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Friday, 25 October 2013

BritMums’ #ORALBLoveYourGums Challenge There is a popular saying "Gain a child, lose a tooth" and, as with most old wives' tales, it may not be 100% correct but there is a grain of truth behind it. During pregnancy and then breastfeeding, your body will be giving huge amounts of your calcium to your baby, so if you don't make a conscious effort to increase the quantity in your diet, your teeth and bones may suffer. If you suffer from bad morning sickness, particularly through your entire pregnancy, the acid can have a detrimental effect on your teeth too. Like many pregnant women, I had bleeding gums and when I asked my dentist about it, he said it's basically a normal part of pregnancy.

Oral-B are running a Love Your Gums campaign to educate about the importance of healthy gums and help people protect their beautiful smiles. Many people don’t realise that most people will get gum health issues at some point in their lives and it’s the biggest cause of tooth loss. Over half of women will develop gum problems during pregnancy such as swollen, bleeding gums.

I'm lucky to have always had good teeth. In fact, my old dentist used to jokingly say that it was a provocation going to see him with teeth as good as mine because there was nothing he could do, they didn't even need cleaning ! However, last year, I turned the ripe old age of 40, which is apparently the age at which things start falling apart. (My dentist and the girls' optician both said this, totally seriously - teeth and eyes are the first to start showing signs of "old age" apparently - eeeek !)

Sure enough, I needed a tiny filling and I also noticed a problem with my gums receding, just above my front tooth. What worried me is that you can see the dentine beneath. The dentist said it was probably just down to age or aggressive brushing, that it's unlikely the gum will come back down and that the most important thing now is to ensure that it doesn't recede any more. She gave me a tube of medicalised toothpaste that is only available on prescription and warned me that it has a taste that many people find repulsive - she wasn't joking. It's really salty ! When Britmums sent me through a sample of Oral-B Pro-Expert, which offers premium gum protection, I was keen to see what I'd think. The packaging proudly explains that it is clinically proven to help prevent and reduce gum problems in just four weeks. It has a multiple action, reducing plaque and tartar, as well as slowing bacterial growth to protect against gum problems, and targets cavities, gums, plaque, sensitivty, enamel, tartar, whitening and breath. I've been using it for a few weeks and I'm really impressed. It may just be psychological but the difference in the height of the gums above my two front teeth seems much less noticeable. It seems to be as effective, if not more so, as the toothpaste that my dentist gave me and it has the huge advantage of having a lovely minty taste. I'll definitely be continuing to buy it. That's one more thing to smile about !

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Colgate's tips for cleaning children's teeth
Molar Plaqsearch
Firefly Children's Light-up Toothbrushes
Posted by Cheryl Pasquier at 09:45 Labels: beauty products, competitions, health products