N-Dubz Tuliza’s dental surgery and other teeth-related stories: Ethicare’s August dental news round-up!

News of an X-Factor judge getting her teeth fixed, how to look after your teeth at work and the benefits of liquorice lollies

N-Dubz Tuliza gets teeth fixed for X Factor debut

It seems to be a big month for stars to upgrade their appearance. Firstly, footballer Wayne Rooney has been showing off the re-growth from his recent hair transplant.

And now new reports suggest that N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos has had dental surgery to have her teeth aligned.

Tuliza, who is X Factor’s newest judge, could have used braces to straighten her teeth; one of the most popular forms of brace is Invisalign. London has several dentists offering Invisalign treatment and is located close to where many of the X Factor’s biggest auditions are held.

According to the Sun, the Camden-born singer opted for £12,000 worth of dental surgery – considerably more than the £1,995 starting price of Invisalign Clear Braces advertised on the website of London dentist Ethicare.

An anonymous source told the Sun: “Tulisa has not got bad teeth by any stretch of the imagination. She’s hardly Austin Powers. But since she became famous she has become aware they are not perfectly aligned, so she decided to pay for a bit of help.”

BDHF advises on how to look after teeth at work

Near the start of the month (08 08 2011) the nation’s busy workers were issued with some new expert advice about how to look after their teeth.

The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) issued the guidance in reaction to Office of National Statistics figures which show that about 18,000 Brits missed work in the final quarter of last year due to mouth and dental problems.

The BDHF believes that brushing teeth for twice a day using fluoride toothpaste and visiting the dentist more often can cut down this absenteeism.

Dr Nigel Carter of the BDHF commented that reducing the consumption of sugary snacks during a day can lead to better dental health and less people phoning in sick each day.

He said: “If you do snack, select savoury snacks such as cheese, nuts, breadsticks and raw vegetables.”

The doctor, who also recommends sugar-free gum, added: “The main point to remember here is that it is not the amount of sugar you eat or drink, but how often you do it.”

Seems like it’s best to get that sugar hit during your three square meals a day!

Can a liquorice lollipop-a-day keep tooth decay at bay?

Maybe there really are some dental benefits to eating liquorice allsorts!

That is if you have confidence in the results of a study conducted in Michigan, USA, which involved giving sugar-free liquorice root lollipops to 66 pre-school children. The three-week experiment concluded that the lollipops reduced the presence of decay-causing bacteria on the children’s teeth.

Martin Curzon, editor of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry, the publishers of the study, commented: “Liquorice lollipops are an ideal approach as it will stop the transfer of the bacteria that cause dental decay from mothers to their infants and toddlers.”

The research was released in the same week that a study in Caries Research claimed that using sugar-free chewing gum containing magnolia bark extract over a 30-day period had a beneficial effect on reducing bacteria.