Has the ‘lockdown’ lifestyle left your teeth looking duller than usual?
With dental practices, including our own, now up and running, it is worth looking at some of the things that may have happened to your teeth and gums whilst we were closed.
We covered some of the clinical problems that could have occurred and how we could help in recent blogs, but today we are going to take a look at the aesthetic aspect of your smile and how it may have suffered over the last few months.
Aesthetic consequences of lockdown
There are a number of potential reasons why our teeth may have become duller whilst we were all in lockdown and under the various restrictions enforced. The following is not an exhaustive list but suggests some of the most likely ways that our Woking patients may have ended up with darker looking teeth than they’d ideally like.
Diet – Most of us will probably admit to a change of diet during lockdown. Especially in the earlier stages where we were more confined to our homes, many of us would probably have found ourselves at a loose end (despite our good intentions of learning new skills etc). One thing that a lot of us will do when we are bored is eat, and very often foods that offer little nutritional value and which may also affect the surface enamel of our teeth. The additional tea and coffee drunk during this time will also have played a role.
Lack of care – Although most of us will probably have managed to keep to our usual oral health regimen of regular brushing and flossing, for some folk, this time will have been especially stressful and usual norms may not have applied. When we are feeling anxious or depressed, we may neglect ourselves a little and this may include failing to clean our teeth as often or as well as we should. It is quite possible that some of us may even have started smoking again which is especially likely to turn our teeth yellow.
No hygienist – Anyone who sees the hygienist at Synergy Parkside in Woking on a regular basis for a scale and polish will know that, in addition to helping to protect our oral health, it also removes much of the surface staining from our teeth. Although it requires a teeth whitening procedure to lighten teeth where the inner part has darkened over time, this surface stain removal is certainly a benefit worth having. With our practice closed for a few months, some of you will have missed out on this and you may have noticed more discolouration in your teeth than normal.
As parents, it can be hard to let go, but let go of our children we will inevitably do at some stage. As our children start to grow up and gain more and more independence, they will almost certainly make a number of decisions that we are not entirely happy about. This is all a part of the process of growing up of course, but some of the decisions that they take may affect them for many years to come.
With the additional time that many of us have involuntarily had over the last few months, we may have idled some of it away by dreaming, or looking in a mirror and thinking that there are some things we would like to do to improve our appearance.
It is important for all of us to look after our teeth and gums well. Damaging them can have a significantly negative impact on our quality of life and can cause problems with eating and even our speech in some cases.
It has probably felt like an eternity for some, and especially those of you who have suffered dental problems that did not qualify for urgent emergency care.
Although there is no formal news about dental practices opening yet and it may still be a little while away, things do seem to be slowly improving in the Covid-19 crisis and some shops are now gradually planning to re-open (with appropriate distancing and other precautions) in the near future.
Despite the slight changes initiated this week to start the easing of lockdown, the fact is that many of our Woking patients will probably still be spending most of their time at home.
Many of you will still be at home, unable to work, or perhaps working from home. One thing that undoubtedly is happening though, is that many of us are having to find ways of filling time that we didn’t previously enjoy.
In our last blog, we offered advice to our Woking patients about what to do to help keep their teeth and gums healthy during this current ‘lockdown’. Hopefully, this advice will mean fewer dental problems will arise during this period.
Hopefully, all of our patients are following government instructions and staying at home wherever possible. These are challenging times for everybody and boredom and anxiety are likely to be problems for a lot of people.