General dental treatments
We offer comprehensive dental care both under the NHS and privately but some services are exclusively private such as: Orthodontics, Dental Implants, Cosmetic work and oral surgery by an oral surgeon.
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Initial Examination
We carry out a thorough examination of:
- oral mucosa to look for any benign, pre-cancerous or malignant lesions
- all teeth to diagnose any carious lesions
- gums and surrounding periodontal tissues
Detailed examination helps to diagnose any clinical problem at early stage and treated appropriately, this also enables to formulate appropriate preventive advice.
Oral hygiene instructions and dietary advice given to all patients to prevent any problems happening.
Scale & Polish
Thorough clean and polish of teeth followed by oral hygiene education/instructions. Some patients require deep cleaning and root planing for the better gum health subject to their gum condition, such deep clean is often done under local anaesthetic.
Oral Hygiene
Supporting tissues (Periodontal tissues) of Teeth are:
- Gums
- Alveolar Bone
- Periodontal Ligament
Health of these tissues is of paramount importance for the teeth to remain stable and functional.
Lack of proper oral hygiene maintenance causes bacterial accumulation under the gum and around the teeth which in turn leads to periodontal (gum) disease in often very short periods of time.
It is very important to take care of gum health in order to avoid teeth mobility and unsightly smile. Gum disease causes gum shrinkage between teeth producing unsightly spaces between teeth and making teeth look longer in size.
Best treatment to avoid gum and teeth problems is the maintenance of oral hygiene. Our advice to patients is "Prevention is better than cure”. The simple regime we recommend is:
- Twice daily brushing using fluoride tooth paste.
- Interdental cleaning (using dental floss or recommended alternate)
- Healthy diet
We offer comprehensive care to prevent oral health problems and educate patients to avoid such problems from happening. Patients diagnosed with gum disease are given advanced gum treatment based on latest concepts.
Crowns & Bridges
What is a crown?
Crowns also knows as caps which are fitted over a badly destroyed/broken tooth to rebuild/restore it.
Why would I need a crown?
The crown is indicated in following situations:
- Weak tooth structure
- Heavily filled teeth
- Badly broken/fractured teeth
- Discoloured teeth
- Root filled teeth
- Cosmetics
- As a part of bridge
What are crowns made of?
Crowns are made from porcelain bonded to precious and non precious metals.
- Porcelain
- Ceramic
- Zirconia
- Precious metals like gold alloys
Do you need to drill my tooth?
Tooth is prepared by the dentist to receive the crown. Impression is taken of that preparation and sent to laboratory for the crown fabrication from the requested material.
How long does the treatment take?
It requires minimum of two visits for the treatment to be completed, first visit is for tooth preparation, impression, shade taking and fitting the temporary crown, whereas second visit is to fit the permanent crown.
How are crowns fixed to teeth?
Patient gets to check fit and appearance of the crown before hand then crown is cemented in position with special dental cement.
Bridges
What is a dental bridge?
Dental bridge is the way of replacing a missing tooth by preparing the adjacent teeth. Crowns are made for adjacent teeth and a missing tooth is soldered to them then all is cemented as one unit.
Long term effects on adjacent teeth?
Healthy teeth are drilled to prepare them to receive the crowns and all teeth are joined together which compromises the proper cleaning which can lead to recurrent decay in supporting teeth and their destruction.
Dentures
These are removable dental prosthesis to replace missing teeth. Dentures are made from:
- Acrylic
- Chrome - Cobalt metal
- Veloplast (flexible dentures)
This is a very conservative form of dental prosthesis to replace missing teeth which doesn’t involve any tooth tissue drilling.
Common complaints by patients:
- Speech is affected
- Finding difficult to tolerate in the mouth for longer duration
- Painful
- Foreign body sensation
Majority of the patients get used to the prosthesis and tolerate it very well.
Advantages of dentures are:
- Its easy to keep clean
- Its eady to repair
- Can add more teeth in the future
- Cost effective
- Can achieve excellent aesthetics of dental and mucosal soft tissues
Fillings
White Fillings: These are resin based ceramic particle containing aesthetic fillings, there fillings are mercury free. These are very conservative fillings and help save the tooth structure as white filling bond to the natural tooth structure with the help of adhesive resins.
Silver Fillings: Also known as, "Amalgam". This filling is a combination of silver metal alloy powder mixed with liquid mercury. This is a very durable and strong material and quite stable in moisture comparing to white fillings which are moisture sensitive.
There is increasing concern in public for mercury hygiene and poisoning therefore more and more patients are opting for white fillings.
Before
After
RCT (Root Canal Treatment)
Root Canal Treatment also called endodontic treatment - is needed when the blood or nerve supply of the tooth (known as the pulp) is infected through decay or injury. RCT is done to save the affected tooth from being extracted.
Is Root Canal Treatment painful?
No, the root canal treatment is not painful. local anaesthetic is used to fully numb the area and there is no pain felt by the patient.
Fissure Sealant
What are sealants?
A sealant is a protective coating applied to the biting surfaces of the back teeth. Which keeps the food and bacteria from getting into the tiny grooves in the teeth and causing decay.
What is involved?
The process is usually quick and straightforward taking only a few minutes per tooth. The tooth is thoroughly cleaned, prepared with a special solution, and dried. The liquid sealant is then applied and allowed to set with halogen light.
Will my child feel it?
No, Child doesn’t feel anything as it is totally pain free.
How long do they last?
Sealants usually last for many years, but dentist checks them during each examination and does repeat them if required.
When should this be done?
Fissure sealants are applied when back teeth start growing from age of 6-7 years and are regularly monitored.
How much does it cost?
Fissure sealants are free under the NHS. If your dentist doesn’t offer NHS treatment then cost varies from dentist to dentist but normally they are not very expensive.
Mouthguards
These are custom made protective gum shields used for various reasons such as:
- Sports
- Bruxism (Habbit of teeth grinding)
Dentist takes an impression and send to lab and a guard is fabricated by laboratory form thermoplastic acrylic as per dentist prescription.