Why, when you go to the dentist do they always finish the checkup by telling you how to clean your teeth? I am now 81 and still got a full set of my own teeth and have only had three fillings during my lifetime. Surely I must be cleaning them right but I still get told how to clean them.

I am 60. I don’t think a dentist has told me how to brush my teeth since I was a child. But the nhs dentist always tells me I need to see their private hygeinist . I have always declined.  My dentist is part of a national chain where it is clear they want to make money out of non-nhs work - plenty of posters pointing out how important it is to have work done to make your smile perfect. The nhs dentist left last year. The practice say they will try to replace him. Chances are slim I think. Compared to some people I feel lucky I had a nhs dentist up to last year.