Christmas <3 the most wonderful time of the year and I am OBSESSED with it, if you’re one of my patients i’ll probably try and sneak it some way into the conversation in August, definitely in September but the thing about dentistry is its just not that Christmassy a profession…until now! So if you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen that over the festive period I counted down twelve of my favourite dental essentials and I thought I would summarise them for you here. Of course this blog is not just for Christmas and really these products are in no particular order so enjoy, where possible I’ve popped some clickable links on the pictures if you would like to try some of these products at home, not an ad just products that I see good results from.

Universal Care Brush/Curaprox 708 Implant-Ortho brush

These brushes are great for dental implants, especially molar implants. Far from a one trick pony though, these guys can help when cleaning those areas closer to your tongue and palate, for fixed retainers and for round the back of the lower molars as wee can see in this video.

Single tufted brush/Interspace brush

Great for teeth that are on their own, cleaning the biting surfaces of kids teeth, cleaning partially erupted teeth, especially wisdom teeth that haven’t quite come through yet, cleaning around brackets for braces and at the gum line for implants. A Jack of all trades, I have a specific blog post on the above two products which i’ll link here if you would like some more in depth information on how to clean any of these areas with a more specific tool for the job.

Curaprox Manual Toothbrushes

These are hands down the best manual toothbrushes that I have ever used. They have a specifically shaped handle so as soon as you hold one you are at the right angle to clean your teeth and gums effectively. The head is small and octagonal in shape to help you get to all those hard to reach areas. They have THOUSANDS of bristles, literally, to make them super super gentle when cleaning. I could go on and on. Again I have a whole blog specifically dedicated to these beauties which I will link here.

Tongue Cleaner

Now I know this isn’t very glamorous (and that’s saying something in the dental world) but did you know that one of the most common causes of bad breath is a build up of bacteria on your tongue? If you still don’t believe me, scrape that coating off and give it a sniff, you won’t thank me. Thankfully we can remove this really easily by using a tongue scraper daily or every few days. Check out this video to the right for the hows and the whys. They’ll be queuing up to meet you under the mistletoe now.

XFloss/XFloss-lite

A really excellent way of keeping, crowns, bridges, braces and dental implants clean as a whistle. Can be fiddly to use, so you definitely need to practice. I would say the best thing to do is to get your Dental Hygienist or Dentist to show you how to do this in the mirror before you try it at home. The further back you move in the mouth the fiddlier it gets but its excellent at preventing food trapping and plaque build up in those areas that your toothbrush just can’t reach. The XFloss-lite (the blue one) is my go to for patients especially for dental implants and implant bridges. I’ll pop a quick how to video up above on the right.

Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief

This is my favourite desensitising toothpaste. There are lots of desensitising toothpastes available yes and some are for specific types of sensitivity but as a good ‘all rounder’ for all types of sensitivity and with the best feedback for a sensitive toothpaste from my patients this is my number 1. Colgate sensitive pro relief contains Arginine and Calcium Carbonate. When these two molecules fuse together they form a positively charged molecule…stay with me. Dentine, actually exposed dentine where the enamel on top has been lost or worn away, is one of the main causes of tooth sensitivity. Dentine is negatively charged so the arginine-calcium carbonate molecule (+) is attracted to the molecules in the dentine (-) like two magnets. This means that the dentine is no longer exposed and you sensitive teeth should be INSTANTLY relieved. Brilliant. Then if you keep using it you will get long lasting relief from dental sensitivity as well. I’m telling you the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to manage tooth sensitivity is with a sensitive toothpaste and as is the rule with any sensitive toothpaste, just spit out the excess and don’t rinse round with any water or mouthwash afterwards. Let that little trace of toothpaste that’s left behind kind of marinade into your tooth.

Corsodyl Toothpaste

This toothpaste is the bomb for bleeding gums. It doesn’t taste great, I will give you that, but it is AMAZING at reducing bleeding and some of my patients who have the lowest bleeding scores have been using Corsodyl toothpaste long term. Now its not magic, you still need to brush properly and use something in between you teeth but it does really help especially if your bleeding score/percentage is sky high to begin with (with my patients we are aiming now for a bleeding score of less than 10%). Now as we mentioned before it tastes pretty different to your regular toothpaste, it has sodium bicarbonate particles, basically salt in the recipe. This salt is actually really important, it helps break apart and break down the plaque layer sitting on your tooth so you can clean it away more easily, even in hard to reach areas. Corsodyl would recommend using this toothpaste for a minimum of 24 weeks or about 6 months and it is completely fine for long term use if your happy to do so, but I absolutely see real results for my patients who have been using it for as little as 4 weeks. Remember, bleeding gums aren’t uncommon, but they’re not normal, if your gums are bleeding its really important to speak to your Dental Hygienist or Dentist.

Curaprox Be You Toothpaste

These are lovely little toothpastes and I hope to do an entire blog post dedicated to these in the near future. These toothpastes come in 6 delightful flavours

1)Challenger - Gin Tonic & Persimmon Flavour

2)Rising Star - Grapefruit & Bergamot Flavour

3)Pure Happiness - Peach & Apricot Flavour

4)Candy Lover - Watermelon Flavour

5)Daydreamer - Blackberry & Licorice Flavour

6)Explorer - Apple & Aloe Flavour

All with a hint of mint, these fruity fluoride toothpastes contains enzymes to help gently break down naturally occurring stains on teeth from tea, coffee, red wine and spicy food - all the good things. They also contain xylitol for cavity protection and hydroxyapatite power pearls to help with sensitivity. Great as a stocking filler you can try all 6 minis or choose your favourite in the larger 90ml size. My favourite is the watermelon, simply gorgeous, oh and they’re Vegan too.

Enlighten Tooth Serum Toothpaste

With our final toothpaste entry its the Enlighten Tooth Serum, great for before, during and after teeth whitening, especially if you are using the Enlighten Whitening (money guaranteed) Tooth whitening system which we are offering at Moira Cosmetic Dental . This toothpaste helps manage tooth sensitivity when whitening teeth and gives a high gloss finish as it helps to repair small irregularities in the tooth’s surface that can happen over time. It also can help minimise white spot lesions - i’ll add a picture in of these - that can appear on the tooth. Contains fluoride and is completely safe for daily use.

Interdental Brushes

Inter-dental brushes are on paper complete game changers in the dental world helping to remove more plaque from in between your teeth than floss and dental sticks and causing less cavities and gum problems to boot. The come in many many different forms and I get better feedback for some than others. Pick one that is in your budget, probably best to get these sized up for you by your Dentist or Dental Hygienist to make sure you have the right tool for the job. Usually colour coded due to size be careful as one colour doesn’t always equal one size across all brands, I have also had one patient who picked the pink because she liked the colour and that’s not really how they work so if in doubt definitely check. My favourite right now are the Curaprox iWaves which I have linked in the larger picture above but the main thing is to try and use something in between your teeth at least once daily. Don’t forget they’re reusable too, just remember to rinse after use in cold water and replace the hygienic cap.

Waterpik Waterflosser

Again I have a whole blog post dedicated to the waterpik water flosser and water flossing which i will link here . Excellent for everything, for in between teeth, at the gum line, crowns, bridges, dental implants and braces. Especially good if you find it hard to incorporate using something in between your teeth into your routine or if you don’t like the sensation of using something in between your teeth. Takes a bit of practice, but once you get going with it its fast and easy. My advice would be to go with a cordless one unless you have a shaving socket in your bathroom. Lots of different companies make these including, manual ones from Curaprox and air flossers from Phillips Sonicare at lots of different price points so again pick something that’s in your budget. I’ve linked the Waterpik Cordless plus above as its at a more modest £54.99 but the slightly more expensive Waterpik Cordless advanced with a wireless charger is my go to at home.

Electric Toothbrush

So here we have it, the final instalment in our countdown to Christmas the electric toothbrush. About 90% of my patients tend to have better plaque control and lower bleeding scores when they switch to an electric toothbrush so the proof really is in the pudding, although above I did say these were in no particular order, this really is my number one. I am very lucky in that I have been #gifted all of these electric toothbrushes over the past year or so

The Phillips Sonicare Diamond Clean
The Oral B Genius 9000
The Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro
The Colgate Omron Pro Clinical

I have linked the Oral B genius above as I believe it is the best performing brush at the best price I can find at the moment but of course these things fluctuate over time and sales etc. Its pretty hard to get a bad one again, go for one that’s in your budget ideally with a timer and a pressure senor. Remember to let the toothbrush do the work and if you’re unsure of how to use any new electric brushes that you got for Christmas or anytime bring them along to your appointment with me or your own Dental Hygienist or Dentist and we will go through it with you in the mirror. If you’ve seen me recently you will know that we’ve been looking at your brushing technique with the Oral B test driving kit. Again although i have been given all of these toothbrushes for free I haven’t been paid to talk about any of them in this post and all my opinions are my own. Hopefully I will have a separate blog post on each of these brushes in the near future. Just remember with any electric toothbrush to change the head every 3 months.

We’ve come to the end, I hope you had a great Christmas & Happy New Year everyone! Thankyou so much for reading my posts and following my blogs here and on my instagram I really appreciate it <3 see you in 2020.