BBC TV: "The Truth About Your Teeth"

bureau2009

BBC 1 Television Thursday 04/06/2015 and Thursday 11/06/2015:

Two part series "The Truth About Your Teeth."

Promises to reveal "the truth" about dental health in the UK.

Should make for very interesting viewing.

Riverireland

bureau2009 wrote: »

BBC 1 Television Thursday 04/06/2015 and Thursday 11/06/2015:

Two part series "The Truth About Your Teeth."

Promises to reveal "the truth" about dental health in the UK.

Should make for very interesting viewing.

Sounds interesting! Can you elaborate a little further? Tia

bureau2009

This programme is on BBC 1 tonight at 9.00 pm.

Includes "pioneering research at Kings College Hospital, London."

EoghanIRL

Safe to say I won't be watching part two.

Oral Surgeon

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Safe to say I won't be watching part two.

Why, was it the usual rubbish??

coylemj

It's a programme on BBC1 at 9 p.m. (i.e. prime time) so clearly aimed at a general audience meaning that nobody should be expecting to be blasted with science or anything beyond the comprehension of the man on the Clapham omnibus.

It's part of a general series on the health of the nation, previous single episode programmes included 'The Truth About.. ' fat, sugar and cholesterol, the dental programme consists of two episodes. Episode 1 will be repeated on BBC1 at 14:40 this Sunday June 7th.

More info here but don't bother attempting to play the clips, they won't work unless you have a UK IP address....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05p5v5f

EoghanIRL

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Why, was it the usual rubbish??

Pretty much.

Perhaps one interesting point made was that a change in tooth colour of one shade isn't actually detectable by the human eye. I think it needed to be a change of 3 or 4 shades to actually be detectable by something other than a computer , essentially showing how DIY tooth bleaching/whitening kits are not worth it.

I'm not saying other people won't enjoy it but for me it was a waste of an hour. I never like those health shows which are basically dramas with a bit of simple science thrown in. Should have known better.

FishorSeal

Hi Eoghan. I have to say that I found it to quite refreshing as it painted the dentist and the dental team in quite a positive light. I'm working as a dentist in the UK and I've found that most of the time dentists tend to be portrayed as evil, scary or money grabbing especially in publications like the Daily Mail or on Channel 4 Dispatches. I liked the fact that the presenter made a clear effort to remind the public that the secret to oral health lies with them and their diet and oral hygiene practices and that they need to take more responsibility for themselves. I do see what you mean about the drama but I suppose thats part and parcel of a lot of TV these days.
As far as I know then second part looks at the links between oral health and general health.

EoghanIRL

KCL looks impressive. I can see why it is so attractive for post grads..
I do agree with you though. The show was cleverly designed to emphasise how a trip to the dentist is a pain free , beneficial encounter.

Do implantologists readily give smokers implants like in this show?
I thought the risk of failure is increased and it would potentially affect the osseointegration process. Didn't seem to be a problem in this case.

bureau2009

While this show was a little too "Reality TV" for my liking I welcome anything that highlights the importance of dental health.

I loved the comment from the lead dentist that dentistry is "All about helping people live happier lives". Dentists are very important people!

I thought the lead dentist had a wonderful mixture of confident, assured clinical skills and great communication skills. She knew how to listen to and empathise with her patients.

The presenter stated that the best way to care for teeth is to brush for 2 minutes using a flouride toothpaste. There is no evidence base for other dental products eg mouthwash, toothpicks etc. Interestingly flossing wasn't mentioned. (My personal tip: Ask your dentist to demonstrate the best way to brush and floss teeth).

And whitening products don't work!

Interesting to see one patient decline NHS dentures and spend her life savings on dental implants. The result seemed very effective, but ongoing care was emphasised!

I enjoyed this programme and will be glued to BBC 1 this Thursday at 9 pm for programme 2!

EoghanIRL

bureau2009 wrote: »

Interesting to see one patient decline NHS dentures and spend her life savings on dental implants. The result seemed very effective, but ongoing care was emphasised!

IIRC she spent her life savings and got finance for the ones she couldn't afford.
Outright no to the dentures due to fear of them flying across the room during speech..

To think that she actually glued the tooth back in too . Alarm bells ringing

To think that some basic oral hygiene instruction could prevent nearly all of the problems on this show.

coylemj

bureau2009 wrote: »

The presenter stated that the best way to care for teeth is to brush for 2 minutes using a flouride toothpaste. There is no evidence base for other dental products eg mouthwash, toothpicks etc. Interestingly flossing wasn't mentioned. (My personal tip: Ask your dentist to demonstrate the best way to brush and floss teeth).

Yes, being the BBC there was the obligatory and token 'public service message'. It's pretty obvious that they only wanted to show us terrible teeth, discuss the problem of sugary drinks causing decay and exposing the off the shelf whitening products that don't work.

The presenter simply waved an ordinary toothbrush at the camera and delivered that message about brushing for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, now let's get back to the gory stuff.

Actually discussing basic dental maintenance would be like expecting the lads on Top Gear to show you how to top up your windscreen washer tank. Such is the nature of TV shows these days.

bureau2009

Very interesting to see that transplanting a child's back tooth to replace a missing front tooth is now possible. I wonder is this widely available in the UK or is it still in the pioneering stage? Will this technique be available in Ireland?

I thought more time should have been given to the segment on brushing. People need to be trained to brush CORRECTLY! We all need to learn HOW to mind our teeth! I suggest people ask their dentist to show them how to brush and floss correctly - my dentist did, several times, and it's great to know.

And I thought the advice on how to deal with dental trauma - knocking out a tooth - was good.

Great to see the BBC make a programme on dental health - I wonder will we see a similiar Irish produced programme?

Oral Surgeon

The guys doing the transplant seriously overestimated the success rate and seriously underestimated the success of an implant!!! I think that he said an implant needs to be replaced every 5-7 years whereas a transplanted tooth is for life!!!
Ah here....

bureau2009 wrote: »

Very interesting to see that transplanting a child's back tooth to replace a missing front tooth is now possible. I wonder is this widely available in the UK or is it still in the pioneering stage? Will this technique be available in Ireland?

I thought more time should have been given to the segment on brushing. People need to be trained to brush CORRECTLY! We all need to learn HOW to mind our teeth! I suggest people ask their dentist to show them how to brush and floss correctly - my dentist did, several times, and it's great to know.

And I thought the advice on how to deal with dental trauma - knocking out a tooth - was good.

Great to see the BBC make a programme on dental health - I wonder will we see a similiar Irish produced programme?