Introduction As a general dentist, this is a question that comes up every day. Sort of. To be honest, I’m not actually asked this question EVERY day (including weekends), in fact, I’m rarely asked it directly. What does happen virtually every time the subject of flossing comes up in my practice, however, is that I can see the question in my patient’s eyes. I can read it in their body language. The reluctance to floss is a tangible entity. I’m sure parents all over the world are familiar with the petulant “Awww… do I have to?” which precedes any onerous personal hygiene-related task, and when i ..read more

  Which type of manual toothbrush should I use? Your dentist or dental hygienist will be able to recommend a toothbrush to you.  However, adults should choose a small to medium size brush with soft to medium multi-tufted, round-ended bristles.  The head should be small enough to get into all parts of the mouth, especially the back of the mouth where cleaning can be difficult.  We really like the Oral B Pro Expert Cross Action Range. They have small heads with a little fuzzy tip that helps to get to the hard to reach places. The bristles cross over each other which gives a more thorough clean ..read more

What does 'Clinically Proven' mean? We often see the words 'Clinically Proven' on products, for example, a toothpaste is 'clinically proven to reduce tooth decay', or a mouthwash ‘clinically proven to reduce gum disease', but what does it actually mean? The term 'clinically proven' conjures up images of noble scientists in white coats studying the contents of test tubes in a brightly lit laboratory before crying out “Eureka!” and happily telling some fat cat in a suit that their product works and can now be sold to the masses. Sadly, the truth is somewhat different. The short answer is that 'c ..read more