May 9th, 2011
Most of your teeth might be perfectly white and aligned beautifully with one another but if there is just one that is not quite right – especially one at the front of the mouth – then you might feel that the whole effect of your smile is ruined. And we all know how important smiling is. Is makes you feel happy but also puts others at ease and makes social interactions go with greater smoothness. Porcelain veneers might be the answer you’ve be searching for if you have a tooth that is cracked, chipped or stained.
The fact that porcelain veneers are made from what they are means that they are adaptable, durable and will not stain. Porcelain is such a strong material that dentists need only use a very small amount as an effective and discreet covering for the unsightly tooth that is compromising the look of your smile. The extra boon to this is that your dentist will probably not need to remove much of your existing tooth at all in order to fit the porcelain veneer. This potentially makes the procedures quicker and less invasive.
The fitting of a porcelain dental veneer won’t cost the earth and the fact that digital x-rays tend to be used means lab fees are largely eliminated. Nonetheless, many surgeries give patients the chance to spread their payments and these agreements are often interest free. So if you have a cracked or chipped tooth that is bothering you then ask your Central London dentist about porcelain dental veneers and how they can improve your look and give a welcome boost to your self image.
August 8th, 2010
The Lumineer is a veneer that has been successfully used in dental practices for a few years; it is a new design of veneer that has taken a lot of the work needed to fit one out of the dental process. A City of London dentist says that the best feature of the Lumineer is that it is very thin and therefore it doesn`t require any preparation work prior to being fitted. It can be used in much the same way as a conventional veneer, and indeed it does the same job on the usual defects of a tooth that a veneer is fitted to. The problems it helps to solve are misaligned, cracked and chipped teeth; however its main use is to hide a discoloured tooth or teeth. A client can have a series of Lumineer`s fitted at one sitting, as all the dentist needs to do is to cement it into position, it takes around 20 minutes to fit one and for it to set hard. The tooth can be used in the usual manner within a few hours, and no one would even know you had a veneer on. The expense of a veneer like the Lumineer has come down a bit due to the manufacturing and fitting costs. A normal veneer involves having a lot of preparation work done to the tooth, and it is also done under a local anaesthetic, that cost is illuminated when the Lumineer is chosen to solve your tooth problem, and it`s not a day too soon.
June 8th, 2010
Tooth decay and gum disease can cause significant damage to the teeth that can be very painful and unpleasant. When decay gets to a certain point, it can no longer be treated with improved cleaning and a dental filling. If the tooth has been sufficiently damaged it will need further protection in the shape of a dental crown. The same is also true of a tooth that has been damaged as the result of a dental trauma. Chips or cracks that cannot be repaired with dental bonding will need to be protected with a dental crown.
Dental crowns are ceramic or metal (or both) caps that fit over the whole part of the tooth that protrudes above the gum. It is the cemented in place and in this way protects the tooth from further damage and attack form plaque and bacteria. Dental crowns have been used for many years to protect the teeth. They last between ten and twenty years depending on how well they are cared for.
The manufacture of dental crowns used to involve taking several dental moulds and x-rays and then gradually building it up out of layers of porcelain. Some dentists still use this method but new technology called Cerec uses digital x-rays and three-dimensional imaging to allow a computer-guided mill to sculpt the new crown in a matter of minutes. This new technology has also improved the accuracy of treatment as well as speeding up treatment times for all patients. Ask a London W1 dentist for more information about dental crowns.
Dental crowns can also be used to protect teeth after root canal treatments. The dentist will apply the crown to protect the tooth from becoming infected again and against further damage due to a weakening of tooth structure.
February 12th, 2010
Dental pain can be caused by a number of problems; an accidental knock to the teeth can dislodge a tooth, fracture it or even in extreme cases knock it out. However, a West London dentist says that in most cases dental pain is due to an infection. This can be anything from a small bacterial infection to an ulcer or even an abscess. All these cases are usually cleared up quickly with antibiotics, and after the infection is gone the dentist can get to the root cause to try to prevent it happening again. A cracked tooth can be very painful indeed as it often opens up a way to the nerve ends, a temporary repair using sugar free gum or dental cement is the first stage to pain relief. Repair kits are available at most chemists, but you really need to get a dentist as soon as possible before the damage is further increased. A tooth ache is the most excruciating pain most of us will experience; it is a long standing throbbing pain that is controllable using Paracetamol or another pain killer if the patient is allergic. An abscess is the most common cause of dental pain and is often caused by a weak tooth, the gum becomes prone to infection and no matter how hard you try; the infection can keep coming back. After a few times your dentist may recommend that the tooth be taken out, this usually stops the infection and subsequently the pain. In extreme cases the dentist may give the patient a gum injection to relieve the pain, but this is very rare, it should be noted that a dentist and not a doctor should the first port of call in cases of dental pain.