Talkteeth - Southern

While plain milk and water are the best everyday drinks to help care for our teeth and mouth, there are many reasons why some people may not have dairy (cow's) milk in their diet 🥛🥛🥛
Plant milks are a common alternative for dairy milk but not all plant milks are equal when it comes to looking after our teeth 🦷🤔 So check out these tips to help you choose the best plant milks to keep your smile healthy and happy 😁🌱🫶 😎

The longer, warmer days and the burst of new leaves and flowers means Spring has arrived 🙌🙌 So take a leaf from nature, spring into action, and celebrate the change of season with a new toothbrush too! 😎😁🌱🌼🪥

What we eat and drink each day is an important part of caring for our teeth and mouth to keep our smile healthy and happy 🤩🦷
It can be tricky to know what is good for our teeth so here's a couple of top tips:
👉 Eat main meals 🍽 (with a couple of snacks as/if needed) instead of grazing and snacking throughout the day
👉 Plain water 💧and plain milk 🥛are the best everyday drinks
👉 Eat mostly healthy whole foods without added sugar like cheese 🧀 fruit 🍎 vegetables 🥦 wholegrains 🍞 and proteins (meat 🍗 eggs 🥚 beans 🫘 nuts & seeds 🥜
👉 Have sugary foods and drinks WITH main meals rather than as a separate snack

With lots of different toothbrushes available on the store shelf or online, it can be confusing to know which one is best 🤔🤷
But don't worry, our 2 Top Toothbrush Tips keep it simple and easy to make a good choice 😁🪥👌
Any toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles is definitely a winner ✅✅🏆 but as for the best toothbrush colour....we'll leave that up to you to decide 😎

🥳 🤱The first week of August celebrates World Breastfeeding Week each year, so let's celebrate that breastfeeding can also be good for baby's mouth and teeth?! 👶🦷
The way baby suckles when breastfeeding can influence the way the bones and muscles in their face grow, helping to create the space needed for their teeth to come through in the right place. Breast milk can help protect baby teeth from tooth decay (holes in their teeth). This is because lactose, the main type of sugar in breast milk, is harder for the bacteria to feed off (which starts the process that can cause tooth decay).
Another bonus is that the antibodies and proteins in breast milk can also make it more difficult for that bacteria to grow! That's a win-win-win!! ‍🍼🤩🎉
But whether you breastfeed or not, use expressed breast milk or not, it is always important to clean and look after baby's mouth from an early age, even before their first tooth appears!! 🫶🪥😊

There's a lot to remember when you move house 🏠😵‍ but we're here to help!
So please give us a call ☎️ and we'll get your child enrolled and their details updated with our local service.
Here's to Healthy Teeth and a Happy Smile!! 😁🤩🫶

Woohoo, the Community Oral Health Service is going digital! 🥳🎉🙌
We're excited to move to a FREE text messaging service, providing a more convenient, quick and sustainable way for you to receive all your child's new appointments and reminders - no more delayed or lost appointment letters in the mail!! 🤩
Changed your phone number? No worries, just call 0800 672 543 and we'll update it for you 😎 📱

Ka ara mai a Matariki, ka ara mai a Puaka, ka mānawatia a Puaka, ka mānawatia a Matariki. Matariki rises, Puaka rises, celebrate Puaka, celebrate Matariki.
Let’s celebrate Te Tau Hou Māori, the Māori New Year, with the rising of Puaka and Matariki ⭐️✨ - a time of reflection, celebration and preparation, when whānau come together to remember the past, celebrate the present and look ahead to the future 💭🫶🎉

Sugar has lots of different names that we might not be aware of 😳 When sugar is in disguise 🥸 it can be easy to eat and drink too much sugar, too often. This means it is helpful to know the difference between INTRINSIC SUGARS, found naturally in fresh fruit, vegetables, grains and milk 🍎🥝🥦🥕🍞🥛🧀 and which do not harm our health...
and...
FREE SUGARS, which are processed and added to food and drinks, as well as in what we think of as natural sweeteners like honey, syrups and fruit juices 🥯🍦🍰🍭🍪🍯🧃🍫🧋 Having too much FREE SUGAR too often will harm both our teeth and our health.
So, become a Sugar Sleuth 🔎🧐 and bust those sugar disguises - how many other names for sugar can you find to add to the list?

May 31st is World Smokefree Day, a day to celebrate being smokefree - for our health, our wallets and our environment ✅🥳💲🌏
Being smokefree is an important step to keep our smiles happy and healthy👄😃 This is because we are less likely to have problems with our teeth and mouth that are commonly caused by smoking, such as:
👉gum disease
👉oral cancers
👉tooth decay and tooth loss
👉loss of taste
👉stained teeth
👉mouth sores
👉bad breath
👉trouble healing after dental treatments.
So let's celebrate being smokefree, and remember, it is never too late to quit smoking and start the smokefree journey! 🤩🥳🫶👣
Go to Smokefree South on FB for more info, tips and and how to get support to quit.

Great to see so many awesome entries from around the region. Would love to see you all take part in 2024!

How often do you eat?
As well as good oral hygiene, frequency of eating is a really important factor related to holes in teeth. The more often you eat, the greater the risk of holes in your teeth. A high frequency of eating encourages the growth of bacteria in the mouth that, in turn, leads to increased acidity and this acidic environment can eat away at the tooth enamel. Over time, this can result in holes in teeth.
Try to limit the number of times you are eating and your teeth will thank you for it!

Some simple tips to help you keep your pearly whites shining bright!

Are you helping your little ones with their toothbrushing?
It is recommended that an adult assists with toothbrushing until the child is around 8 years of age. Let them have a go and then you can ‘finish off’ – making sure all teeth (and gums) are brushed.

Aargh - its Talk like a pirate day today!!! Yo ho ho me ‘earties. ‘Ave ye remembered t’ brush ye teeth today?

Paraihe Niho! Brush twice a day, use a fluoride toothpaste, use a small soft toothbrush.

Kia Kaha - Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori 11- 17 September.

As far back as 5000BC, long before modern dentists were trained to diagnose and treat tooth pain, it was a common belief that toothache was caused by a ‘tooth worm’ that lived in your gums. If the pain subsided, it was believed that was because the tooth worm was simply resting. We’re so pleased that myth has been debunked!

Save the date!
Looking forward to this day out! See you there.

Q: When should I start brushing my baby’s teeth?
A: As soon as teeth appear in your baby’s mouth it’s time to start brushing- twice a day with a half pea sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. 😉

It can be tricky to teach those littlies to spit after brushing – they do take us literally!

Some foods and drinks we consume can be harmful to our teeth and can eventually lead to tooth decay (holes in our teeth). Check the tooth friendly diet tips below so you can make healthier choices for your teeth.

Kaua e wareware!
Did you remember to brush your teeth today?
2 minutes, twice a day- don’t forget!

Fun Fact Friday...Did you know...?
Tooth enamel is the strongest part of the body – even stronger than your bones – but unfortunately it does not heal itself the way bones do but repairs can be made to early enamel cavities so we need to take very good care of it by brushing 2x daily with a fluoride toothpaste, flossing and limiting your sugar intake.

If your child has a baby tooth that hasn’t fallen out and the adult (permanent) tooth comes in behind it, the baby tooth is considered ‘over-retained’. Here is some useful info on over-retained teeth.

https://www.southernhealth.nz/living-well/new-initiative-help-maniototo-children-get-preventive-oral-care

New initiative to help Maniototo children get preventive oral care In the Maniototo area, a mobile dental clinic provides free oral health services for children annually, including applying topical fluoride for caries prevention. However, this treatment is recommended for some children every six months, meaning parents would have to make a two-hour return trip to t...

International Left Handers Day!
International Left Handers Day is an international day observed annually on August 13 to celebrate the uniqueness and differences of left-handed individuals. The day was first observed in 1976 by Dean R. Campbell, founder of Lefthanders International, Inc
Are you left or right hand dominant? Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand and activate your brain while you brush!

Moving? Dont forget to update your details with us. Just give us a call on these numbers Otago: 0800 672 543 // Southland: 0800 570 300

Sugar in the diet is the leading cause of tooth decay (holes in teeth). It is recommended that any ‘sugary’ foods be consumed at mealtimes only (3 x daily). Any in-between snacks should not contain refined sugars. It is a good idea to talk about this with your child and see if they can come up with their own list of sugar-free snacks. They are always more on board if they are involved.
Drop your (or your child’s) sugar-free snack ideas in the comments below!