Your Smile

Invisalign is the revolutionary system which has changed the way we make new smiles. Using clear custom made trays that fit tightly over your teeth, they can be moved to achieve the smile you want. Whether your teeth are crowded, gappy, twisted or sticking out, Invisalign could get you there discretely and quickly. Metal braces are no longer necessary to get you the straight teeth you want! On average it takes between 15 to 20 weeks to straighten your teeth. After this your teeth can be whitened and contoured with composite bonding or veneers to give you your bespoke smile.

If you are interested in straightening your teeth, a dedicated consultation is booked for you. This gives us the opportunity to discuss what it is you want to achieve. With that information and a detailed clinical exam including photos, moulds, radiographs and a thorough assessment of the health of your teeth and gums, we will be able to make a video simulation of how your teeth can move, and how long it will take to achieve your smile. On average most people are in treatment for between 15 to 20 weeks. At the end of treatment retainers are fitted to stop your teeth returning to their original position. This is important for any orthodontic system including traditional metal braces. Without this your teeth will want to go back to their natural arrangement. 

Well there's no Tipp-ex involved, thats for sure! Tooth whitening involves the application of a bleaching gel to the teeth to bring out the lightest natural shade of your teeth. The gel is held on your teeth in custom made, snug fitting trays. Moulds are taken of your teeth from which a laboratory creates soft trays that fit your teeth perfectly. Once I have checked that they fit you well, I train you how to apply the gel in the trays yourself. You then take these home and start to wear them every night while you sleep (ideally 8 hours a night) for about 2 weeks, or until you are happy with the level of whiteness - it's that simple! If you don't like wearing them while you sleep, you can wear them in the day for around 4 hours a day. When you have completed your whitening, you come back in for a review to ensure that you are happy with the results. 

No - if you are pregnant or breast feeding, unfortunately you can't. If you are suffering from any broken teeth, tooth decay, infections, strong sensitivity, faulty fillings or gum disease, these must also first be treated to prevent further damage or pain. Once these conditions have been stabilised you should be suitable for whitening. If you have crowns, veneers, bridges, implants, bonding or fillings on your teeth, these will not change colour. If you are unhappy with the colour of any of these, you may want to whiten the rest of your teeth first and get new dental work done in a matching whiter shade to give you an even brighter smile. Many people have receding gums for a number of reasons. This shows the yellow/ brown root surfaces of the teeth. These can't be whitened with any amount of whitening gel. Often these areas are camouflaged with white fillings (that don't involve any drilling) instead. To make sure that you get the results you desire, it's important I carry out a full dental check up first so that any of these issues can be addressed.

In some cases people may experience pain from whitening, similar to the feeling when you have a very cold icy drink. There are lots of ways to avoid this, which I teach all of my patients. If you are someone who already gets a lot of sensitivity from their teeth then we need to investigate why and help treat this first. If you do not routinely get sensitive tooth pain, you are great candidate!

'Bonding' seems to be a bit of a buzz word right now. As knowledge and materials have advanced, we have many more options to cosmetically treat the teeth without trimming healthy teeth down. Composite bonding involves adding material to the surface of your teeth to improve their shape and size, as well as possibly camouflage misalignments. The material is called composite resin and it is a mixture of glass and resin. It comes in a vast range of shades and textures to ensure it blends in with your teeth so as not to be detected. The special property of this material is that it actually chemically bonds to your teeth if we apply certain adhesive chemicals to the surface of your teeth. This means that very often, your teeth do not need to be drilled to help grip the composite. Sometimes the Bonding is added just to the edges of the teeth. This is called edge bonding and is perfect for people with well aligned teeth with chipped or suboptimal edges which you would like to disguise. Sometimes the composite is applied on the whole front surface of your tooth. This is called a composite veneer and is a bit more extensive. This is sometimes required if you would like to change the general shape of your teeth, close gaps or disguise misaligned teeth. 

Bonding can offer the perfect solution for people who want a smile make over without having to go through months of braces and without the premium prices of porcelain veneers. ​Composite bonding takes less appointments as they are made by hand directly in your mouth by the dentist- me!. Porcelain veneers require a few more appointments as the dentist is working with a laboratory to help design and make them. Composite veneers are often placed without any drilling to your natural teeth. In some cases where the teeth are misaligned and braces are not an option, some drilling may be required. In these cases I would advise braces before bonding to get the healthiest and best cosmetic results. Composite veneers are considerably less expensive compared with Porcelain veneers for a few reasons:  They last on average between 3-5 years before they pick up surface stains and start to chip whereas porcelain may last 15+ years before they break. Additionally porcelain has a better cosmetic finish than composite. In some cases, composite veneers can serve as a long term transitional change to lay the blue print for your final veneers. During a consultation, we will have a lengthy discussion to find out which solution suits your needs.

If your teeth have stains, chipped edges, gaps between them, or are not aligned correctly, veneers can be a good solution. They look like natural teeth and don't require a very invasive procedure. The best results are achieved when your teeth are well aligned with healthy teeth, gums and bone. If your teeth are very misaligned or the gaps between them are too large, braces may be needed before placing veneers. If braces are not an option, mild misalignment and small gaps may still be corrected. If one tooth is slightly out of position, a veneer can sometimes be fitted to bring it into line with the others. Here is how they work:

A veneer is a very thin, tooth-coloured piece of porcelain (like a fake finger nail, but stronger) that is chemically adhered on top of your tooth. According to your requirements, the shape and size of the veneers can be designed to make your teeth overall look longer and or closer together. You can have just one veneer fitted or a whole set, depending on what you need. 

Crowns are made of the same or similar materials to veneers but is a more invasive dental restoration. They are used to fix teeth that have been broken, worn, weakened by decay or already have a large filling. Crowns could be a good treatment option for you if you have large discoloured fillings and would like to improve their appearance. Crowns can be used to replace these to give you a more attractive smile. Additionally, if you have had root canal treatment your tooth will now be weaker. You will need a crown to protect the tooth from breaking, allowing you to eat and bite down as if it were a natural healthy tooth.  If you already have crowns, they may not be giving you the look you would like. Some crown materials develop unsightly dark margins near the gum line after a long period and sometimes even decay. This can be solved by replacement with new tooth coloured ceramic crowns.

Both a crown and a veneer are made in the dental laboratory by a master ceramist technician who hand makes each piece to give you your bespoke smile. Your tooth will often need drilling to allow the crown or veneer to fit your tooth well. 

Bridges area a fixed solution to a missing tooth. If you have lost a tooth due to decay, breakage, infection or accidents, the gap left can be problematic for both your function and appearance. To restore the space, a ceramic tooth can be made in a dental laboratory by the ceramist. They use photos and moulds of your mouth to design your new tooth to match the shade and shape of your other teeth. This new tooth is held in place by attachment to either 1 or 2 teeth either side of the gap. Sometimes this requires no drilling to your natural teeth at all. This is more likely when replacing a front tooth. If you are replacing a back tooth which has more biting forces on it, it needs to be held in by being attached to a crown on one of your natural teeth. This is only a suitable option if the teeth either side of the space either already have a crown or have a large filling. This is to prevent drilling a whoel healthy tooth.