Smile Awards 2010

We're on the shortlist!

I entered two catergories and have been shortlisted in both which is brilliant. The Orthodontic Smile with a case treated using twinblocks and fixed braces (if you don't know what these are there are explanations on our main website) which meant that extractions were avoided. The Interdisciplinary Smile was jointly entered with Jack Cooke, with a case we have treated together, using braces to improve tooth position and then veneers to really finish off and complete the case. Its a case we're both really proud of and I'm so glad its been shortlisted.

Once I've informed the patients I'll post some photos.

So, a trip to the Big Smoke beckons for the awards ceremony at the end of March. This will be the fourth I've attended, I'm hoping its my time for a win soon.

Snow

This is the view of our car park from the practice this morning (about 10.30am). Its been snowing since the early hours and still hasn't stopped. Although it's not the first snow we've had this fall has affected the roads the worst, as most of the rest of the snow has been over the Christmas holidays when it's generally quieter anyway.

Four staff haven't made it in, and I've only seen two patients so far this morning, most have cancelled, and I don't blame them, its not worth risking getting stck anywhere, braces can wait a day or so!

The most exciting thing was two cars getting stuck on the small slope up from the road, after which I put back on my winter gear and shovelled the drive. Not that you can tell now, its all covered up again.

I'm going to be finishing early and walking home.

We're back!

Apologies for the lack of recent posts, we have been having technical issues with the blog, which I hope are now resolved.

Proper post soon, if I can remember all the things I have wanted to say since it's been down!

*Edit* I see some of the blogs I attempted to post have now published anyway, hooray!

You can't hide from me!

I live fairly close to where I work. On Friday I helped out at the community bonfire night, serving hot-dogs. Cue gaggles of teenage girls wearing braces giving me shy "hello"s as they recognised their orthodontist in an unexpected place!

Half way through the evening a group of four returned, three holding toffee apples. The fourth indicated her brace, which had just broken, asking me what to do about it. "Were you eating a toffee apple G?" I asked. She answered "no", but I knew otherwise, the red sugar round her mouth rather giving her away!

She felt suitably sheepish I think. No big problem, I can repair it, but she has now learned why the advice to avoid hard food is given to brace wearers.

Another sporting brace-wearer

Congratulations to British gymnast Beth Tweddle for her amazing gold medal for the floor exercise at the Gymnastics World Championships in London this weekend.

Not only is Beth proving that 24 year-olds are not too old to be top gymnasts, but that adults can wear braces too.

You can do anything wearing braces!

This is Shelly Ann Fraser, the fastest woman in the world (and Jamaican of course), proving that just because you wear braces you don't need to put your life on hold. This week she won the 100 metres at the Athletics World Championships, she looks pretty happy about it too!

I love "brace-spotting" on TV or in magazines. There's a Jamaican hurdler wearing braces and during the World Swimming Championships in Rome a few weeks ago I spotted at least one swimmer braced-up!

Is tooth whitening safe?

This morning I read a report about a man who unwittingly caused some severe dental damage through tooth whitening. So bad, in fact, that he will lose some teeth. Horrifying isn't it?

Before you throw away your trays and gel you need to know the full story. The person in question bought a product over the counter. It had no instructions and he used it every day for about three years. It had such a low pH that it eroded his teeth severely. It also contained levels of whitening agents higher than that permissible.

Many of my patients whiten their teeth at the end of orthodontic treatment. It's easy to do and very effective. Is it safe? YES! But...only if recommended by your dentist who can explain the advantages and disadvantages and instruct you in how to use the product. Over the counter or online products are available but in general they are much less effective than ones prescribed by your dentist or as in the case above may be dangerous.

Your options are "laser" whitening in the dental surgery or night time whitening using a mouthguard tray and gel system. I recently heard about Smilestrips as an alternative to trays/gel which should be available near here soon. Whitening is an excellent way to invest in your smile but please take time to talk to your dentist about whitening and never buy products online or in the chemist.