Singing Dentist

Singing Dentist

For the first meeting of the New Year we were lucky enough to have Dr Milad Shadrooh, The Singing Dentist, as our guest speaker on Thursday 10th January. 

Milad explained that he qualified from Barts and London in 2004 and now runs a successful dental practice in Basingstoke.  His love of music has led him into making educational dental parody songs, which have gone viral and brought him to the media attention, hence the nickname Singing Dentist.  His fame has obviously gone before him as some of the Youth Club in the next room to us came in to listen to his talk and were enthralled.

One thing that Milad said was most important was good blood sugar control.  Your mouth has more bacteria than there are people in the world (sounds quite a hostile environment).  Plaque is a sticky substance that contains bacteria and adheres to your teeth, so good dental hygiene is essential to avoid dental problems.  Whether you use a manual or electric toothbrush, you should brush your teeth for 2 minutes and make sure you clean the gum line as this is where plaque likes to stick.  If you have painful gums or they bleed when you brush your teeth, make an appointment to see your dentist, caught early it can be treated.  In extreme cases, if left untreated, it can progress to periodontitis which can damaged the bone in your jaw and your teeth can become loose and may eventually fall out.

TIps on how to avoid dental problems:

Run your toothbrush under hot water to soften the bristles before brushing, as this makes it less abrasive.

Brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes.

Use dental brushes to clean between the teeth as normal brushing doesn't get into these areas.

Your toothbrush should be changed every 3 months, it might look ok, but after all that use it won't be as effective.

Use a tongue scraper to remove the bacteria.  Don't use your toothbrush as all you are doing is moving the bacteria around your tongue and coating your toothbrush.

A member of the audience asked the question about hypos at night and what they could do to help protect their teeth.  Milad suggested when cleaning your teeth at night you don't rinse the toothpaste out so leave a coating of fluoride over your teeth.  He also suggested drinking  water to neutralise the acid.

If we follow this advice hopefully we won't need any treatment next time we visit the dentist. We've already gone out and bought new toothbrushes and tongue scrapers!