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What does a dentist use himself to clean his own teeth at home? What items are found in a dentist’s bathroom that he uses every day to clean his teeth? What things are found in his teeth cleaning kit when he goes away on holidays? Patients want to know if dentists do what they preach. Are the oral hygiene items they recommend me use the same as the ones they use themselves?

At Central Brisbane Dental, we give a free oral hygiene pack to every patient after their checkup and clean appointment. Inside the pack are things we recommend they use with simple oral hygiene instructions on how to brush and floss properly. There is an extra soft Colgate or Oral B toothbrush as we recommend very soft bristles to avoid damaging the teeth and gums during cleaning. Most patients receive a general toothpaste such as Colgate Total or Oral B Gum Care and Enamel Restore. For those with sensitive teeth, we provide either Sensodyne Repair and Protect or Colgate Sensitive instead of a general toothpaste to help reduce sensations. A small Colgate or Oral B floss is also included.

These items are provided to the patient to encourage good oral hygiene practices. We can use them as props to discuss their recommended oral hygiene routine. There’s also less excuses if you have the appropriate tools we recommend you use provided to you.

These are the same oral hygiene items I use myself. When I go away on holidays, I actually take two of these oral hygiene packs with me – one for myself and one for my wife. At home, we use an Oral B Genius rechargeable electric toothbrush instead of a manual toothbrush as I like the oscillating cleaning action of the powered toothbrush. A manual toothbrush is still fine to use so I use one when I am away on holidays when I don’t want to take the electric one. We still use an extra soft toothbrush head called a Sensitive Clean brush head.

When it comes to straightening teeth with clear aligners, most patients think of Invisalign. This is more because of great marketing of their brand, rather than because it is the only product out there. In fact, there are now numerous options available to straighten teeth using clear aligners. At Central Brisbane Dental, we chose to use ClearPath clear aligners as we believe they are superior than Invisalign ones.

Here’s 3 reasons why we believe ClearPath is better than Invisalign:

1. Your Aligners

Invisalign aligners were designed by a patient who was having orthodontic treatment. He believed there must be a better way to straighten teeth instead of using the brackets and wires he was wearing at the time. Invisalign aligners was his solution. However, he didn’t have any dental background or experience so spent most of his money on marketing his product rather than making the best product available. Instead, ClearPath took that initial Invisalign idea and perfected the product with input from dentists and specialist orthodontists rather than focusing their efforts on marketing. We believe the ClearPath aligner is the best available today.

2. Your Teeth

Invisalign makes the dentist glue little shapes of composite resin filling material to your teeth to help their aligners grip and move your teeth. These bits of filling material make your teeth feel lumpy, are harder to clean and don’t look so good up close. They can also come away from your teeth during treatment and need to be replaced. It would be better for your teeth if these weren’t needed. ClearPath has developed a smarter aligner where there is a patented microscopic crisscross pattern on the fitting surface that grips your teeth and moves them without the need for the shapes of filling material. With ClearPath, you don’t have to worry about extra bits of filling material on your teeth.

3. Your Cost

Relying on their well known brand name, Invisalign can obviously charge more expensive prices. ClearPath orthodontic treatment is less costly. ClearPath’s aligner packages are less expensive. Invisalign usually charges per number of aligners. The more aligners you need, the larger the bill. So in cases where you need a lot of aligners, the bill can be quite large. ClearPath has unlimited aligner packages where you pay the same low price no matter how many aligners you need after that. If something doesn’t go as planned and you need more aligners during the course of your treatment, these are in most cases included free of extra charge. If you need more aligners at the end of your proposed treatment to do a little more straightening, these are always included free of extra charge. With ClearPath, you also get 2 sets of removable retainers included free of charge to be worn after aligner treatment is finished to hold your teeth in the corrected positions.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has just released a healthcare advertising checklist.  Amongst the usual responsible advertising guidelines, there’s a kind reminder about testimonials and reviews.  Any patient testimonials, stories, recommendations or reviews about clinical care are prohibited in all forms of advertising.  There can be no mention of the presenting symptoms, treatment carried out or the outcome of the treatment.  There can be nothing mentioning or even alluding to the clinical competency of the health practitioner.

The contradicting aspect about this is that the health practitioner is responsible only for advertising that we can control.  This means any form of advertising from print to media, in-house or outsourced to a third party.  It also includes online sites such as the practice website, as well as social media pages like our Facebook page.  We are told to delete all testimonials and reviews and turn off the review function in the settings if this is possible.

However, there are numerous online sites with absolutely no association with us that do the same things that AHPRA don’t want health practitioners doing.  These sites display patient testimonials and ask for patient reviews.  They deliberately ask the community to comment on their experience with us, on our clinical care.  They ask them to give us a star rating, usually out of a maximum five stars.

It seems the rule stopping health practitioners from using testimonials and reviews is a little redundant.  If testimonials and reviews are widely available from a range of other sources, does it really matter if these are on a health practitioner’s advertising?  The testimonials and reviews on a health practitioner’s advertising will always be positive and full of self praise you may say.  No one in their right mind will talk badly about themselves when trying to market their practice.  However, potential patients doing their research will no doubt look for testimonials and reviews from independent third parties.  Debatable or not, we will just have to abide by the guidelines set by AHPRA.

Our receptionist often gets asked whether we bulk bill.  Unfortunately, bulk billing does not exist for dentists in Australia.  Bulk billing only applies to doctors in private practice and not dentists.

So what is bulk billing and how does it work?  Basically, it is having Medicare pay for your healthcare.  Medicare will pay for consultations and treatments at the doctor.  The doctor submits a claim to get paid by Medicare and the patient doesn’t have to pay themselves.  Before the digital age which has allowed on the spot claiming for each case, the doctor used to wait till they accumulated a bulk amount of these claims before billing Medicare.  Hence, the term bulk billing was coined.

Unfortunately, this process for doctors does not apply to dentists in private practice.  To see a dentist in Australia, you have to pay for it yourself.  You can join a health fund with dental cover and they can help pay your bill, but you have to pay the health fund a membership fee.  So joining a health fund may or may not be worthwhile depending on how much you pay for it and how much you can claim back.

If you have a healthcare card, you may be eligible for certain dental treatments at a public dental hospital.  There are lengthy waiting lists for general dental treatments.  If you have an emergency such as a toothache, you must go to the dental hospital early in the morning and line up to get a number.  If you are lucky enough to get a number, you will be seen that day.  If not, you may have to go back the next day.

There are two special government schemes where Medicare will pay for dental treatment at a private dentist.  If you are a veteran, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) will issue you a card which usually allows you all dental treatments.  The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) allows eligible children up to a $1000 to use on dental treatment over a two year period.  However, not all treatments are covered. View Terms and Conditions.

As with most things in life, dental health requires continual review and maintenance.  Just because you were dentally fit and healthy six months ago, does not necessarily mean you are now.  Just because you have no problems with your teeth and gums at this present time, does not mean they will stay this way in the future.  Continual review and maintenance is the only way to ensure optimum dental health.

Our lives our constantly changing.  What we do for work may change.  We may get a promotion or be made redundant.  We may change jobs altogether.  Our relationships may change.  We may end a relationship.  We may start a new one.  What we do in our spare time may change.  We may begin a new hobby.  We may take up a new sport.

All these things may affect our bodies, including our mouths.  We may be more or less busy and have more or less time to look after ourselves properly.  Our attitude towards certain things may change and we may spend more or less time doing certain things.  There may be a direct impact on our bodies including our mouths from choosing to do or not do certain things or doing certain things differently.

Regular continual review ensures we know what state our mouths are at this present time.  If the current state is less than optimal, then some treatment can be done quickly to correct it before it gets much worse.  If the current state is healthy, then nothing may need to be done besides some maintenance teeth and gum cleaning.  That is why it is recommended to get a checkup and clean done at the dentist every six months.  This continual review and maintenance routine ensures optimum dental health for the long term whatever changes occur in your life that may affect your body.

Patients with bad teeth often proclaim that they want all their teeth removed and have dentures made.  These patients think they will have no dental problems any more after this because they will no longer have any of their own teeth.  Little do they know that it is not as simple as that.

It is true that without teeth, they will be spared from teeth specific problems such as tooth decay.  Cavities can’t form where there is no tooth structure no matter how poor the oral hygiene is.  However, dentures and the oral soft tissues on which they sit still need to be cleaned thoroughly to avoid taste and smell issues.  Infections can still occur in the underlying soft tissues if the are not cleaned well.

Dentures themselves can also introduce new problems.  They can take time to get used to as they are quite different to your own teeth.  Dentures can rub on their supporting soft tissues and cause soreness.  Denture teeth can still break and wear just as our own teeth can.  Dentures need to be taken out at night to give the supporting tissues time to rest and recover.

With dentures, you still need to have regular 6 monthly checkups with the dentist.  Your dentures and supporting soft tissues need to be checked and cleaned.  The gums and bone on which your dentures sit can shrink and resorb over time.  If this happens, your dentures may become loose and need to be relined.  If there is a lot of change in the supporting gum and bone, new dentures need to be made.

Having all your teeth removed and replaced by dentures is sometimes necessary and the only viable option if the natural teeth are in very poor condition.  However, if your own teeth can be saved, then they should be.  Your own teeth are always much better than artificial replacements.  There are still dental problems when you don’t have any teeth and a set of dentures.