Your Festive Dental Quiz – 2024

A little festive fun to end the year for our Ipswich dental patients.
It’s been a few years now since we posted one of these dental quizzes. In addition to seeing how much you can remember, it’s a good tool to remind you again of some of the issues that can affect your teeth and gums if you don’t look after them properly.
We hope that you enjoy it and the answers are at the bottom. No cheating now!
- Dentures can sometimes become unstable, and people are increasingly turning to dental implants instead. What is the key difference between dentures and dental implants that makes implants the more secure and stable option, and what is the process that ensures that this is the case?
- What is ‘Invisalign’ and what is it used for?
- Why should you avoid ‘fizzy’ drinks and what do they do to your teeth?
- Should you be concerned about having bad breath, and if so, why?
- What is the name of the treatment you receive when you see a dental hygienist?
- Name some good reasons, from a dental perspective, why you should quit smoking
- Which dental procedure uses ‘gutta percha’ as part of the process?
Answers
- The reason why dental implants offer a greater degree of security than dentures is that the implant itself replaces the tooth root and a crown is then attached to this. Other tooth replacements such as dentures simply ‘sit’ on top of the gum. The process that ensures its stability is called ‘osseointegration; where the implant and the jawbone gradually fuse together.
- ‘Invisalign’ is the brand name of a new and popular type of orthodontic that we provide at Foxhall Dental Ipswich. They are different to traditional braces as they don’t use wiring or brackets to straighten the teeth. Instead they use a series of gradually progressive ‘trays’ that fit over the teeth, with each one straightening your teeth a little until they are in their desired position.
- While they are not the only culprit, many fizzy drinks and ‘sports’ drinks not only contain large amounts of sugar but are also often acidic too. This acidity can gradually wear away the enamel on your teeth. This weakens the enamel and can lead to a greater risk of tooth decay. It is also likely that painful teeth sensitivity will occur as the enamel thins and is less able to protect against extremes of temperatures such as hot or cold food and drinks. For those hoping to maintain white teeth, it is worth noting that enamel erosion produces a rougher tooth surface which is likely to allow staining products to stick more easily.
- The answer to this is maybe. If you have eaten garlic and your breath smells the next day but then returns to normal, there is probably no need to worry. If your bad breath persists though, it could be a symptom of gum disease. Few people want to have bad breath but even if it really doesn’t bother you, you should still see your dentist. This is one of the common symptoms of gingivitis and periodontitis; both forms of damaging gum disease. This needs to be treated as early as possible before it becomes more serious and risks the security of your teeth.
- When you see the dental hygienist at our Ipswich dental practice, the treatment that you will receive is called a ‘scale and polish. This is a non-invasive treatment that removes hardened mineral and bacteria, or tartar, from the teeth and gum line. This is an essential treatment to help you avoid gum disease and to maintain a healthy mouth.
- There are hundreds of reasons not to smoke, with some of them being life threatening. From a dental perspective, it can cause a number of problems, from the less serious teeth staining to the potentially fatal mouth, or oral, cancer. More commonly though, smoking is a major factor in gum disease and anyone that refuses to quit should at the very least have their teeth professionally cleaned by the dental hygienist perhaps every three months, rather than six monthly as non smokers generally do.
- The answer is a root canal procedure. While most fillings use either amalgam or a tooth coloured filling, gutta percha is used in the root canal procedure due to its specific properties which help to to seal the restoration effectively and helps to prevent bacteria from entering the root canals once they have been treated and sealed, before adding a dental crown.
We hope that you enjoyed this little end of year quiz and perhaps even learned something from it. This is likely to be our last blog post until 2025 when they will recommence. In the meantime, please allow us to wish all of our patients, and any potential new patients, a very happy Christmas and new year. Hopefully, your break will be trouble free but if you do have a dental emergency, you should call the Foxhall Dental Practice on 01473 258396 as usual. If we are closed, please follow the instructions that will be left on the answerphone message and will explain where to contact for emergency oral care.
Merry Xmas everybody, from all the dentists and staff at our Ipswich dental practice!