Free Dental Advice at Shopping Centre

Staff from a city dental surgery have been giving free advice on how to look after your teeth to customers shopping at Meadowhall centre.

Nearly 2,000 children and adults stop to talk to the staff who came from the Thompson and Thomas dental surgery at Langsett Road, Hillsborough. The staff were giving up their time as part of the British Dental Health Foundation’s National Smile Month, which aims at encouraging people to take better care of their teeth and gums.

The manager of Thompson and Thomas, Jane, said that shoppers talked to the dentists about a variety of problems ranging from phobia of the dentist to mouth ulcers and bad breath.

Some of the younger visitors to the staff were asked to take part in a timed teeth cleaning, after which many realised they were not doing it for long enough. The recommended time taken to clean teeth is two minutes in order to remove plaque and stop tooth decay.

Aside from giving advice, staff also showed pictures depicting the damage that plaque can do to teeth. Competitions were help as a way of getting people to think more carefully about the way they look after their teeth. Jane said that the day was a success with a good response.