Oral health notes
Short pieces answering the questions we are actually asked at the desk — written by the people who answer them.
What we are actually looking for on an x-ray
Most of a tooth is hidden — the roots, the bone around them, and the space between teeth where decay starts. This is a plain-language tour of what a dentist reads on the film, and why we take one at your first visit and rarely after that.
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Two minutes, twice, and the bit everyone skips
Brushing is not the problem. Nearly everybody who comes in with gum disease brushes twice a day and has never once cleaned between their teeth. Here is the technique we teach at the chair, written down so you can do it at home.
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Whitening: what it can and cannot do
Whitening lifts stain from enamel. It does not change the colour of a crown, a filling or a tooth that has darkened from the inside after trauma — which is why we look before quoting, and sometimes say no.
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When to bring a child for the first time
At one year old, or when the first tooth arrives — whichever is sooner. Not because there will be anything to treat, but because a child who has been in the chair five times before anything happens is a child who is not afraid of it.
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A knocked-out tooth: the first ten minutes
Hold it by the crown, never the root. Rinse it in milk if it is dirty — not water, and never scrub it. Put it back in the socket if you can, or keep it in milk, and call us. Ten minutes decides whether it survives.
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Sensitive teeth are telling you something
A twinge on something cold that passes in seconds is usually exposed dentine and is treatable in one visit. Pain that lingers for minutes, or wakes you at night, is a different problem and does not wait. This is how to tell them apart.
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Your smile starts here
Same-day emergency slots every day we open, and a first appointment that costs GHS 150 whatever we find.
