Durham City Smiles – May 2011

Last week a Ring Necked Dove fledgling fell from its nest, promptly to be named Harry by the girls and looked after until he flew away 48 hours later, apparently with his brother “Henry” ?!?

We also have a family of Blue Tits nesting within our walls – literally!, it remains to be seen how they get on as we’ve just seen Mum and Dad trailing back and forth pandering to the chicks needs. That sounds familiar! It would appear all kids are the same regardless of species!

My daughter ‘Bexy has been playing hockey for Durham City Hockey Club, and last Sunday they won a tournament against Billingham and Hartlepool hockey clubs. Durham beat both sides convincingly, and Bex and her team mates received T shirts in recognition of this. ‘

Graeme’s been away on a course again

It was at Dalmahoy outside Edinburgh, but no it wasn’t the Dalmahoy Golf Course!!!

Actually it was on the subject of “Minimally Invasive Dentistry” a subject close to my heart. If I have to prepare teeth for crowns, veneers or bridges, then I will, but if I can maintain oral health and aesthetics with minimum intervention, then I will.

The principles of MI dentistry are very simple – time is spent educating and helping patients to maintain their own oral health, and if we do have to get involved we try to keep it simple and as pain free as possible. There are some fantastic new products out there that can really make a difference in the fight against and prevention of dental disease. One major advance comes from Australia and is called “Tooth Mousse” it is proven to allow remineralisation of early decay lesions – that’s dental jargon for “it helps toughen up early tooth decay and can prevent the need for drilling and filling”!

Tooth Mousse is a very easy product to apply and is very nice tasting (various flavours), there are special formulations for patients with dry mouth problems, and it can be used to reverse “white spot lesions” these are often found on the teeth of teenagers after brace removal, but more often found on those teenagers who have had an aversion to using the fluffy end of the toothbrush, (if they’ve used it at all!!!) but have now seen the light and want to take care of their teeth. Tooth Mousse can also be used to reverse the brown stains caused by Enamel Hypoplasia – this is caused by the malformation of some of the enamel during tooth formation. Sometimes the only treatment is veneers, but now, in some cases, we can offer this new clinically proven method to treat the condition in a Minimally Invasive way.

Kind regards

Graeme