Because a lot of dental equipment has somewhat unusual origins, a lot of unlikely events can lead to major revolutions in how they are made and used. A good example of this is retainers, which are not only important mouthpieces in their own right but also require complex impression equipment to make and cleaning tablets to maintain and keep clean. However, one of the biggest moments in the history of dental retainers was a rather unfortunate accident in the boxing ring involving another type of dental mouthpiece. In modern dentistry, the development of custom mouthguards and custom retainers are very...

Dentists always advise that you should change your toothbrush every three or four months, if it is a standard, manual one. This is because bristles tend to flatten and therefore stop hitting the places where they are needed to get debris out of small gaps between your teeth. However, rather than just exchanging one manual brush for another, now may be the time to switch to a rechargeable electric toothbrush. Quite simply, these are regarded by dentists everywhere as being a much better option than manual ones. For example, speaking to Canadian health website Cnet, dentist Dr Shahrooz Yazdani said:...

The world of computer games is an almost completely separate world from the world of dentistry, although one video game system has a surprising role to play in digital dentistry, Outside of a few cross-promotional dental products and some very obscure games such as Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon, there are not a lot of direct connections, but the failure of one video game system led to the creation of a digital camera. The Imagin Systems HotRod Deluxe camera system was a 1997 intraoral camera that could provide high-quality images that were saved onto a proprietary memory cartridge. However, the casing...

One dental product everyone needs is toothpaste, and in combination with a toothbrush is both the lowest costing and most important part of any dental care routine. However, one mistake that so many people make when it comes to teeth cleaning routines is taking a drink not long enough after brushing for two minutes, only to find that it makes certain foods and drinks taste very different. The common story is people brushing their teeth, taking a swig of orange juice and immediately regretting it as it creates a rather unpleasant mix of taste sensations that are both bitter and...

With a new government taking office, many dentists will be wondering what the future holds for British dentistry. But many concerns faced by dentists and patients are far more basic than the things politicians might address. This is not to say there are not big issues, something everyone recognises, and the incoming Labour administration has pledged a series of major steps such as reforming the NHS contract for dentists, ending ‘dental deserts’ with incentives for new graduates to work in them and supervised brushing for kids aged 3-5. However, while the last of these may be very useful in helping...

The summer sunshine can do wonderful things to your skin, such as enrich it with vitamin D. However, it is more important than ever to have a good skincare routine during the hotter months, as the sun can also damage skin if we’re not careful.  Firstly, high UV rays can cause skin to burn, so it is essential to use an SPF every day. It is sensible to use cream with an SPF of at least 30 and one that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, even using sun cream SPF 15 everyday...