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Coke is everywhere in South Africa. It is on the table at the braai, next to the pap and chicken at the family lunch, in the lunch box and in the fridge at the garage. I will not pretend I have never enjoyed one. But as a dentist, I look at Coke very differently from how most people do. When I look at it, I see what it does to enamel. Today I want to tell you what is really in that bottle, and how to protect your teeth without giving up everything you enjoy. Hit Number One:

I will be honest with you. I am not the dentist who wants to take all the sweets away. I like sweets too. But every year after Halloween, my chair fills up with people who say the same thing. Doctor, I only had a few sweets. The problem is rarely how much candy someone ate. It is how they ate it. So before the bags of sweets come out this week, let me tell you what is really going on in your mouth, and how to enjoy the treats without paying for them at my practice. What Sug

Patients tell me things in my chair that they have read online or heard from a friend, a cousin or a WhatsApp group. Some of it is harmless. Some of it keeps people away from treatment they really need. So let me go through the five myths I hear the most, and tell you honestly what is true and what is not. Myth 1: Root Canals Make You Sick This is the big one. People tell me a root canal will cause illness in the rest of the body, even serious illness. I understand why it s

It is one of the questions patients ask me most quietly, usually near the end of an appointment. Doctor, if my partner has bad teeth or bad breath, can I catch it from kissing? And if I do, what happens to my mouth? The honest answer is yes, bacteria can pass from one mouth to another. But the full story is more interesting than that, and a lot less scary than the internet makes it sound. Yes, Kissing Swaps Bacteria Your mouth is home to hundreds of different kinds of bacte

Almost every patient who comes to me in an emergency tells me the same thing. I knew something was wrong. I just did not think it was that serious. I was going to come in when I had the time, or the money, or when it started to hurt. I never judge anyone for this. Life gets busy and dental visits are easy to push aside. But I want to be honest with you about what waiting actually does, because the price of being late is much higher than most people expect. 1. You Lose Treat

A lot of patients come to me describing the same thing. A sharp, sudden pain when they drink something cold, bite into something sweet, or even breathe in cold air. The automatic assumption is always worn enamel, and most of the time that assumption is right. But sensitivity is not always just about your enamel, and I want to walk you through both sides of this properly. What Is Actually Happening When a Tooth Feels Sensitive Your enamel is the hard outer layer protecting y

Patients often ask me why their teeth look a certain colour, usually because they want them whiter. But colour is not just about appearance. Your teeth can change shade for a whole range of reasons, and some of those reasons matter far more than others. Let me walk you through what different colours can actually tell us. Why White Teeth Do Not Always Mean Healthy Teeth This is the point I want to start with, because it surprises a lot of patients. A bright white smile does

I read a story recently that I think every one of my patients needs to hear. A British man named Graham Bell, 61 years old, started experiencing severe headaches out of nowhere. There was no obvious cause. No injury. Nothing that pointed to his mouth at all. Doctors eventually discovered a mass in his brain. He needed emergency, life saving brain surgery. And when his medical team investigated where the infection had actually come from, they traced it back to something nobody

Patients ask me all the time what they should be eating for stronger teeth, and most of the time the conversation jumps straight to calcium. Calcium matters, but it is only part of the picture. Your teeth rely on a whole team of vitamins working together, and a gap in any one of them can quietly undermine your oral health, even if you are brushing and flossing perfectly. Let me walk you through the five that matter most. 1. Vitamin D Vitamin D does not build your teeth dire

Bad breath is one of those things almost nobody wants to talk about, and yet it comes up in my chair all the time. Patients often assume it is just something that happens, or that mints and mouthwash are the permanent fix. The truth is that persistent bad breath almost always has a real, identifiable cause behind it. Let me walk you through the five I see most often. 1. Bacteria on Your Tongue This is the one most people never think about. The back of your tongue is covered

Fermented foods have become really popular over the last few years. Yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, patients bring these up with me quite often now, usually asking about gut health. What surprises most people is that fermented food also has a real connection to your dental health, and it is more interesting than you might expect. Let me walk you through what is actually going on, including the parts where you need to be a little careful. What Fermentation Actu

There is a condition I see fairly often that catches patients off guard because it does not behave the way they expect a dental problem to behave. It is called cracked tooth syndrome, and the tricky part is that in many cases, the crack does not even show up clearly on an X-ray. Let me explain what it is and why it is worth understanding. What Cracked Tooth Syndrome Actually Is This happens when a tooth develops a crack that is too fine or positioned in a way that our normal

I get asked about this often, and it always surprises patients when I tell them the truth. The toothpick, the little wooden or plastic stick you reach for when something is stuck between your teeth, was never actually made for cleaning your teeth. The name is misleading and it has caused a lot of confusion, and honestly, a lot of damage. Let me explain what I mean and what you should be reaching for instead. Why the Name Confuses Everyone A toothpick is called a toothpick,

I have noticed something over the last few years that I want to talk about honestly, because I do not think it gets talked about enough. A growing number of young patients, especially those in their late teens and early twenties, are trying to handle their own dental problems at home instead of coming in to see me. They are not doing this because they do not care about their teeth. Most of them care a lot. They are doing it because dental care feels out of reach financially,

Whenever I tell a patient there are hundreds of species of bacteria living in their mouth right now, I usually get the same reaction. A slightly worried look, sometimes a small step back in the chair. I understand why. Bacteria sounds like a bad word. Something to kill off completely. But here is what I want every patient to understand. Not all bacteria in your mouth are the enemy. In fact, most of them are working for you, not against you. The real issue is not that bacteria

A lot of patients think of gum disease and cavities as two completely different things. One is about your gums. The other is about your teeth. In their minds these are separate boxes. You either have a gum problem or you have a tooth problem. The truth is these two conditions are much closer than most people realise. In fact, one very often leads to the other. Let me explain how. They Start From the Exact Same Place Both gum disease and cavities begin with the same thing. P

I want to tell you about a patient who taught me something I never learned in dental school. It changed how I explain things to every single patient who sits in my chair now. She had a cracked molar. I explained what was wrong with it. I showed her the X-ray. I even picked up the mirror and tried to angle it so she could see the crack herself. Nothing worked. She said no to the treatment. Not once. Three times, across different visits. To her, it was just a tooth that sometim

A few patients have asked me about this lately. They have heard that fasting can help with inflammation in the body, and they want to know if that includes their gums. It is a good question and the answer is more interesting than you might think. Let me walk you through what is actually going on. Gum Disease Is an Inflammation Problem Before we talk about fasting, you need to understand what gum disease actually is at its core. When bacteria build up along your gum line, yo

Almost every patient who walks into my practice tells me the same thing. I brush every day, Dr. Buleni, so I do not understand why I have a cavity or why my gums are bleeding. Here is the thing. Brushing every day is only half the story. How you brush matters just as much as whether you brush. I see the same small mistakes over and over again, and most people have no idea they are even doing them. So let me walk you through the five I see the most. 1. Brushing Too Hard This

When you lose a tooth, one of the first questions people ask me is what now. Do I get a denture or do I get an implant? It is a very fair question and I want to break it down for you in a way that is easy to understand so that you can make the best choice for yourself. Let me start from the beginning. What Is a Denture? A denture is what most people call a false tooth. It is made to look like your real tooth but the big difference is that you take it out. You remove it to c