Look after your teeth. Here’s some things that you can do to look after your teeth. That way we can hopefully minimise the amount of dental work that you need.

Avoid sugary foods and drinks. Here at FEMDA we love sugar – particularly cakes ! But they are bad for your teeth, the best advice is to try to minimise how often you have sugary foods and snacks, and preferably to only eat them as part of a meal. A bar of chocolate with your lunchtime sandwich is better for your teeth than the same bar eaten as a mid-morning snack or to regain energy after exercise. Now might be the time to stop having sugar in your tea or coffee or to switch to sugar free drinks. There are other benefits as well. Now you are not having sugar in drinks you can have cake with your lunch.
Clean your teeth well – first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Two minutes of brushing with a fluoride toothpaste twice a day is great for your teeth and gums. Don’t worry too much about the fluoride – most toothpastes have fluoride nowadays – find one with a taste you like ! You don’t need to brush more than 2 minutes.
Clean your teeth even if your gums bleed. Often when you clean your teeth, particularly if you are over 30 your gums will bleed. You might think this is a bad thing and imagine you should stop brushing. But actually the bleeding is a sign that you need to keep cleaning – there is a small wound on your gums there that needs cleaning up with the toothbrush and toothpaste. It should stop bleeding after a week or so of regular toothbrushing
Think about an electric toothbrush. Electric toothbrushes are designed for people who struggle with the proper technique of toothbrushing – here at FEMDA we love our electric toothbrushes. The price of these brushes can vary enormously but you just need to find one with a small circular head. It is worth looking around and thinking of what you need – but a rechargeable battery may be useful because you are going to be using this everyday (twice) for the rest of your life! I would expect to spend about £25 to 30, but here’s the cheapest we could find on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oral-B-Stages-Electric-Toothbrush-Battery/dp/B01ERVW2SUAnd in case you’re interested – here is the most expensive one we found !https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oral-B-SmartSeries-Toothbrush-Bluetooth%C2%AE-Connectivity/dp/B00KBWBALK/It’s up to you whether having Bluetooth is important to you !
Use mouthwash. We recommend using mouthwash after you have eaten in the middle of the day – you want to get a mouthwash that contains fluoride and one that you like the taste of. Swill a mouthful around your mouth for two minutes after your lunch. That will help keep the teeth nice and clean and healthy. If you are bold you can do it at your desk, or if less bold pop to the loo. Leave the big bottle at home and pour some into a little bottle that you can have with you at work or out of the house.

Keep going to the dentist. Again we know that this is the last thing that you want to do ! But now that you have started to build a relationship with a dentist, it is a great time to continue. Anxiety feeds on avoidance, the longer you leave it to go back, the more difficult it will be to return. Also once you are not in pain anymore, you can start thinking about working with your dentist to get that lovely smile you have possibly been dreaming about.

Remember, these are your teeth and you are in control. Your visits to the dentist will be challenging, but they should never be overwhelming, go at a pace which you can cope with.