Just How Bad Are Students Teeth?

We all know students have a reputation for drinking too much, eating a poor diet and generally neglecting all aspects of their health, but just how bad is their oral hygiene? Is it as bad as we think?

Maintaining good oral health is fundamentally about habit; repeatedly making sensible lifestyle choices such as not smoking, avoiding excess sugars in diet, and frequently taking the time to clean your teeth properly. So, as one might imagine, students, infamous for passing out after heavy nights of drinking having not brushed their teeth, and waking up to ready meals and potentially smoking a lot (statistically a person is more likely to smoke during, or start smoking during their time at university, especially for those aged 18 -25, which is the age group of the majority of students), just how bad are students teeth?

The answer, after some debate, is generally pretty bad. After a few casual conservations with my peers from university, we discovered for the majority, it’s the truth; poor diet and poor oral hygiene are common bad habits. Many admitted that their teeth only get brushed as long as they remember to do it in the rush before a nine am lecture, or arrive home sober enough to actually coordinate their hands. And many also admitted to eating cheap sugary foods and consuming what is probably considered to be an excess of alcohol. If I consider all the students I have met so far since beginning university in September last year, I’d estimate 80% smoke, and I was no exception (although I am happy to say I have abstained from smoking for a whole month, and can now safely say I am an ex-smoker).

 

 

So, we arrive at the next question on the road to oral health for students: What can be done? Well, as a student, you are an adult, and personally an adult should be totally responsible for their own oral health. Personally I consider my oral health to be very good, and having to wear a retainer whilst sleeping to maintain the corrective orthodontic work I received a few years ago constantly reminds me to be conscious of looking after my teeth. And what can be done for other students? Raising awareness. Just as students are given plenty of education about and access to information about sexual health and mental health, in order to prevent serious health problems later on in life, maybe some consideration and funding should be given to the issue of maintaining good oral hygiene whilst going to university.

 

Paige

Carys' Adventures in Cambodia

On February 20th 2016 I embarked on my Dentaid volunteering mission to Cambodia, the team met for the first time at Heathrow airport, it was no time at all before we were all laughing and joking like we had known each other for years, we were a group of 73 dental nurses, 3 dental therapists and 1 dentist led by our team leader Dr Simon Crewe.

For our first week in Cambodia we were based in the capital Phnom Penh, we staying in guest house which was owned and run by the wonderful charity One-2-One Cambodia, the house was staffed by young university students who work for One-2-One and in return receive accommodation, food and a wage during their university study, without this opportunity the students would not be able to afford to attend university, the students were incredibly welcoming and couldn't do enough for us, our stay wouldn't have been the same without them.

 

For our first working day we were based in a school on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, we were working alongside some 4th year dental students from Sheffield University so we had a large team, it was a public holiday so we were treating children as well as their families and locals living close by. Our surgery was set up in the schools church, we had 11 dental chairs and 7 tables, there were 3 sets of portable headpieces so good quality restorations were possible. The nursing team was made up of Abbey, Catherine and myself from Dentaid and we were working with 3 dental nurses from One-2-One, the 6 of us had to assist the 11 working clinicians, setting up for their patients, mixing materials, sterilization of instruments and most importantly looking after the many patients we were seeing, our instruments and materials were very basic but did the job. Decay is a massive problem in Cambodia, there is a lot of refined sugar available, children all over the country seemed to have either a sugary soft drink, ice lolly or a syrupy slush drink in their hand most of the time constantly bathing their teeth in sugar, this was reflected by the amount of decay we encountered in every patient we saw, unfortunately most of the patients we were seeing young and old were in pain with at least one tooth, the decay was so extensive that for many people they had pulp exposure. With the materials we had available with One-2-One we were able to provide a variety of restorations including amalgam, glass ionomer and composite fillings. Abbey and myself spent some of our day giving oral health education to the children, teaching them how to clean their teeth and good and bad things to eat and drink although with the limited communication and language barriers this was difficult. All the patients were incredibly grateful for the treatment they received, we had taken toys and books to give to the children, when giving these out the children were very polite and thankful for our gifts, they wanted to play with us and take photos, both patients and the Cambodian dental teams loved to take photos and most days ended in a half hour photo session!

 

 

For the next four days we were working in a women's prison, again we were working with the charity One-2-One so had access to portable hand pieces, portable dental chairs and multiple restoration materials. We were limited to working only 4-5 hours a day due to the prisoners daily routines, we were seeing an average of 50-60 patients per day. The prison had not allowed any dentists into the prison for over 7 years so many of the patients we were seeing had been living with dental pain and problems for a long time, they were all incredibly grateful to us for our work. The majority of our patients had multiple teeth with extensive decay and retained roots which in many cases was causing bad tooth ache, we had to prioritise what treatment we would do for patients as many were needing between 4 and 8 teeth treated in some way which unfortunately time did not allow for so extractions of teeth causing pain and filling anything we could save was priority.  Whilst working in the prison we had one room which we set up our surgery in, our patients would sit out in the sun when waiting to be seen, treatment was diagnosed by our Cambodian dentist and then patients were sent in to one of our clinicians to have the treatment carried out, we had a sterilisation area set up outside where used instruments were hand-washed and then sterilised in a pressure washer, we had a Cambodia sterilisation team so instruments were always being processed and the system worked very efficiently.

On the Saturday we had a day off, we learnt that the charity One-2-One visit the local slums on week days to feed the children, we decided that we would like to get involved and donate another days food so with the help of the charity we went to market to purchase the food (which was quite and experience in itself) came home to cook the food and then went to deliver and feed the children of the slum. On arriving the children were thrilled to see us, they had just found an enormous snake  in someone's home which they decided we had to see! The people we met in the slum had almost nothing, houses were made from wood and rubbish, the families made money from collecting and selling rubbish from the streets and many of the children we met were orphans, if it wasn't for the charity One-2-One many of the children would not have survived. The children ranged from only a few months old to about 16, they were all very grateful for our visit and every child was smiling, despite not having clean fitting clothes, food or toys they were some of the happiest people I have ever met, true inspiration. Once we had fed them they wanted to show us around, we had taken lots of toys we had brought to give out, the children were thrilled to receive books, bouncy balls, small games and party rings, the smallest simplest things which to them meant everything, we said our goodbyes and all felt truly grateful for the lives we live and the experiences we are able to have.

Next we moved on to the city of Kampong Cham where we were working alongside a retired Cambodian dentist Dr Nhep who is the sweetest woman  you could ever wish to meet, she now dedicates her life to travelling to villages around Kampong Cham and  providing much needed dental basic dental treatment, Dr Nhep also teaches dental students in Kampong Cham, these students all have a great attitude and all volunteer along side her on the outreach clinics. Our working conditions now were much more basic working with Dr Nhep, we had no dental chairs or tables or hand-pieces and our dental instruments were much more older and many bent and broken which made the work much harder, we no longer had any electricity available and the only dental materials we now had available were glass ionomer for restoring teeth and fissure sealants and fluoride varnish to help protect and strengthen children's teeth. Mostly we were removing un-restorable teeth causing the patients pain, many of the children we were treating and many grossly carious teeth, some had decay present in every tooth in their mouth, we did the best preventative treatment we could however oral health education did not seem to be given and with the language barriers we were not able to communicate to our patients well, we had however taken lots of toothbrushes which were given out, many of the patients we were treating clearly didn't have a toothbrush or toothpaste so our donations were much needed and gratefully received. We worked alongside Dr Nhep for 3 days, we worked in a different village each day setting up and outdoor clinic and making the most of our surroundings, the days were hot and the work tough but incredibly rewarding.

 

 

I had the most amazing time volunteering in Cambodia, such a beautiful, simple, friendly country which I cannot wait to visit again, I hope to do more dental volunteering trips in the future, this experience was incredible, I am truly grateful to my fellow volunteers and all the people I met along the way, they helped make the experience truly unforgettable, I learn so much and cannot thank everybody enough who made it possible, thank you to everyone who donated and helped me fundraise, to Dentaid and finally to Absolute Dental for their amazing support and encouragement I couldn't have done it without you.

 

Carys

Short Term Orthodontics at Absolute Dental

Adults comprise a large part of the population in need of orthodontic treatment to correct misaligned teeth.  Whilst the benefits of orthodontic treatment include a healthier mouth, the most obvious is a cosmetically enhanced and more pleasant smile.
The extended time frame and the embarrassing, unattractive look of metal braces often keeps patients from choosing orthodontics to enhance their smiles. As a result, the vast majority of adults and older teen patients opt out of a treatment that could enhance their smile and oral health. 


Short-term orthodontics is breaking down barriers between patients who could benefit from braces and the treatment itself. More patient-friendly than comprehensive orthodontics it is an option to meet the patient’s goals for an enhanced smile appearance. 








Unlike most traditional braces treatments, short-term orthodontics generates an aesthetically pleasing smile within 6 months for most patients, and  is therefore also more patient-friendly from a financial perspective. Short-term orthodontics emphasizes moving teeth efficiently into the appropriate position to affect a cosmetic change, rather than addressing every imperfection. The result is a fabulous smile and enhanced confidence for life .

At Absolute Dental we offer treatment with Six Month Smiles and Inman Aligner to put a big smile on the faces of our patients  

What smoking does to you - 10 Reasons to give up this National No Smoking Day

Smoking affects the whole body from your head to your toes.  We all know about lung cancer, but what else can smoking lead to in your body? 

Head

 

Dull, foul smelling hair, hair loss, loss of hearing, glue ear, eye irritation, cataracts, blindness, loss of sense of smell.

 

Brain

 

Narrowed arteries supplying the brain with oxygen-rich blood means an increased risk of stroke, resulting in possible paralysis and loss of speech. Reduced supply of oxygen to the brain can also result in headaches, mood changes and panic attacks.

 

Mouth and Throat

 

Gum disease and tooth loss, tobacco- stained teeth, foul-smelling breath, diminished sense of taste, plaque and gum disease, sore throat, cancer of lips, tongue, throat, larynx, oesophagus.

 

 

 

Lungs

 

Bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, coughs and colds, wheezing, shortness of breath, asthma, tar deposits, damaged cilia, pleurisy, cancer.

25-a-day smokers are 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers. Four out of five of lung cancer deaths are attributed to smoking.

 

Heart

 

Narrowed arteries, thickened blood, aortic aneurysm, angina and heart attack. Smokers are more than twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease as non-smokers

 

Circulation

 

Smoking damages the blood vessels in the legs and arms, aiding the atherosclerosis process. This is the narrowing and hardening of arteries which can lead to peripheral vascular disease, gangrene of limbs, cold hands and feet, cold skin, decreased fitness and sometimes even amputation of the limbs.

The majority of people with peripheral vascular disease, which can result in one or both legs being amputated, are smokers.

 

Skin

 

Slow healing skin wounds, premature ageing and wrinkling, reduced oxygen supply to skin resulting in a grey, parched appearance, cellulite resulting from excess toxins in body, tobacco-stained fingers.

 

Bones

 

Female smokers are more likely than non-smokers to suffer from osteoporosis (loss of bony tissue resulting in brittle bones that are liable to fracture) before reaching the menopause.

 

Stomach

 

Stomach ulcers, cancers of stomach, kidneys, pancreas and the bladder.

 

Reproduction system and fertility

 

Impotence, deformed sperm, reduced sperm count and mobility, testicular cancer, reduced fertility, miscarriage, low birthweight baby, cancer of cervix, cot death.

Smoking increases the risk of impotence for men in their 30s and 40s. Smoking also increases the risk of miscarriage, low birthweight and other complications. Low birthweight babies are more likely to require life support.

Our team of Dental Hygienists

Christina and I love working at Absolute Dental, between us we have 8 years and 13 years experience in dentistry.  We are both qualified dental nurses who went forward in our careers to train to be dental hygienists and dental therapists.  At Absolute Dental we both primarily work in our roles as hygienists looking after you oral health, gums and most importantly advice for prevention as a healthy mouth has a positive impact on general health and wellbeing.  

Our roles as Dental Therapists under prescription of a dentist -  involves us restoring decayed teeth in adults and children under local anaesthetic, we can also take dental impressions, take radiographs, remove deciduous teeth (baby teeth).

I think this brings a great extra quality that we can utilise when seeing our patients at Absolute, we have a keen eye to spot any teeth or areas that might be at risk of tooth decay, and help you with some extra prevention in these areas.  Obviously we are no replacement for Rhodri or Ruth, and your Dental Health Assessment with them is vital - we are more like an extra guardian angel for your teeth and gums! 

Rachael Mounce- Dental Hygienist & Dental Therapist!