Disclosing Plaque
SCHOOL IS GOING BACK! WOW! There will no doubt be a mix of emotions. Are you doing cartwheels or quietly cherishing the last couple of weeks of kids being at home?
In the rush to get the haircuts, uniforms, lunch boxes ready. How about we check in to see how our kids have been brushing their teeth?
It certainly has been interesting in our household the last few weeks trying to institute a routine of “brush teeth, wash face, uniform on and brush hair” didn’t always go according to plan! What has it been like in your household?
Glen Eira Dental believes that prevention is better than cure. We would like to take this opportunity to show you the tools you can use to help you assess the effectiveness of your kids’ teeth brushing skills.
In the clinic, we use DISCLOSING SOLUTION or DISCLOSING TABLETS (you can actually buy these from some pharmacists). There is even now a disclosing toothpaste on the market as well called PlaqueGlo! I will attach a link at end of this post.
All these products stain plaque that is usually tooth coloured and difficult for you to see. ( Plaque is a thin film of bacteria that grows on teeth which causes tooth decay and gum disease when left for too long). For the kiddies, I like to tell them plaque is like poo on teeth – it usually grosses them out enough to boost their motivation to get better at brushing 
When using disclosing products, it is wise to protect clothes, towels and surfaces as they do stain!
Don’t have access to these? No worries. You can actually make your own! They may not provide as much detail as the products on the market, but they do work. Just watch the food dye though.
DIY Disclosing Solution
All you need is Vaseline, cotton buds, food colouring and water.
1. Apply Vaseline to the lips to avoid colouring them in.
2. Mix 3-5 drops of food colouring with 10 mls of water.
2. Dip the cotton bud into the food colouring mixture and run along the teeth.
3. Rinse the mouth out to reveal plaque.
You can do this BEFORE or AFTER brushing to check how well your kids, or even you have been brushing!
We would love to know how you go with this!
Please PM us your photos!!
We will be running a competition over the next couple of weeks! The Plaque Removal Challenge! To see who are our superstar brushers! More detail to be revealed tomorrow!!
Take care and stay warm!
Here is the link about PlaqueGLO – Apologies for those who are not LA-LA fans!
