking it with your finger, tongue or any other object. Also please avoid using that part of the mouth for eating and avoid any ‘aggressive’ actions such as spitting. You should not brush that part of your mouth although you will need to keep it clean to prevent infection.

Keep it clean

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