Well, hopefully ten brilliantly white, symmetrical teeth curving off into the corners of your lips. If this doesn’t describe a smile of your own, but you would like it to, then please read on.
Here at StoneRock we are committed to providing the highest level of aesthetic dentistry available today. Our aim is to be able to provide patients with a smile that they want, to allow them to gain all of the confidence and happiness that a perfectly shaped smile can bring. With this in mind we offer all of our patients a full case presentation to discuss with them at length any thing that they may be unhappy with about their teeth and how we can correct them if they choose to.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems facing patients today is the bewildering array of treatment options that they are sometimes faced with. At StoneRock we hope to over come this by taking the time to fully explain all options and where possible give clear recommendations about how we would like to proceed. To help get the most out of a case presentation visit it is useful if patients understand a little about how we can alter the appearance of teeth. To help with this we have included a list of some commonly used terms so we can all be talking the same language. If you would like to see photographs of some of the techniques mentioned below please visit our Smile Solutions page and for more information and questions answered please see our FAQ pages.
Composite filling: A white filling material that sticks very firmly to the hard outer part of the tooth. This material is used to replace old metal fillings at the back of the mouth and to repair broken teeth at the front. It can also be used to fill in gaps between the front teeth. It is a very hard wearing material and can be added with very little drilling to the teeth. It can stain in heavy smokers and people prone to building up stain.
Bleaching: A way of changing the colour of our teeth bleaching is one of the cheapest and safest ways of dramatically improving our smiles. The technique involves a gel that is held against the teeth in a specially made plastic tray. The whitening takes place over a few nights at home and can be topped when ever needed.
Veneer: A false fingernail of porcelain that can be placed over the smiling surfaces of the front teeth. It is the most commonly used technique to create ‘Holywood Smiles’ so often seen on make over programmes on TV. The results with this work can be simply stunning but do often require extensive adjustment to the teeth. Veneers are very long lasting and may need replacing only every ten to fifteen years.
Crowns: Usually made of porcelain only at the front of the mouth and porcelain fused to metal at the back of the mouth crowns are a way of completely reshaping a tooth if it is very broken down or already heavily filled. A crown is also often used to protect a tooth from further fracture if it has been root filled. Again crowns can be very long lasting but the tooth underneath them can sometimes die off as a result of all the work that has been done to it.
Bridge: A bridge is a way of replacing a missing tooth. A bridge can be as simple as sticking one false tooth on to the real one next door or at the other end of scale can involve crowing multiple teeth to fill in several gaps. The stick on bridges can provide an excellent way of replacing a tooth with little or no damage done to the supporting tooth. They are relatively cheap and can look fantastic. They are however not always as strong as the other types.
Implant: An implant is a way of replacing one or more teeth with out relying on the teeth next door. The false tooth is supported on a titanium screw that is placed into the jaw itself. Implants are very long lasting and can be used to rebuild areas of the mouth where no other technique would work. They can look stunning and are of almost no risk to the adjacent teeth. They take more visits than other techniques and the cost often reflects this.
Gum Surgery: In areas of the mouth where the gums have receeded the teeth can often appear long and discoloured, which often ages a smile by many years. With modern techniques it is possible to surgically reposition the gum so that the teeth are returned to a correct length thus making the smile appear much more youthful.
For more information or to book an appointment at our dentist practice in Hawkhurst, Cranbrook on the Kent and East Sussex border please contact our Reception Team on 01580 752202 or info@stonerock.co.uk and they will be very happy to help.