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Dr Vikas PrinjaTheLondonDentistThe London Dentist

Insights

Dentistry, explained.

Short answers to the questions patients ask most by Dr Vikas Prinja

Oral health

Is sugar-free chewing gum actually good for your teeth?

Yes, within limits. Chewing sugar-free gum for around ten minutes after eating stimulates saliva flow, which buffers acid and helps the enamel surface recover more quickly. It is a useful addition after meals when brushing is not appropriate - it is not a substitute for brushing, and it does not clean between teeth.

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  • The benefit is saliva stimulation, not cleaning.
  • Around ten minutes after eating is the useful window.
  • It is genuinely helpful in the gap after a meal when brushing would be premature anyway.

Oral health

Should you brush before or after breakfast?

Brush before breakfast, or wait about an hour after eating. Food and drink — particularly anything acidic, including fruit juice and coffee — temporarily soften the enamel surface. Brushing during that window scrubs away softened mineral rather than protecting it.

3 min

In the news

Purple toothpaste: colour correction is not whitening

Purple toothpastes use colour theory — a violet pigment counteracts yellow tones — to make teeth look less yellow immediately. That is an optical effect on the surface, and it washes away. It is not whitening: it does not change the intrinsic shade of the tooth, which is what peroxide-based whitening does.

4 min

Oral health

Nicotine pouches and snus: what they do to gums

Nicotine pouches are held against the gum for long periods, and the tissue at that site takes the load. The changes most often seen are localised gum recession, white or thickened patches of mucosa where the pouch sits, and inflammation. Being tobacco-free does not make a pouch harmless to the gums.

4 min

Oral health

Vaping and your mouth: what dentists are actually seeing

Vaping is not neutral for the mouth. The most consistent findings in practice are reduced saliva flow, gum inflammation that does not settle with normal cleaning, and staining. The long-term evidence is still developing, but treating vaping as harmless to teeth is not supported by what is seen clinically.

5 min

Treatment planning

Composite bonding or veneers: how the decision is actually made

Composite bonding adds tooth-coloured resin directly to the tooth and usually removes little or no enamel; ceramic veneers are laboratory-made and normally require some preparation. The choice is a diagnostic decision driven by how much enamel is present, whether tooth position needs correcting first, how the bite loads the teeth, and how the result will be maintained — not a matter of preference.

6 min

Topics: Clinical guide · Treatment planning · Oral health · In the news

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