Indra’s blog: About the Five-to-Twelve Situation and Why it’s Time to Take Action Now

Indra’s blog: About the Five-to-Twelve Situation and Why it’s Time to Take Action Now 

The new year had only just begun and all of a sudden the weather changed. Snow fell and the roads turned into an ice rink around my house. The gritters did not come out at all. 

I was running some errands and while passing the tyre shop, I ordered the new winter tires that my husband had been going on about for the past month for me to get them on my car. 

While driving home I found myself in a complete slide on a nearby road. The car spun round and with it’s nose facing the other way as where I was coming from, came to a halt on the opposite lane. Luckily for me there were no other cars near as I would have had a full-on collision. 

I caught my breath and realised how lucky I was. This had been my “five-to-twelve” situation. The outcome could have been very different. I can’t even think to imagine how horrible.

In our practice we also see patients in their own dental five-to-twelve situation. If you have one of those yourself, trust me, you are not the only one. It happens more often than you think, and in different ways. Before I give you some scenarios, let’s see what is regarded as being in a “five-to-twelve” situation. This is when you are in a critical, last-minute scenario where time is almost out, and immediate, urgent action is necessary to prevent a negative outcome. 

So how does this relate to dentistry? Just a few that we see regularly:

Patients coming in with gum disease in different stages. Some have a feeling something is not right, some have not seen any signs, but the common trait is that regular hygiene visits have not been in the diary. (Even worse when they have seen a hygienist, but have not been explained what is going on). Waiting could lead to irreversible damage and even to the loss of some or all of their teeth.

Sometimes we see patients that have mobile teeth. They often have noticed it, but have not realised what this means for the stability of the other teeth and the health of their whole mouth.

Patients that have worn teeth down, in all varieties again. Just some small tips of the teeth or even most of the tooth surface could have been ‘eaten’ over time. Overload, pain and a full ‘collapse’ of the face could be next. 

Then we see the patient that regularly has an abscess, where pus can be oozing out, but believes this is ‘normal’ as they have been advised so by their previous dentist or just because ‘it’s been there for as long as I can remember’. Pus is never a good sign and always unhealthy for the whole body.

Of course there are the broken teeth, the deep decay and signs of cancer to name a few, with one outcome to be more destructive than the other, but never a good sign.

Honestly, there are more five-to-twelves in dentistry than I would like. 

I knew I had to get those winter tires on from the moment I bought the car. My husband warned me and I usually do swop my tires before the winter weather starts. However, life took over and I was busy with all the busy-ness that comes with being a mum to three amazing boys and the owner of a state-of-the-art dental practice. So I get it, you don’t always get to do what you know you should have been doing. But every day a new day starts and you get another chance to get yourself sorted.

Are you not sure about the state of your dental health and would like us to have an extensive look? We will absolutely do so with all our expertise. No judgement, but honesty. We will tell you where you are in your dental journey and how we can help within your budget. You get to decide how you want to proceed, while our team is there to guide you to make sure you don’t get to twelve o’clock.  Phone us or book your consultation on our website. We are here to help.

Indra xx