A natural, confident smile is one of the most attractive features anyone can possess. Sadly, many people are inhibited by the appearance of their teeth and condition of their mouth. It’s true; poor teeth and gums can affect your health, quality of life, self-confidence and the way you are perceived by others. Fortunately, new dental advances enable your St James’ dentist to restore, rejuvenate and enhance the health, appearance and condition of your mouth even where teeth and gums are seriously damaged.
With modern technology there are now a considerable number of dental procedures, which can quickly and easily improve the appearance of your teeth.
Scale and Polish – Carried out regularly this will do more to prevent damage and improve your smile than any other procedure. It will also prevent you developing bad breath (Fact File on Bad Breath).
Jet Washing – If a tooth has surface staining then this will remove it completely. The jet of water and fine mint flavoured sodium bicarbonate powder can get into those difficult areas that are not normally accessible.
Tooth Whitening – Professional tooth whitening with chemicals like carbamide peroxide. Don’t be fooled by toothpastes that promise pearly white perfection. Whitening toothpastes are not permitted to use the level of chemical concentration necessary to affect changes to the colour of your teeth. The advanced tooth whitening system used at St. James’ Dental ensures reliable, predictable improvements even down to individual teeth. (Fact File on Tooth Bleaching).
Veneers – Your dentist will shave a layer of enamel from the front and side of the tooth and replace it with a layer of ceramic porcelain. This is a simple procedure, which can dramatically improve the appearance of your smile without removing a lot of tooth tissue. Veneers can be used to change the shape and colour of your teeth, rarely come off, and very quickly they will feel just like normal teeth.
Tooth Coloured Fillings – Made of either glass composites or ceramic material, tooth coloured restorative materials are now used routinely for filling teeth in preference to the more commonly used silver metal filling material. In using the white composite materials often less drilling is required and give a quite fabulous result.
Crowns – Are used if the tooth is severely damaged or heavily filled. If a veneer is a “front”, then a crown can best be described as a “cover”. The tooth is trimmed so that a strong thimble shaped core is left. The core or post is then covered with a cylinder of porcelain; shaped, sized and coloured to give you the appearance of a perfect tooth. Within days, just like the veneers, crowns quickly feel like normal teeth. If you have a very heavy bite it is sometimes necessary to line the porcelain crown with a precious metal to give them extra strength.
Implants – The dentist lifts a small flap of gum to expose the bone. A titanium screw is gently screwed into the jawbone. The oxide film covering the screw locks into the bone on a cellular level and becomes part of the live bone. Once the implant is fully integrated (up to 6 months later) a crown is placed over and fixed onto the implant. Implants have been around for a long time but now the science is much more precise and predictable.
Points to Remember
Prevention is better than cure! Look after your teeth and gums and with any luck you will never need cosmetic dentistry. Before considering cosmetic procedures always ensure you are otherwise “dentally fit” and that you have a high standard of oral hygiene. Always consider the simple procedures first to get the maximum benefit with the least time, effort and expense. Your St James Dentist will always advise you on any aspect of cosmetic dentistry you would like to consider.
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