Quick Fixes for your Wedding Smile

Averting dental disaster on the big day

Dental problems are the last thing you want to have to deal with on your wedding day. James Goolnik of the Bow Lane Dental Group has a few quick fix ideas.

Bad breath

If you find you’ve got bad breath on the big day:

• Chew sugar free chewing gum or mints. A two‐minute chew should last a couple of hours.
• Snack on coarse food, such as carrots, which helps clean the mouth.
• Chew parsley, mint, fennel, aniseed or eat an orange.
• Avoid onions and garlic the day before if possible.

Toothache

Rub oil of clove around the gum next to the tooth that’s hurting. A cold compress (ice pack) over the area may help or you can take your regular painkiller, preferably one with an anti‐inflammatory ingredient, up to the recommended dose. Bear in mind these should be taken regularly and will take about an hour to take effect.

Pain control is better if you take tablets before the pain returns. Avoid hot/cold/sweet foods. If you feel unwell, have a temperature or the gum starts to swell see your dentist immediately.

Loose filling or crown

If the crown is in one piece clean the inside of the crown with tissue or cotton wool. Then work out which tooth it came off and, looking in the mirror, replace it. Once you have worked out which way it fits check that your teeth bite together as they did before.

Take your crown off again remembering its position. Get some sugar‐free chewing gum and start chewing and then break a small piece off (half the size of a pea). Place this inside the crown and dry the tooth off with tissue/cotton and replace it in the same place as before. Then bite down to check it is fully seated. This temporary measure should get you through your wedding day. Try to be careful with sticky foods and try not to eat directly on the tooth.

In the case of a loose filling, work out which tooth the filling came from ‐‐ looking in the mirror helps. Chew some sugar‐free chewing gum. Dry the tooth with tissue or cotton wool and then break off a corresponding amount of chewing gum and place it in the cavity and bite together and grind side to side until the bite feels right. Again be careful not to eat on the tooth.