According to the information on NHS choices, ‘as many as one in four people in England snore regularly. Snoring can affect people of all ages, although it's more common in adults aged 40-60. Twice as many men than women snore.’

If this sounds familiar and you’re currently trying to stay awake because of another interrupted night’s sleep, read on!

Visiting the dentist may not be the first place people affected by snoring may think of going for help, but oral snore guards or more correctly Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD), can significantly help with 'tongue based' snoring.

These devices work by moving the lower jaw (mandible) forward and holding it there during sleep. This pulls the tongue away from the back of the throat and soft palate and helps maintain a more open airway.

Snore guards can also help to prevent Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) – a condition that approximately 4% of middle-aged men and 2% of middle-aged women in the UK are believed to suffer with.

The NHS describes OSA as ‘when the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing. During an episode, the lack of oxygen triggers your brain to pull you out of deep sleep – either to a lighter sleep or to wakefulness – so your airway reopens and you can breathe normally.’

Illume owner Tim Rumney, says, “Snoring and Sleep Apnoea can be delicate subjects as it’s not only the snorer that suffers, it’s also their partner! However, once it has been established that there is a problem it is very easy for the person with the issue to seek help and the majority, approximately 75%, experience an immediate improvement.”

Illume offers two types of snore guards – Somnowell and Sleepwell by S4S (Solutions 4 Snoring). Both are custom made to fit each person’s mouth, offering slightly different mechanisms to advance the lower jaw.  The fees for custom made snore guards start from £390 and represent a valuable investment towards a good night’s sleep for both snorers and their partners.

“People can buy off-the-shelf devices which can be useful for trialling a snore guard to see if it makes a difference, but if you do decide that this works we would always recommend using a guard that has been specifically made to fit your own mouth as it will be more comfortable, effective and healthier for the mouth,” continues Tim.

There are currently around 115,000 people living in Cheltenham which means a potential 28,750 people could be snorers! If one of these is you or your partner, find out more about snore guards from Illume or contact us now to discuss how we might be able to help.

Illume's Non-clinical Director, Alison Rumney, writes:

I was reading the e-zine of a friend and dental coach and he had found the article ’11 reasons you are right to be terrified of the dentist’ in Metro online. He makes the point that you don’t need facts to file a negative report about dentistry. How true!

Amongst the 11 reasons were:

The unnerving receptionists who stare at you and give you a stern look and the ‘waiting room’. NOT AT ILLUME where you will be welcomed with a warm smile, a cup of tea or coffee if you wish, a daily newspaper, that month’s magazines and a client lounge that is cool in Summer and warm in Winter. There is no tropical fish tank but there is relaxing music playing!

The noises including weird electrical noises, suction and screaming. NOT AT ILLUME. The treatment rooms are a little way away from the patient lounge with the calm music playing. We don’t have weird electrical noises and the warm, caring and professional manner of our dentists and hygienists means we don’t have screaming either.

The words ‘Open wide’ and the fact that you might not make it out with all of your teeth. NOT AT ILLUME. Our dentists are trained and committed to doing all they can to help you keep your natural teeth and will only remove them after discussion with you, having explored other options and with your consent to treatment.

Urban legends. Apparently we have all been told terribly scary stories about what happens at the dentist. Well, in my experience, NOT FROM ILLUME CLIENTS. I only take advice and listen to the recommendations of my close friends and people I trust. I assume this is the same for the clients who join Illume following recommendations from their family members, friends and colleagues who are regular and long standing clients with us.

You’ve put it off for so long. What if the dentist gets angry and removes all your teeth? NOT AT ILLUME. Our dentists don’t get angry and as I wrote above they are trained, along with our team of hygienists to help you keep your natural teeth for as long as possible. I’ll let you into a secret. Our dentists don’t really like removing teeth. They spent five years training initially and subsequently attend yearly continuous professional development with the clinical emphasis on treatments to allow clients to keep their own teeth for as long as is feasible.

Following the publication of this article, a dentist who messaged the journalist was blocked from her account. The journalist then removed the by-line from her story, deleted her twitter post about it and then shut her account completely for 11 days. Let’s take our own conclusions from that.

Meanwhile if you have been putting off making an appointment and feel it’s time to see a dentist please take a look around this website. You can find out all about our treatments and fees, and take a look at the practice and our team - we don’t look scary at all! You can even watch testimonials from some of our clients. Dare I say, they are raving fans?

And if you like what you see please pick up the phone and give us a call on 01242 522230. We’d love to have the opportunity to show you that the Metro journalist is very wide of the mark when it comes to Illume. Go on, pick up the phone. We’d love to welcome you and look after you in the Illume style.

It seems that whenever you turn on the television at the moment, sugar is a recurring subject!

From Wednesday’s ‘Alternative Ingredients’ Great British Bake Off (GBBO) where the contestants were tasked with creating cakes without using sugar, to last night’s one-off Jamie’s Sugar Rush on Channel Four, sugar is rarely out of the spotlight.

From a dental perspective, this national media attention is excellent news and reiterates what we have been saying for years – sugar is really not good for you, so we are very pleased that people are finally catching on!

Recently updated guidelines from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition recommend that ‘intake of free sugars should not exceed 5% of total dietary energy’ – widely believed to be approximately equivalent to 7 teaspoons. Anyone who watched last night’s Jamie’s Sugar Rush will know that this is not as easy as it sounds if your diet contains processed food.

Jamie Oliver’s Sugar Rush campaign is lobbying the government to introduce a tax on sugary drinks which would see funds ring-fenced for use in schools to educate youngsters on the importance of a healthy, balanced diet.

The campaign also includes a five point ‘Sugar Manifesto’ which can only have a positive effect according to Illume owner, dentist Tim Rumney.

“As one of the new breed of celebrities who is a skilled media operator, having a household name like Jamie Oliver spearhead a high-profile health education campaign really helps to get the message across to a wide range of people, “ says Tim. “And that’s what’s key – people need simple, factual information to help them make the right choice for themselves and their family.” 

A quick search on the internet shows that the idea of a Sugar Free September is gaining momentum around the world. From Australia and New Zealand to right here in the UK, people are wising up to the wide variety of health issues that this ‘whiter than white’ ingredient can cause, as this recent article from the British Dental Health Foundation explains.

Tim continues, “The film clip of six year old Mario having his teeth extracted because of decay caused by sugar on last night’s programme was an effective shock tactic, but sugar is the number one cause of tooth decay. No matter how strict your tooth brushing regime is, enamel simply isn’t designed to withstand constant attack from sugar.”

And it’s not just hidden sugars like those we highlighted in our recent ‘Truth About Your Teeth’ blog post - there are also lots and lots of foods out there with enormous sugar content blatantly on show!

Wednesday’s GBBO demonstrated that there are some really tasty alternatives to using refined sugar to achieve the sweet taste that we all expect from a cake – agave nectar, honey, maple syrup and fruit were just some of the substitutions used with varying degrees of success!

However, whilst these are alternatives to refined sugar, they are STILL sugars and therefore still harmful to teeth. As a nation, we need to address the frequency that we consume ALL sugars including ‘natural’ sugars if we are going to make any inroads into reducing dental decay.

As for fizzy drinks – we’ll leave the last word to Jamie Oliver’s team ‘Don’t keep sugary drinks in the house! If they’re not there, you can’t drink them!’

More top tips and recipe ideas to reduce sugar intake can be found by visiting the Jamie Oliver website, whilst Action on Sugar offers advice on how to eat less sugar – find out more by visiting www.actiononsugar.org.

Change for Life also contains a number of sugar swap ideas aimed at the whole family.

If you’re concerned about the effects of sugar on your dental health, please discuss with your Illume dentist at your next Healthy Mouth Review. We’re always happy to offer advice and support whenever we can.