Refresh Your Smile In 2024
Starting off the new year with a more attractive and confident smile.
It might seem a little premature, with Christmas still a few weeks away, but it never hurts to start planning a little in advance. To take your mind off the chores of planning the Christmas dinner and all those last minute presents, we thought that we would take a look a few weeks into the future when the fuss has died down and we can start to look forwards into the new year a little.
Once Christmas is behind us, we often take stock and look at some changes and improvements that we can make. These may be things to improve the home for some, but for others, it is also an opportunity to improve themselves. This can take many forms; from going to the gym to leading a calmer life with methods such as relaxation and yoga. It is also the time of year when we notice an increase in interest in smile improvements at your Burton dental practice. We thought that we would take the opportunity of today’s blog to guide you through some of the treatments that we offer that can give your appearance a boost for the new year.
Teeth whitening
If you are struggling to find a Christmas present for a loved one, a teeth whitening procedure may be just the thing to put a smile back on their face. This is perhaps one of the reasons why we tend to see an increase in bookings early in the year. Of course, many people also choose to have this done for themselves and having a teeth whitening treatment is one of the most affordable and straightforward ways of giving your smile a real and noticeable boost, without the need for any invasive treatment at all.
It makes sense to leave this procedure until after the festive period, when lots of red wine and other tooth staining products are likely to be consumed. Equally, some people want to look their best for Christmas and it is not too late yet to have this done in time. The treatment itself offers not only excellent benefits but also convenience as it can be done at home, guided by the help of our cosmetic dentistry team.
Following an examination at SG Dental and Implant Centre to ensure that your teeth are healthy, impressions will be taken of your teeth. These are used to produce ‘trays’ that will be used to put the whitening ingredient in and will then be fitted over the teeth for a few hours a day. The custom fitted trays ensure not only a comfortable experience but also help to prevent any of the bleaching material from coming into contact with the gums and other soft tissues.
You should start to notice an improvement in your teeth colour from around a week, with the full effect being seen in around a fortnight or so.
Porcelain dental veneers
While a teeth whitening procedure works for most people, it may not have the effect desired for others. This usually applies where people have badly stained or heavily discoloured tooth enamel. Those who have milder discolouration but also have other flaws such as chips or cracks on the teeth will also benefit.
This is a more invasive treatment than teeth whitening and usually requires the removal of a fine layer of the affected enamel tooth surface. As your new veneers will need to be produced in a dental laboratory, following impressions being taken, you will be provided with temporary veneers which are mainly to protect the teeth from damage. Once the new veneers are made, you will be recalled to have them fitted. These veneers will be the equivalent thickness of the enamel that was removed and so should look entirely natural once fitted. This is done by using a strong dental adhesive to attach the veneers to the teeth. These are then trimmed and polished to provide a natural looking new tooth surface.
Although, unlike teeth whitening, this does require minor invasive dentistry, the results can last for around ten years if they are looked after correctly. When they finally start to lose their benefits, they can simply be replaced with new ones.
Please remember that the adhesive used to fit these is not the same as standard glues. In the rare event that a veneer should become detached, please contact us to have it replaced and under no circumstances attempt to do so yourself!
Teeth straightening treatment
If you have crooked teeth and an uneven smile, it probably won’t matter how white your teeth are. Crooked teeth are more difficult and time consuming to treat but doing so brings long term benefits, not only in their appearance but in their health too, as straighter teeth are easier to keep clean.
We are aware that some of our Burton patients may be deterred from having their teeth straightened, perhaps due to memories of ugly dental braces. While this is understandable, new generation orthodontics mean that you don’t have to have a mouth full of metal braces any longer.
There are two main types of orthodontics which can be used, and in a discrete way. For general teeth straightening, transparent medical grade plastic trays can be used which fit directly over the teeth. You will be given several of these following x-rays and scans. Each tray is used to move your teeth a little before being replaced by the next in the series, gradually returning your teeth to the correct position.
This treatment can be quite lengthy depending on the problem but as these trays are removable for when eating meals and cleaning your teeth, they offer a discreteness and convenience that traditional dental braces simply can’t.
Where a minor correction is needed, especially of the front teeth that are visible when we smile, the more traditional method of wires and brackets might be used. Even here though, there are improvements. The materials used now are much finer and made from tooth coloured materials to make them less visible. The other good news is that this type of treatment tends to take less time and may even take just a few weeks. Your dentist will be able to advise an estimated time frame.
We hope that today’s blog has given you a little food for thought as to some of the improvements we can help you with next year. Perhaps you would like to book yourself an initial consultation with one of our cosmetic dentists to discuss potential improvements with them? If you would like to do this, you can do so by calling SG Dental and Implant Centre on 01283 845345 and our team looks forward to helping you.