09 Nov Do you like your smile?

Many patients come to see us and say they are unhappy with their smile. They don’t like to show their teeth when a photograph is being taken, maybe they are a little crooked or they feel the teeth are dark.

This is a common occurrence and often patients do not realise that there are simple measures that can be taken to make real improvements without

1. Spending a small fortune
2. Having a lot of invasive work

Thanks to the advances of dental materials science and tooth whitening procedures we can make some simple changes to have maximum impact for your smile.

This kind of dentistry is called Minimal Intervention Dentistry and we are big fans of it at Thackeray Dental Care.

By using these techniques we can

1. Preserve as much tooth tissue as possible
2. Ensure the longevity of your teeth

Over the years, we have come to understand, in dentistry, that in general, the more we do to a tooth the shorter it’s lifespan will be. Sometimes we have no choice other than to crown or cap a tooth and not to do so would lead to extraction but we are certainly more hesitant to carry out more invasive dentistry now.

So what can we offer?

When you attend for your appointment it is important that we really listen to you and find out exactly what you do and don’t like about your teeth and smile. Once we understand we will carry out a full assessment including checking all the teeth, gums and soft tissues. We may take some x-rays to confirm the health of teeth and we may take some photographs.

We can then start to build up a plan of how to progress to improve your smile. There may well be several options and we will make sure we explain all the different choices and give you the time scales involved to complete the treatments as well as the costs.

A typical Minimal Intervention Treatment may involve:-

• Moving teeth – with the modern wires and brackets and clear aligners available this can be carried out quickly, comfortably and, in most cases, without referral to an orthodontic specialist.

• Whitening teeth – Tooth whitening is a safe, reliable method to really brighten your teeth without damaging them with harsh abrasives. Hydrogen peroxide is used in custom made trays for you to wear each day to whiten your teeth. Average treatment time is 5-10 days to achieve the shade you would like.

• Additions to teeth of tooth coloured composites – small and subtle changes can be made to the shape of teeth using composite filling materials. Larger changes can also be made using these materials by covering the entire face of the tooth as a composite veneer.

• Bigger changes to tooth shape may require the addition of a porcelain veneer, either with minimal or no preparation of the tooth.

Most treatments will have a combination of these items. If you would like to have a chat about how we can help improve your smile we would be delighted to hear from you and answer your queries.

Please contact us via our website or call us on 01623629359 or message via our Facebook page.