How Can We Help You?

Modern dental care has changed and now has very much more to offer than many people realise. We provide all aspects of modern dentistry, especially cosmetic work. If you want to improve your smile, we can help you. We aim to provide only the highest quality of care, the sort of care that we would want for ourselves.

This is a brief guide to some of things that we can do for you.

If you think that you may benefit from any of these, or would like to know more about the items mentioned, please telephone and speak to Chris Wormald, the practice manager, or any member of the practice team who will be delighted to help you, or send a email to smiles@grahamlovis.com (or just click on this link)

 

Top Ten Ways We Can Improve Your Dental Health

1. Do your gums bleed or look red and swollen? Do you have a bad taste or bad breath? Modern periodontal therapy will ensure trouble free, healthy gums. See the excellent American Academy of Periodontology web site for information on gum diseaseHow good is your brushing and flossing technique? Visit the hygienist every three months to make sure that you are keeping you teeth and gums healthy.
2. Do your teeth keep breaking? Strengthen them by having crowns or onlays provided.
3. If you have missing teeth problems can occur. Other teeth can tilt of drift which may affect your bite or gums. Missing teeth can be replaced by bridges or implants.
4. If your teeth don‘t meet very well your bite can be improved by occlusal equilibration.
5. We all suffer from stress at times and many people clench or grind their teeth, sometimes without realising it. Headaches and tension pain can be relieved by occlusal splints, nightguards or the new NTItss device.
6. Are your teeth sensitive to cold drinks? Desensitizing or adhesive bonding can eliminate sensitivity.
7. Do you avoid dental treatments because you are apprehensive about injections or drilling? We use Air Abrasion and Healozone to reduce or replace drilling.
8. Back teeth often decay on their biting surfaces no matter how clean you keep them. Check for decay with Kavo DiagnoDent laser fluorescence scanner. Have fissure sealants or sealant restorations placed to protect them. This is especially important for children.
9. If you play sports then you can have a custom made mouthguard, even in your team colours.

 

 

Top Ten Ways We Can Improve Your Dental Appearance

1. If you think that your teeth are too dark or discoloured we can lighten them by bleaching. This simple treatment is carried out ar home, is pain free and can produce amazing results. (There is no longer any difficulty providing this treatment in the UK.)
2. Unsightly or mis-shaped teeth can be disguised to make them blend in with your other teeth by using ceramic veneers.
3. Do you have crowns on your front teeth that don‘t match your other teeth. Or do you have a dark line at the gum edge of your crowns. These crowns can be replaced with the latest all-ceramic crowns.
4. If you have old, stained fillings which show when you smile, these can be replaced with almost invisible tooth coloured composite restorations.
5. Spaces left by missing teeth can be replaced with bridges or implants.
6. Ugly silver or black amalgam fillings can be replaced with tooth coloured composite fillings or ceramic inlays.
7. Are the tips of your teeth uneven? We can level the tips of your teeth quickly and painlessly, without even an anaesthetic, by aesthetic recontouring.
8. Do you have a denture which looks or feels false? Replace your denture with implants.
9. Do you have small chips or irregularities that spoil the appearance of your teeth? They can be corrected by bonding.
10. Do your teeth have stains which no amount of brushing removes? Have air-jet polishing for a stain free smile.

 

The Truth about Dental Amalgam 

Dental Amalgam, which is a mixture of silver, tin, copper and mercury has been used for over a hundred years to restore teeth. For a long time it was the only durable material to fill back teeth with, so many people now have a number of these fillings in place.  

There is concern about mercury release from these fillings as mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal. The greatest exposure to mercury comes from when these fillings are either placed or removed.

Nowadays, there are alternatives which not only contain no mercury or any other metal, but look better and perform better in the mouth. For small cavities, composite resins and glass-ionomers can be used, for larger cavities CEREC ceramic restorations are ideal. Cerec in particular enhances the strength and durability of the tooth. We hardly ever use amalgam now, and never in children or pregnant women.

However, the alternatives to amalgam do take longer to do, and are more technique sensitive (so they need to be done well) and therefore cost more to have placed. They can also be more critical as to how well you are able to clean your teeth.

So, the only reason why amalgam is still used is because it is cheap and will still work reasonably in people with poor oral hygiene. It is still the only filling used in back teeth under the NHS.

There is no need to still have amalgam fillings; if you are concerned about the look of the old amalgam fillings, or are concerned about the mercury within them, then you can have these fillings replaced with excellent composite or ceramic restorations.

 

How Much Will It Cost

We are not cheap. If you want cheap dentistry there are other places you can go. But, we are very good value for money because we only provide the best. Our patients agree with 90.0% rating us as excellent/good value for money in a survey carried out in June 2000. Our fees are worked out based on a rate of £280 per hour (2009). A Cerec restoration will normally cost £470.

However, for your initial visit we only charge you for a 15 minute appointment (£70) although we reserve 45 minutes for your consultation, including X-rays if required. At that visit we will talk to you, discuss your requirements and after fully examining your mouth, give you options for improving your oral health.

Once your mouth is reasonably healthy, you may be eligible to join Denplan which is a way of providing ongoing preventive care for a modest cost.

 

Will It Hurt

No. We believe that Painless Dentistry is a reality. Using modern techniques and the latest anaesthetics we can say with confidence that your treatment will be painfree.

Do you want to find out more information?

We will be creating more pages with information about modern dentistry, and what we can do for you soon. If you want to know when these pages are ready for viewing, please email us at smiles@grahamlovis.com and we will let you you know. Please ask if there is anything specific that you would like to know about.

 

Good internet sites about modern dentistry

The British Dental Association has some excellent Fact Files available.

The American Academy of Periodontology has very good information about gum disease, and it's treatment, although, being American they tend to over emphasise surgery.

For a British view of periodontology look at the British Society of Periodontology site.

For a very good consumer site about dentistry, visit floss.com

For information about endodontics (root canal treatment) see the American Association of Endodontists.

There is also the EndoWeb online magazine.

A very good site with lots of information about all aspects of modern dentistry is the American Dental Association site.

 

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