Straight Teeth and Smile Makeovers
At Priory Dental, a number of members of the team have interests in cosmetic dentistry. This includes the use of techniques such as tooth whitening, composite veneers, edge bonding, clear aligners, dental implants and more traditional techniques such as cosmetic veneers and crowns from material such as emax. In reality these often need to be combined in order to achieve the best result.
Although some of these techniques, such as tooth whitening are simple and effective using modern agents, other cases can be complex especially where combining techniques and require considerable planning. Not everyone is necessarily suitable for all of these and we will guide you though the options which might be suitable for you. This will depend not only on the current status of your teeth but also what you would like to achieve.
If you are interested in discussing what might be possible for you - please get in touch via the contact us form or give us a call. Please let us know that you are interested in a Smile Makeover, or if you want to discuss a particular technique, for example tooth whitening, again let us know. We will then arrange a Smile-Makeover assessment appointment which combines a normal dental examination but with time set aside to discuss the techniques that might be available to you and how we can take your treatment forwards. This assessment is at our normal regular fees for a dental examination – see our fees page for more information.
TOOTH WHITENING
Tooth whitening provides a simple way to brighten your smile. We use the tried and tested Boutique Whitening system (see www.boutiquewhitening.com) including bespoke whitening trays and whitening agents which can only be prescribed by dentists. This means that results are more predictable and controlled than often disappointing shop-bought options.
DENTAL ALIGNER TREATMENT
Dental Aligners (including Invisalign™ ) are clear plastic covers which can be used to improve the alignment of teeth, often as part of a smile makeover utilising the other techniques described here. They are similar to the clear retainers that people often have following traditional orthodontic treatment but can be used in a sequence to bring about the re-alignment of teeth. We can use aligners to treat a range of problems with tooth alignment but in certain situations we may need to send you to our colleagues at Wells Orthodontics (www.wellsmile.co.uk) where greater changes or more traditional braces are required.
COMPOSITE VENEERS AND EDGE BONDING
Composite Veneers and ‘edge bonding’ are techniques that have advanced in leaps and bounds during recent years with improvements in composite and bonding technologies. In both techniques advanced white filling materials are applied to the surfaces of teeth in order to re-build and reshape them giving them a new appearance without having to cut the teeth down as can be necessary for traditional crowns. A composite veneer is where the material covers the entire surface while in edge bonding material is applied only to the edges of the incisor teeth. We often use these approaches based on a prior design for your smile produced on a model known as a wax-up as the changes are made on the model in wax before being translated to your teeth using a matrix or injection moulding technique.
VENEERS AND CROWNS
Before composite veneers and edge bonding, aesthetic dentistry mainly relied on veneers and crowns made in porcelain and more recently materials such as e-max (lithium disilicate) and Zirconia. These materials have also improved hugely over the years and offer greater aesthetics than ever before. We use them selectively as they generally require more preparation of the teeth to which they are going to be applied. They can be the appropriate choice in some cases, especially where teeth were heavily restored (filled) or root canal filled before treatment but in other cases it can be more appropriate to use some of the other techniques listed here. Also see our page on crowns, bridge and dentures for more information on the use of crowns and our page on root canal fillings (endodontics) for information about root fillings.
Cosmetic Cases
Case 1 - Composite Veneers
Before Treatment
After Treatment
Case 2 - Crowns
After Treatment
Before Treatment
After Treatment
SUMMARY
Modern aesthetic dentistry is often about a combination of treatments to achieve the desired outcome. Book an appointment with us today for a Smile-Makeover assessment so that we can discuss what combination might be right for you.