Monthly Archives: January 2020

Teeth Straightening Leicester

At Smile Essential in Leicester, we are seeing more dental patients that are requesting straighter teeth.

We all now spend a lot more time aware of our appearance. Some people believe this is due to the rise in smartphones with built-in cameras and social media profiles sharing photos. There has never been a time before in history that we have been so aware of the way we look.

A big motivator for people is not them wanting the perfect smile in a photo; it’s usually more about them being fed up that they are hiding their smile in pictures. On a deeper level, it stops them from freely expressing how they are feeling in a moment because they are concentrating on hiding their smile.

The teeth straightening we offer at our Leicester clinic is known as Anterior (Anterior means nearer the front) Alignment Orthodontics. It concentrates on moving the 10 teeth visible in your smile to a more desirable position, which means that you get to straighten the teeth that matter to you most. This type of orthodontic brace treatment usually takes between 4- 9 months, with an average treatment time of around six months.

There are also many long-term health benefits to straighten teeth. When your teeth are in a better alignment, they are much easier to take care of. If your teeth cross over one another, it is more likely that you will accumulate plaque in those tricky to reach places, and unfortunately, this makes you more susceptible to gum disease or tooth decay.

Brace treatment is not suitable for everyone, and you may require specialist treatment with an orthodontist, not a dentist. That’s why we offer FREE consultations to come in for a chat and an initial assessment. We currently offer complimentary teeth whitening to finish your new straighter smile perfectly.

Get in touch to arrange your free consultation…

Sugar Action Week

This week is Sugar Awareness Week. A campaign designed to help raise awareness of the damaging effect of having too much sugar in our diet. Most people now know that sugar isn’t just bad for your teeth, but it could also be damaging to your health. 

Tooth decay

Too much sugar can cause tooth decay, and this can be a particular problem for children. NHS figures show that there were more than 45,000 hospital operations to remove rotten teeth from teenagers and children in 2017/18. The severity of the tooth decay is leading to the drastic measure of teeth being extracted under general anaesthetic in hospital.

Diabetes

There are many causes and contributing factors that can cause type 2 diabetes. However, a high-sugar diet has been linked with an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes. The link between sugar and obesity likely causes this.

Obesity

In 2016 in England, 40% of men and 30% of women were overweight, and 26% of adults were classified as obese.

Excessive unhealthy food and sugary soft drink consumption have been linked to weight gain. It provides a significant and unnecessary source of calories with little or no nutritional value.

Is all sugar bad for me?

It’s important to understand there are two main types of sugars to be aware of – naturally occurring sugars and free sugars. Naturally occurring sugars are found in whole fruits, vegetables and milk-based products, and these are not considered harmful for health. Free sugars are anything we add in ourselves or are added in during the manufacturing process. This includes honey, glucose, fructose etc. Free sugars can come in many forms. They also include obvious things such as cakes, sweets and biscuits.

Why are fruit juices and smoothies classed as bad for me?

Whole fruits can be a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. When you buy a shop-bought smoothie, it contains a significant amount of sugar and is often highly processed. A small homemade smoothie is a healthier juice if a smoothie is a must for you. 

When you juice a fruit, the natural sugars are released from within the cell walls of the fruit and become ‘free sugars’. 

How much sugar can I have a day?

  • Children age four and under: There’s no guideline limit for children under four, it is recommended they avoid sugary drinks and food with sugar added to it. 
  • Children aged five to six: shouldn’t have any more than five teaspoons that is 19 grams of free sugar a day.
  • Children aged seven to eleven: should have no more than six teaspoons (24 grams) of a sugar per day. 
  • Adults and children over eleven should limit their sugar to no more than seven teaspoons (28 grams) of sugar per day.

How can I cut down on my sugar?

A good place to start is watching what you drink. Many of the free sugars we consume now are through soft drinks.