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Your Treatment

Fillings

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When a tooth breaks or has decay we need to rebuild the tooth to protect the nerve and prevent the tooth breaking further.  The process usually involves cleaning the tooth before putting the filling in.  We offer a range of fillings. Silver fillings are predictable and last for years but don’t look so nice.  White fillings look great but can be really difficult to do well and may not typically last as long as a silver filling.  It is normal for teeth to be sensitive after a filling has been placed but if it doesn’t settle or pain feels like its getting worse please contact the clinic and we will review you.

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Composite bonding

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If teeth are chipped, worn or uneven it is possible to rebuild and enhance smiles by adding white fillings to the edges or even the full surfaces of teeth. This can be a transformative experience for patients with concerns about the health and appearance of their teeth. The process usually takes 1-2 visits and with regular polishing can be expected to last over 5 years before wear and tear may begin to show.  Many dentists describe this as fully reversible and minimally invasive but it is not; sometimes teeth need need preparing before treatment and if it ever needs removing it can be challenging. ​ Composite bonding is a great, predictable and comparatively easy way of managing uneven teeth and helping people feel better about their smiles.​

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Tooth Whitening

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We offer a full range of whitening treatments that help lift the colour and brightness of teeth.  Our preferred approach is with simple bleaching trays that patients wear at night or in the day into which the whitening gel is placed. The teeth will typically take 3-4 weeks to reach their maximum whiteness.  Patients love their white teeth!

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Periodontal treatment

 

When patients have gum disease there are two ways we can control it.  The first and most important is good meticulous brushing at home.  With this and good cleaning between your teeth you should be able to control this problem;  your dentist or Elise will show you what to do!  The second is professional cleaning with our team.  This involves cleaning the surfaces of the teeth smooth so they don’t attract germs.  It can be quite a sensitive process so please don’t hesitate to ask for some local anaesthetic!  Unfortunately we now know that gum disease is a disease for life which means it can be very challenging to stabilise. If you have gum problems you may need treatment every 3 months for a long time before it can really be controlled and it can very easily return if your oral hygiene is not so good.  We also know that smoking and diabetes are strong associated with gum problems.  If you do smoke you should stop if you want to get you gum disease under control.  If you are diabetic,  working harder to regulate your blood sugar will help you manage your disease.

 

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/

 

 

Root canal treatment

 

Sometimes the nerve of a tooth can become inflamed and sadly, they do not heal well.  This can result in tooth ache,  the nerve dying off and even infection of the tooth.  Although some infections don’t cause pain others can result in excruciating pain and swelling.  In these cases we either need to take the tooth out or undertake root canal treatment.    This is a process of cleaning the nerve space with little instruments and lots of bleach before filling the space with a rubber-like material!  It should in most cases be successful and you can keep the tooth for many years to come.  Sometimes they do not work and sadly, the tooth will need removing.  There are some risks of root canal treatment:

 

  • Instruments can break during treatment:  we use very small, fine instruments and these can break during treatment.  Because they are small it is not often possible to remove them and broken instruments can lead to failure of the root canal treatment.  Fortunately, it is very rare that this happens!

  • We cannot find all the canals:  the anatomy inside teeth is very complex.  Only specialists have all the equipment that is sometimes required.  Please ask your dentist if you would like a referral to local trusted specialist.

  • Sometimes we can damage teeth looking for root canals;  this can shorten the lifespan of the tooth.  

  • It is often wise to place a crown on a tooth after completion of root canal treatment to

 

Nonetheless,  all things considered is often better to accept the risks above and save the tooth when the only other option guaranteed to work is to extract the tooth.

 

Crowns

 

Crowns are thimbles of metal and/or ceramic that are placed over teeth.  They serve three functions;  to rebuild the shape of the tooth,  to rebuild the appearance of the tooth and finally to protect the remaining tooth underneath.  To place a crown we need to shave down the top and sides of the tooth before taking impressions of the tooth and the opposing teeth to have the crown constructed.  There may always be a right answer as to when a crown is needed but generally filling can become too big to be predictable.  Your dentist will help support you as to when these may be needed.  You should be aware that crowns will not last forever.  A well-made crown may last in excess of 10 years but some do not.  Furthermore, the process of crowning a tooth can irritate the nerve and in some cases the nerve does not survive.  This means teeth may become painful and go on to need root canal treatment after some crowns have been placed.

 

Missing teeth

 

If you are missing a tooth your have three principle options to replace it:

 

Bridges: These are false teeth attached to healthy teeth.  They come in two forms;  glued-on (or adhesive bridges) and conventional bridges.  In the former the false tooth is attached to the healthy tooth with a wing that glues to it.  These require very little or no damage to that tooth and in the right mouths last over 10 years.  Conventional bridges require the anchoring teeth to be crowned.  These may look nicer and last longer but the involve more destruction of the neighbouring tooth so when they fail it is often catastrophic, leaving a bigger space.

 

Dentures:  These are false teeth that can be taken in and out.  These often look the best but feel the worst.  They are generally cheaper and can be used to replace more than one tooth at once so can be very cost-effective ways of replacing missing teeth.  Our NHS service offers plastic dentures but we can provide metal framework dentures too privately.

 

Implants:  These are screws that are placed into the jaw and then onto these either a crown,  a bridge or even a denture can be secured.  The can be fixed and are independent of the teeth either side meaning there is no collateral damage.  The can look amazing and be life changing for patients.  They are however costly and the treatment can take 6-9 months to deliver.  We know that implants do not last a lifetime.  If you would like explore implants please as the dentists as these can be provided at the practice.    

 

Braces

 

When teeth are in the wrong position there are now many forms of brace based treatment that can be used to correct this.  There are very strict criteria for who can get these on the NHS.  If you want to explore this privately ask your dentist for more information.

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Success of treatment

No dental treatment can be 100% guaranteed to work without complication or sometimes failure. The mouth is an inhospitable place full of germs and occasionally problems may emerge sooner than we may want.  Please be assured we will always do our best to correct any problems; please 

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