A 2013 study revealed that, when shown identical faces that only differed in their facial expression, people preferred the smiling face.
Smiling helps to draw people in – it’s a warm welcome that instantly puts people at ease. Ultimately a greats mile makes you more attractive!
2. A smile is contagious
This is a fun one to try out! Smiling back at someone is an automatic response for most of us. Someone with a beaming smile can light up a whole room.
3. Smile to feel better
Stress can show up in your face! A smile can help you to feel better and stop you from becoming overwhelmed. helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood. Muster a smile and you’ll start to feel a little better.
4. Smiling is good for your health!
It can boost your immune system and even lower your blood pressure! When you smile, it can positively affect your health possibly because you are more relaxed!
5. Smiling makes you feel good
Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Together these three make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug!
6. Smiling can help you to look younger
When you smile the muscles we use to lift the face and help you to appear younger. `Smiling your way through the day — you’ll look younger and feel better.
7. Smiling keeps you thinking positively
30Take this test! Smile – a big smile. Okay so now try and think of something negative – without losing the smile. It’s tough! A smile is interpreted in our body that life is good!
1 in 5 people will suffer from mouth ulcers at some point in their life. Ulcers can be painful when eating, drinking or brushing teeth. It’s a problem that we see often at our Leicester dental practice. It’s ok to suffer from occasional mouth ulcers, they are usually harmless and generally clear up on their own.
What causes mouth ulcers?
Believe it or not, the exact cause of mouth ulcers is still unknown!
There are things that are thought to trigger simple mouth ulcers such as stress or certain foods such as citrus fruits (such as lemons, oranges, pineapples, apples, figs, tomatoes and strawberries), can trigger a mouth ulcer or make the problem worse. Sometimes a sharp tooth surface or dental appliances, such as braces or ill-fitting dentures, might also trigger mouth ulcers.
Occasionally cases of complex mouth ulcers are caused by an underlying health condition, such as an impaired immune system; nutritional problems, such as vitamin B-12, zinc, folic acid, or iron deficiency and gastrointestinal tract diseases, such as Coeliac disease and Crohn’s disease.
Seek medical advice if they last longer than 3 weeks or keep coming back.
Sometimes medications can cause mouth ulcers, if you notice a correlation between your medication and mouth ulcers then it’s important you continue with the medication but seek advice from your GP as soon as possible.
How are mouth ulcers treated?
Pain from a mouth ulcer generally lessens in a few days and the sores usually heal without treatment in about a week or two.
If sores are large, painful or persistent, your dentist may prescribe an antimicrobial mouth rinse, a corticosteroid ointment, or a prescription or non-prescription solution to reduce the pain and irritation.
Over the counter remedies such as Bonjela may help to relieve some discomfort temporarily.
When to seek medical advice:
Unusually large sores
Sores that are spreading
Sores that last three weeks or longer
Intolerable pain despite avoiding trigger foods and taking over-the-counter pain medication
Difficulty drinking enough fluids
High fever with the appearance of the mouth ulcer(s)
Can mouth ulcers be prevented?
Sadly there is no cure yet for mouth ulcers. You may be to reduce the frequency of ulcers with the following:
Practice good dental hygiene Avoid foods that irritate your mouth, including acidic or spicy foods
Avoid irritation from gum chewing
Using a soft-bristled toothbrush after meals and flossing daily, which will keep your mouth free of foods that may trigger a sore.
Tooth decay and gum disease have a distinctly unpleasant smell. To treat this pong permanently a visit to your local dental practice is required. Most dental problems can be prevented by brushing twice a day, cleaning in between your teeth daily, limiting sugar consumption and visiting your local dental practice.
2) Use a mouthwash
Incorporate a mouthwash into your daily routine at a different time to brushing. Choose an antibacterial mouthwash and use at a different time to brushing. This will help to flush out any food particles, kill off smelly bacteria and give you a minty zing.
3) Eat an apple
We all know what you eat can affect your breath. Garlic and onions are renowned for their pong! But there are also a lot of foods that have a beneficial effect on your breath such as fruits, vegetables, herbs and even yoghurt! One of our favourites is the daily apple. It not only helps your breath to smell nice and fresh but the fibrous apple helps to almost brush the teeth clean!
4) Drink all-day
Of course, we’re talking about the good stuff – water. Keeping the mouth well hydrated helps your mouth in many ways. It helps to wash away trapped food particles as well as helping your mouth to function more efficiently.
5) Chew gum
A good way to keep your mouth fresh in between brushing is to chew sugar-free gum. It increases saliva production which is good news for your mouth! Its minty flavour also helps to keep your breath beautifully fresh!
Technology is generally a part of most children’s lives now and whilst there has to be a balance, technology can be used to be a force of good in your child’s everyday life. Good habits start young and there are now many technologies that can be used to improve your child’s oral health. Here are some of our favourites!
Phone Apps
Brush DJ
The free multi-award-winning Brush DJ app is suitable for use by all ages. This toothbrush timer app plays 2 minutes of music from your devices, cloud or streaming service – to make toothbrushing for an effective length of time less boring!
The app is fully customisable for your child. Choosing their favourite colour, age-appropriate information and advice.
You can use Brush DJ with a manual or electric toothbrush and it allows you to set reminders to:
•Change your toothbrush/brush head every 3 months
•Brush at least twice a day
•Floss/clean interdentally every day
•Use a mouth wash at a different time to toothpaste
•When next to visit dentist, hygienist, orthodontist or dental therapist
Sugar Smart App
Change 4 Life – NHS have a fantastic website full of helpful information and advice on sugar swaps. There is also a ‘Sugar Smart‘ app from Public Health England which works by scanning the barcode of products to show the total sugar content in cubes or grams, aiming to help parents take control of their children’s sugar intake.
YouTube Videos
Brush Your Teeth Super Simple Songs
This is great for very little ones. Many parents of babys and toddlers are probably aware of this popular YouTube channel and their baby entrancing songs! This app is also nice and calm so an ideal song to incorporate into the bed time routine.
The Tooth Brushing Song – The Tooth Brushing Badge
A timed toothbrushing song good for young children. It includes enough time to get their toothbrush out and put the toothpaste on too.
Tooth Brushing Song by Blippi | 2-Minutes Brush Your Teeth for Kids
This video has over 87 million views! The Blippi teeth brushing song is an animated timed two minute catchy song. Get ready to sing it all day long!
Why do We Brush Our Teeth?
As children are getting older it would be good to get them involved with understanding why brushing their teeth is important.
Toothbrushes
Gondola Kids Bamboo Toothbrush
Okay so this isn’t very technical – it’s the reverse – back to basics. However, this eco-friendly toothbrush is ideal for very young children. Using a small manual toothbrush is more appropriate when your children are very little. The important part is to use a smudge of age-appropriate toothpaste and get them into healthy habits of brushing twice a day and limiting sugar intake.
The Disney MagicTimer App by Oral-B
Oral- B report that 90% of kids who use this product brush their teeth for longer. With a million downloads it’s a popular choice for parents. You buy any Oral-B Stages product, download the Disney MagicTimer app and scan the product with your device to watch the characters spring into action. As your child brushes their teeth, they can unveil a secret image. The longer they brush, the more the image is revealed.
There’s a calendar to help you track their progress and they can earn badges and rewards for frequent brushing. You can find out more about this here…
Philips Sonicare For Kids – connected electric toothbrush
The Philips Sonicare For Kids app syncs with your child’s sonic toothbrush to help them learn about oral care through play. Your child’s brushing coach challenges him to brush better and for longer. Each session starts with clear visual instructions about correct brushing techniques and the app’s progress monitor tracks the total performance. Kids learn while having fun, and parents get to see how well kids are doing between check-ups.
The app syncs with your child’s sonic toothbrush via Bluetooth to show proper brushing techniques and track performance. Kids can see how well they brush, and earn exciting rewards for a job well done.
As you can see technology can be a great aid for helping your child to achieve and maintain great oral health. Find out more about children’s dental health here…
