It’s an annoying fact that some of us in London W1 still need reminding of the importance of a dental check-up. The market is flooded with an incredible range of oral products designed to keep our teeth and gums in check, and to keep the gremlins from running riot. Maybe that’s why we think we can opt out of some of our check-ups. But there are also other reasons to keep up going to the dentist on a regular basis. A dentist has a set of guidelines laid down to look after your teeth and this involves checking for a build up of bacteria, plaque, tartar and tooth decay. This will involve x-rays and cleaning and polishing of the teeth. If there are any problems, then the dentist can address them with a filling or recommend further treatments at a later date to get your teeth back on track. A check-up is also a good time to discuss any problems or worries you may have with your teeth. But you should also remember that things get out of hand pretty quickly in the mouth and if you miss out on a check-up, tooth decay and gum disease can set in fast, remedying treatments can become complex and expensive and if still left unchecked, can lead to tooth loss and even heart disease in the long run.
Archives for July, 2011
Why you should get a Dental Check-up in London W1
July 30th, 2011Overcoming your Dental Phobias in West London
July 28th, 2011
We all have little phobias in west London; spiders, rats, snakes, or whatever. But the reason we tend to not let them worry us is because we steer clear of coming into contact them. However, this means we tend also not to deal with them, allowing other phobias to ‘breed’ out of them and restrict the way we live out our lives. But if you have any form of dental phobia, this does need dealing with for the sake of your health. Any irrational fear to dentists and their procedures, can stop you getting treatment you need to keep your teeth and body healthy, and in turn, complicate the issue further down the line when your teeth start to look ungainly. Whatever has lead to your phobias of dentists, be it past experiences to you or others or experiences from your childhood, the only way to overcome the problem is to confront it. Serious phobias will require serious counselling to treat what can often be, serious issues. But generally, once you have admitted to yourself, or to a counsellor, that you have a problem, you are half-way there and once the phobia has been identified, it can be treated. Most dental phobias are born out of ignorance of dental procedures, or based on experiences a long time ago; dentists are well aware of this and many are trained to cope with this. By consulting your dentist face to face, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by how dental procedures advance each year and have become virtually pain-free. Learning about the treatments and sedation techniques on offer to you, will give you the power of choice and put you in the driving seat and in the end, help you to overcome your phobia.
The freedom of Invisalign in Central London
July 26th, 2011
‘Pleasurable teeth alignment’: not a phrase you often hear around most of the school playgrounds in central London, nor in fact, many bars either. Mention teeth alignment and you’d probably visualise a mouthful of metal. But thanks largely to a lot of work done on teeth alignment in the USA, Britain has now embraced a new generation of braces and aligners from across the sea, making teeth straightening a fairly problem-free experience: top of the class is Invisalign. This treatment tends to be more expensive than most other procedures, but once you have enrolled, from there on in, it’s advantages put other methods to shame. It comes in the shape of a mouth-guard, changed at regular intervals, that maintains a constant pressure on the teeth, moving them into the desired position in a third of the time it takes for other treatments to work. It is also removable, giving and incredible freedom to wearer when it comes to eating and when keeping up a regular daily oral hygiene program. But where Invisalign wins hands-down over any other treatment on the market today is in the vanity stakes. The mouth-guard is manufactured from a completely transparent, flexible form of plastic, that when worn, is virtually impossible to see in the mouth. The freedom from ridicule this affords anyone that wears it, especially teenagers, means that choosing this treatment to correct your teeth, can actually be a ‘pleasurable’ experience!
The problems of the TMJ in the City of London
July 25th, 2011
All dentists in the city of London are aware of the relationship between your teeth and the rest of your body. Keeping your teeth and gums healthy and free from complications can protect your body from diabetes, liver problems and heart disease later in life. But apart from this, one of the prime directives behind dental treatments is to also ensure that you have a healthy occlusion in your mouth- the way your jaws meet or ‘bite’ together. This is to limit the amount of stress placed upon the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). We probably take for granted the way we chat and chew during the day and all these actions bear down on two tiny jaw joints held in place by a series of cartilage and muscles. Keeping the bite true is the first way of protecting this joint. The second way is to address any signs of teeth grinding. If these problems go unchecked, the joint can become worn overtime, causing the jaw to click and become inflamed when using the mouth for the most basic of functions. Further damage can lead to tinnitus in the ears, headaches and damage to the neck and upper back. Initial treatments for the occlusion will involve correction of the teeth with a brace or an aligner; grinding can be checked by stress management and gum-shields. But if the damage to the jaw has already set in, surgery will be required to reverse the damage done, where possible.
The fast Inman Aligner in London W1
July 22nd, 2011
W1 is a very fast paced area of London with people on the go all of the day. Sometimes, this can interfere with the way we eat and generally look after ourselves, but the consumer is well looked after in this postcode even when it comes to dentistry. Those canny dentists in the area have caught on to the fact that we live on the move and can offer cosmetic treatments during a dinner break- that’s of course if your teeth are in pretty good shape in the first place. To get to that stage, your teeth need to be fairly ‘crooked’ free’, but don’t worry, because they’ve covered that problem too. If you fit this treatments unique demands, you can opt for the Inman aligner to get your teeth fixed- for this little treat can straighten your teeth in as little as six weeks. Its cleverly designed little spring activated mechanism centres around the teeth at the front of the mouth, rocking your teeth into shape very quickly to get the desired results. It sits very discreetly in the mouth, with a single thin wire sitting around the outside of the teeth. But as an added bonus during the treatment, the aligner only needs to be worn for around 22 out of 24 hours each day, meaning that it is removable. This is perfect for when you eat and have to clean your teeth each day because you can simply take it out. These freedoms make this a very attractive choice for the person on the go.
The wonder of Zoom Teeth Whitening in West London
July 21st, 2011
Zoom Teeth Whitening in west London has a lot to thank TV for. It came to a lot of peoples attention through popular make-over shows, but that’s not to impugn the quality of this treatment in anyway, the product is incredible. The first example of the product comes in the form of laser treatment. It’s cheap (around £100), it’s quick (around an hour) and it’s painless. Once in the chair, your gums and tongue are covered for protection and then a bleaching gel coated on the teeth, which are then ‘zapped’ with a heat light. This is followed quickly by two more treatments and you leave the surgery an hour later with an incredibly natural whiteness to your teeth. The treatment is quite resistant to staining, but you can have an easy top up session if required. But Zoom also offer home bleaching kits too, supplying custom made bleaching trays and the agent to treat yourself with at home. Once completed you return to the dentist for a quick light cure. Again, the affects are remarkable. Like any of these bleaching treatments, they can only be carried out if the gums are free of disease, so any signs of gum disease would need to be eradicated first before you can have your teeth whitened by Zoom.
Great Dental Veneers in Central London
July 20th, 2011
There is an awful lot of cosmetic treatments to choose from in central London, but if you are going to choose any, you couldn’t go far wrong with a dental veneer. Veneers have been with us for quite a few decades now and that is testimony in itself to just how good this treatment is. They are used to enhance the look of the mouth by giving you back that smile you may have lost over the years, whilst covering up a multitude of sins such as cracking, wear, chips gaps and receding gums at the same time. Essentially, the teeth are first prepared by removing the enamel so that a mold can be taken to make the veneers from. This would normally take a couple of weeks, although some dentists now offer CEREC, a process allowing the treatment to be completed within an hour. When the veneer is ready, it’s cemented into place and cured with a heat lamp. The most popular choice is porcelain, as it looks so beautifully natural in the mouth and can last well over 10 years. However, the Americans are always looking for new ideas. The Lumineer is such a derivative, made from a patented material, very thin and fixed to the surface of the tooth without removing the enamel, as is the DA Vinci type. The MAC veneer though is rapidly making in-roads into dental circles; made from pressed ceramic, it is three times the strength of other veneers around.
Dental Implants for life in the City of London
July 19th, 2011
Most people in the city of London would not relate the word beautiful to any dental treatment what so ever, only to the outcomes. But if you take a look at just how refined, slick and sophisticated modern dentistry has become, you may well change your mind.
Having healthy, good looking teeth can fire up your self esteem and help you to project yourself with confidence, and other than the incredible range of cosmetic treatments available, you can also replace those missing teeth too as easily as having a filling. Modern dental implant treatments are a beautiful example of just how easy it is to correct the ultimate problem of the mouth- tooth loss. Precise laser surgery can locate the implant with the minimum of fuss and damage to the bone and surrounding gum tissue, meaning that your mouth recovers very quickly from the treatment, sometimes on the same day that the procedure has been done. The new root is considered to be stronger than the original and is more resistant to disease, and once it in, your new fitting, say a crown, bridge or even dentures are then attached to the implant. Dental implants should last you for life and even if the fitting fails, you can simply have it replaced. Most dentists in the city offer this treatment and these are all vying for your services, meaning there are some very reasonable deals around which we can all afford.
Fixing those Crooked Teeth in London W1
July 18th, 2011
There are many reasons we suffer from crooked teeth in London W1; sometimes we just inherit them. Other reasons can be the way we have poorly managed our teeth as we grew up, even poor dentistry decisions can affect the way our teeth grow. But wherever the blame lies, it’s important to ensure that we correct the occlusion (bite) of the mouth to stop further complications further down the line. Most dental procedures are designed to keep the ‘bite’ of the mouth correct because this will protect the way you chew, prevent cavities and gum disease, and prevent stresses, and hence, damage to the jaw, neck and upper neck. Whatever age you are, it’s never too late to have some form of orthodontic treatment. But before you hit the panic button about wearing a brace or some form of aligner, you should consult with your dentist about the incredible range of treatments available to you to correct your teeth. 21st century aligners and braces achieve remarkable results with the minimum fuss…and quickly too. Some aligners are barely visible in the mouth and some of the American ones now flooding the market work extremely quickly, promising results in as little as 6 weeks. But as well as the health issues for reasons to correct crooked teeth, there’s the vanity angle too. Good looking teeth can inspire your self confidence and boost your quality of life.
Dentists in West London offer endodontics for patients with problems inside their teeth
July 15th, 2011
Most of the problems that many people are familiar with when it comes to teeth, are those affecting the outside of teeth, such as cavities or excess plaque. In fact there is a whole other side to dentistry that is concerned with the vital interior of your teeth. This is called endodontics and the word, which might not be familiar to that many people, has its origins in the Greek words for inside (‘endo’) and teeth (‘dontics’).
Far from either being solid blocks of enamel or hollow and empty, your teeth have many vital things inside them. This area is called the pulp chamber and it contains a number of tissues, veins and nerve endings. It should be adequately protected by the hard outer layer of your teeth but sometimes problems can occur with the material in the pulp chamber and they will need to be sorted out so that your teeth does not become beyond repair.
If this happens then endodontic surgery will be required. The most common form of endodontics is root canal treatment. This is necessary if an infection has begun in the pulp chamber, perhaps through a trauma that affected the mouth or a result of a deep cavity that has allowed germs into the chamber and an abscess has formed.
Rather than drilling into the tooth, root canal treatment involves gaining entry to the pulp chamber via the root canal which carries the nerves and veins into the tooth through the root. The pulp chamber is cleaned out so that no infection remains and the tooth can return to good health.
Find out more information about the complex and vital work that goes into endodontic surgery from your West London dentist.
