General Dentistry

AT THE DENTAL PRACTICE, GENERAL DENTISTRY IS THE FOUNDATION OF WHAT WE DO. WHETHER YOU'D LIKE A ROUTINE CHECK-UP, ARE INTERESTED IN HYGIENIST SERVICES, OR NEED AN EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT, WE CAN HELP.

EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS

If you are in pain or discomfort and you need to see a dentist for an emergency appointment we would be happy to help. Call our emergency line: 01277-233912 / 24hr

Talk to one of our friendly team and we will make sure that you’re seen by one of our dentists as soon as possible. We will examine you to discover the source of the pain and talk you through your options so you can be fully in control of the next steps.

Our promise
If you get in touch with us about an emergency appointment, we will aim to:

Endeavour to see you on the same day that you contact us
Diagnose your dental problem
Discuss all options available to you
Relieve you from pain

We treat you as we would like to be treated: compassionately and with respect.

CHECK-UPS

We appreciate that every smile is unique and strive to nurture the important relationship between you and your dentist. Regular check-ups are advised to complement a good daily oral health routine and to provide a preventative approach to dental issues.

Our clinicians take the time to understand your lifestyle, past treatments and procedures, and are able to talk through any concerns. We understand that a trip to the dentist can cause apprehension, so building a relationship of trust between our dentists and you can help calm nerves and put anxieties to rest.

What does a check-up include?
On your first visit, your dentist will do dental examination and a full mouth evaluation to provide a broad understanding of your individual needs. We will take x-rays of your teeth which can be invaluable for ascertaining the current landscape of your jaw, for example the position of any wisdom teeth, and for diagnosing any issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.

At every check-up, a comprehensive examination of your mouth, teeth and gums will be performed. They will examine the health of the soft tissue in your mouth (cheeks and tongue), test your gums for any signs of gum disease and remove any plaque or harmful tartar.

What are the benefits of regular check-ups?
The health of your teeth and gums is invaluable, and prevention is better than treatment further down the line. Regular check-ups give your dentist the opportunity to halt any signs of gum disease or tooth decay and work with you to keep your smile fresh and bright, now and in the future. Routinely examining your smile can identify problems early.

Check-ups help to:

Prevent gum disease and mouth cancer
Maintain good oral health
Prevent halitosis (bad breath)
Retain your teeth
Keep a whiter, brighter smile

How often should I have a check-up?
Your dentist will advise on how often you should have your teeth checked as part of your oral care routine. This will depend on your individual needs. We recommend a minimum of one check-up per year.

CHILDREN'S DENTISTRY

Good dental hygiene should be established at a very young age. Plaque will begin to form as soon as a child’s first tooth arrives. Brushing teeth twice a day, a balanced diet and regular check ups with your dentist are essential to ensuring healthy teeth and gums.

It is recommended to bring your child for inspections from an early age with the date of their first examination around their 2nd birthday.

Benefits:

Your child will become comfortable with visiting the practice
Provide your child with the best of opportunities to maintain a good oral hygiene program for the future
Allow for preventative procedure to be established
Prevent irreversible damage and problems

FILLINGS

When your tooth shows signs of decay, your dentist can help to stop it before any further damage is caused. Fillings are applied to small and developing cavities to restore your tooth back to its normal shape and prevent any further decay.

Spot decay before it gets serious
When you visit for a check-up, your dentist will use a small inspection mirror to assess the surface of your teeth, looking for signs of decay or little cracks and fissures. They will let you know as soon as they see anything that might require treatment, if where possible a preventative solution will be offered that far outweighs a root canal treatment in the future. By closing up the gap, your dentist is preventing bacteria from getting in and preserving your tooth in the least invasive way.

The process is straightforward and often only requiring one or two appointments at your local practice. Once your dentist has assessed the area that requires treatment, they will clear out any decay before filling the clean cavity with a material of your choice.

What kind of fillings are available?
There are a number of different materials that can be used to fill a hole in your tooth. Indirect fillings are those that require a couple of visits to as the tooth is treated with a tailormade filling that has to be crafted to your needs in a dental laboratory before fitting. Direct fillings are those that can be applied in one sitting, or chairside. White or tooth coloured options prove to be the most popular of these options as they remain the quickest and most natural-looking of the options – no one can tell that you’ve had a filling.

Before

After

Indirect:

Gold fillings. Gold is known for its low reactivity, meaning it is a safe substance to leave in your mouth for years. Gold fillings are also long-lasting and could stay in place well for over 20 years. However, gold fillings are also ‘indirect’, so they require manufacture in a dental laboratory and then applying to your teeth, making this one of the longer processes.

Porcelain fillings. Porcelain fillings are referred to as onlays or inlays, and are custom-made and then fitted to your teeth. They boast a similar durability to that of gold fillings, but look more more natural.

Direct:

Composite resin fillings. Composite resin is a kind of plastic that will match your natural tooth colour, making a filling less visible. The resin mixture can be poured straight into the cavity, making it a relatively quick treatment, if a little less durable than gold or silver.

ROOT CANAL

It is important to see your dentist if you are experiencing toothache, as the infection will not go away of its own accord and antibiotics cannot be used to treat a root canal infection. If left untreated, a deep infection can spread through the whole root canal system of your tooth. In this case, the pain may subside, as the infection will have removed all of the pulp.If you have been experiencing severe tooth pain, it is possible that you may require root canal treatment. If your tooth has become damaged or cracked, you have tooth decay, large fillings or have recently had a trauma to the tooth, the chance of a root canal procedure increases, as these scenarios all leave your tooth open to infection.

When is a root canal required?
Root canal treatment (or Endodontics) is required when there is an infection deep within your tooth. The blood or nerve supply may be infected either due to an injury or a severe cavity. You may not experience any pain or discomfort during the early stages of an infection, however if your tooth changes colour and darkens that is a sign that your tooth nerve is in danger of dying. If left untreated, this kind of infection can not only be very painful but can lead to a tooth abscess or even tooth loss.

Five signs of infection:

Serious toothache when eating, or when you put pressure on the tooth. Does it hurt when you bite down hard?
Excessively sensitive teeth. Does the sensitive pain linger after the initial contact with hot or cold foods or drinks?
Darkening of your tooth. Has your tooth changed colour? This may be a sign of the nerve dying.
A small bump on the gum, close to the painful tooth.
Tender or swollen gums around the tooth.

Why is it called a root canal?
The visible part of your tooth, above the gumline is called the ‘crown’. Below the gum, fixing the tooth to the jaw, is the ‘root’ of your tooth. The root canal system is a network that fills a central hollow area inside the tooth and down to the roots. Root canals are filled with loose connective tissue called ‘dental pulp’ and they are responsible for nourishing and hydrating the tooth, as well as reacting to hot and cold.

When an infection takes hold, it is this pulp which becomes inflamed, which is why it may be painful to eat or drink. Eventually a bacterial infection will cause the pulp to die.

What does treatment involve?
Root canal treatment removes all of the infection from the tooth, before sealing the tooth to protect the damaged nerve and restore you back to good oral health. Endodontic treatment is always carried out by a specialist clinician and an anaesthetic is used to keep you comfortable through the process.

When you first come into our practice, we will take an x -ray to assess the status of the infection. Then a local anaesthesia is administered to the area and a piece of rubber material called a ‘rubber dam’ is placed around the tooth the keep it dry and accessible throughout the procedure. Once you are fully anaesthetised, your dentist will use specially designed tools to remove the infected tissue. Once it is clear, a rubber compound is used to fill the tooth where the root canal tissue previously was. This is usually finished with a temporary filling. This is the completed stage of your first visit. Following this, we create a custom-made crown to fit your tooth and this is fitted at your second visit.

How do I avoid a root canal?
Root canal treatment can be avoided by practicing good dental care. Regular visits to your practice for check-ups mean that your dentist is in a good position to pick up on any problems you may not have noticed. They will check any current fillings or crowns for damage or cracks. By treating issues in the early stages, you avoid infections and further complications that would ultimately lead to Endodontic treatment.

Tooth decay is one of the common reasons for root canal infections. You can keep tooth decay at bay by brushing and flossing regularly, chewing sugar-free gum between meals and reducing the amount of fizzy drinks and sugar in your diet.

If you are experiencing tooth pain, please contact us sooner rather than later.