How to treat bleeding gums

How to Treat Bleeding Gums to Prevent Late-Stage Periodontitis

About half of all adults has some level of gum disease, or periodontitis. Common signs include bleeding gums when brushing or flossing, loose teeth, receding gums, or having your bite feel different during chewing.

Gum disease often arises when people stray from proper dental hygiene. We all live stressful, busy lives so it gets easy to skip brushing from time to time or forget to maintain good dental health. Over time, however, that can lead to periodontitis. In the early stages, periodontitis is easily curable. But if you don’t treat it right away, it leads to late-stage periodontitis which cannot be cured and causes painful, expensive, and dangerous consequences.

The Real Cost of Periodontitis

If you don’t treat your gum disease during the early stages, your periodontitis can cause bone loss, soft tissue damage, and loss of teeth. That can alter the shape of your face, as your cheeks collapse due to bone and teeth loss. Addressing that is complex and expensive.

Additionally, you can also develop bacterial pockets between your gums and teeth, get frequent infections, swelling , systemic inflammation, and chronic pain. Even worse, your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and dementia all increase with periodontitis.

The Simple and Perfect Solution

At Heidelberg Dentist, we believe every patient deserves the best care for their oral health. 

We will help you understand exactly whether you have periodontitis and whether it is in an early or late stage. No matter what condition, we will help you understand exactly how to get your mouth to optimal health. If we discern that you need to take further steps to deal with gum disease, we will discuss those with you and answer any questions you have. We want to catch any issues that do develop as early as possible to avoid the significant pain and expense of untreated gum disease.

How Much Does It Cost?

Your periodontitis consultation will cost you nothing. We assume all costs for your exam so you can know your exact situation without paying a penny.

For some people, addressing or preventing gum disease costs nothing. Changing a few habits or switching toothpaste or mouthwash is all they need. Others might need professional intervention. Because of that, the cost of getting your mouth to optimal health will vary. The only way to know is to examine your mouth. That is why we offer a free, no-pressure consultation to all patients.

If we see that you require intervention to address any issues, we will discuss those options with you, evaluate any insurance coverage that might apply, and let you know of any out-of-pocket expenses you might assume. If you need help fitting your treatment into your budget, we will also show you several financing options to help you fit your care into even tight budgets.

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

How to deal with Dental Anxiety

What is dental anxiety?

x

Dental anxiety is the feeling of being nervous or scared of going to the dentist and/or receiving dental treatment. The severity of dental anxiety can greatly vary, from feeling mildly nervous to severe phobia. 

Why do I have dental anxiety?

People can have dental anxiety for many reasons, most commonly being negative dental experience/s in the past. These experiences may be recent or even from several/years decades ago. 

Dental anxiety may also stem from heating about others’ negative experiences, having other bad healthcare experience/s and generalized anxiety/psychological issues. 

Is dental anxiety common?

Dental anxiety is very common, affecting many people of all ages. 

How will dental anxiety affect me?

Dental anxiety can prevent you from seeking timely dental examinations and treatment.

Regular dental checkups and cleans are essential to keep your teeth and gums healthy, and pick up any issues (decay, gum disease etc) early so they can be treated conservatively. Without these timely dental visits, it is very likely that oral health will worsen and dental disease will progress unnoticed, and need more invasive and complex treatment. The latter often exacerbated the dental anxiety hence creating a vicious cycle.

How do I overcome dental anxiety?

The first step overcoming dental anxiety is to find a dental practitioner with whom you feel comfortable. 

Here at Heidelberg Dentist, we pride ourselves on having helped hundreds of patients overcome their dental anxiety. Together, we discuss the triggers of your anxiety and come up with a tailor made treatment plan that meets your needs and not be overwhelming. We can carry out your treatment in as few or as many appointments as you would prefer to make it as comfortable as possible. We take our time and talk you through each and every stage of treatment. Finally, we offer a variety of very effective relaxation techniques including comforting neck and back support, your choice of music and tv during treatment, and soothing essential oils. 

Although dental anxiety can be crippling, it can be completely overcome with the correct management and effective techniques. Book your appointment today and let us help you on this journey!

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

Straighten kids teeth without braces

Have you started worrying about your childs crooked teeth?  Did you know that crooked teeth could  indicate underlying serious health problems?  Your childs crooked teeth could lead to misaligned jaws which could lead to an array of serious health problems into adulthood.

Most parents ensure that their childrens dental habits are looked into.  Even more is that most forward thinking parents actually make sure their childs teeth and jaws are growing properly which can lead to a balanced jaw growth.  

 Crooked teeth can lead to confident issues in children and nowadays we don’t wait till the children have reached in their teens to do something about it. We have techniques and technology for as early as the age of 3 where we can help children develop better jaws, teeth and a healthier smile. 

The (BIG) side benefits are that if you take these steps now, you can potentially save yourself thousands of dollars down the line and help your child get the best possible facial growth and smile.

Have you been told…

…that you should just wait until all your child’s permanent teeth have come through and THEN put braces on. However, often by this stage there has been irreversible damage that can lead to expensive surgery and the painful need to remove teeth that could have been saved.

If the cause of the crooked teeth is not addressed, placing braces on teeth could be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic - sure they will look straight, but the delay would have done nothing to ward off impending disasters like poor sleep into adulthood, chronic pain or airway problems.

Mums and dads are often shocked when I tell them that crooked teeth are usually the result of poor oral health habits:

•           Not swallowing properly
•           Not breathing through the nose
•       Not keeping the tongue in the right place

A (fun) fact: The tongue is one of the strongest muscles and can exert up to 500g of force, but it only takes 1.7 g of force to move a tooth (ie via braces)

If that surprised you:

Scientific research proves that it only takes 6 months of poor sleep to cause permanent damage, to the brain, to the heart and throughout the body.

You see, the REAL point of orthodontic treatment and braces is to give your child longer-term health benefits to improve their quality of life in adulthood. Beautiful, straight teeth are just a happy bonus!

How, you ask? Because by fixing the combined forces of the tongue, cheeks and lips, which is what orthodontic treatments correct,  you will help to minimise the chances of your child relapsing into the bad habits above.

So does my child now have these problems for life?

No, the underlying issues can be fixed. Its not always necessarily by me, but I can help with either directing you to the right place or with training the oral habits and testing out the origin of the poor sleep, mouth breathing, or misalignment of teeth.

But that’s only if you take action now, because these preventive treatments only work during certain stages in your child’s physical development.

Preventive orthodontic treatment is a combination of exercises (breathing, lips, tongue position) that corrects poor oral habits and sometimes along with the use of a removable dental device.

Its been proven preventive orthodontics are a better option in every sense for your child and your wallet.

But how do I know that my child even has these problems?

There are many signs that point to a potential problem, which may be fixed by preventive orthodontics :

•         Mouth Breathing (Day or night)
•         Snoring
•         Fussy Eating (especially with certain food)
•         Restless Sleep
•         Bedwetting (Between the ages of 5-8+)
•         Night terrors/Sleep talking/Sleep walking
•         Teeth grinding in their sleep
•         Prolonged colds or repeated ear infections
•         Difficulty to wake up or getting tired during the day
•         Neck pain/Back pain

I can confidently promise you that we can help. We will listen. If you tell us that your child has these symptoms you won’t be dismissed as a paranoid parent.

Why? With over 10 years experience in this field and helping hundreds of kids avoid braces and promote healthy facial growth. I have seen first hand how 3 out of 4 children have some form of malocclusion. Seeing years of consistent results (better sleep and behaviour, no need for braces) it’s clear that early intervention is the key.  Instead of waiting until all their adult teeth appear and ultimately being left with expensive and painful options (a higher chance of teeth removal or surgery) it is best that we assess children early to see if preventive orthodontics is an option.

For an obligation free chat, please call 94596300 

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

CDBS: $1000 Dental Treatment For Children Still Available

We all know that funding for dental health in Australia leaves a lot to be desired. Successive governments have turned a blind eye to the effect our dental health has on our overall health and conveniently left the majority funding of dental treatments to private health insurers. However, the Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS) is a pleasant departure from the government's usual ambivalence. Not least because it entitles your child free dental treatment up to $1000!

The Australian Dental Association has previously warned that "Australia is one of the top 10 countries for high levels of per capita consumption of soft drink.” We concur, because we keep noticing that Heidelberg Dentist's young patients' love of sugary food and drinks shows no signs of reducing.

While it is not news that excess sugar in a child's diet poses many risks to his or her dental health, it is important to understand that the CDBS's $1000 in free dental treatment can go a long way towards helping at-risk children. Treatments that such children might undergo are typically covered under the CDBS program.

Use it or lose it

Unfortunately, the CDBS does seem to be a case of "use it or lose it." With recent and current federal governments increasingly looking to cut health spending, there is no way of knowing just when they will decide to axe the CDBS again.

Don't wait for our unpredictable politicians to tell us that they will again be cutting the CDBS. These decisions are usually announced during the middle of the year on or before budget night, or at the end of the year, close to Christmas. Remember, it never pays to play chicken with politicians!

If you don't know whether your child is eligible for $1000 of free dental treatment under the CDBS, let us help you find out. Visit our CBDS help page to understand more about the eligibility rules and also to help us help you find out if your little ones are eligible for free dental treatment or call us on (03) 9459 6300 or make an appointment online:

Or you can book an appointment by calling us on (03) 9459 6300 during business hours

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

How HCF members use their dental health cover at Heidelberg Dentist

As a HCF Health Fund "More For You" preferred provider, we are able to help HCF health insurance members keep their oral health in tip-top shape. If you have "extras" insurance with HCF, your dental cleans and treatments at Heidelberg Dentist may be covered under HCF's "More For You" program.

For the year ending May 2017, our patients who are HCF members claimed a wide range of dental treatments through their HCF health insurance, including:

• Comprehensive dental exams to find any immediate problems and prevent nasty future surprises
• X-rays and other diagnostic services
• Preventative dentistry like periodontic treatments (to treat bleeding, swollen, tender, receding gums)
• Simple and complex restorations, including crowns, bridges and implants
• Extractions of teeth that were beyond saving
• Root canals where necessary
• Orthodontic braces for adults and children

In fact, over 60% of the treatments provided to HCF members who choose us as their dentist, are for preventative treatments like general scale and cleans and comprehensive examinations. This is a great outcome for these patients because it means that there is less risk of them requiring expensive and painful emergency dental treatment in the future.

These statistics also point to why we're proud to be the family dentist for thousands of families in the areas surrounding Heidelberg, including Rosanna, Eaglemont, Ivanhoe and others. Our aim is always to ensure that your dental health is the best it can be given your age, lifestyle and goals. Part of this aim is to help you minimise the chances of expensive and painful emergency dental treatments.

If you are with another health fund and you are looking to switch to another health insurance company, give HCF a call on 13 13 34 to see what they might be able to do for you, or view their products online.

If you have other questions about our treatments, then our friendly and caring team will be able to help you. Call us on (03) 9459 6300 or you can even book an appointment online:

Or you can book an appointment by calling us on (03) 9459 6300 during business hours

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist