Of course we can – we see this often with new patients.
It does not matter if you have not been to a Dentist for years – we would LOVE to change this for you (even just bit by bit!) We pride ourselves in helping nervous patients cope with that first visit.
We don’t do any treatment on your first appointment (unless absolutely necessary). We only examine your teeth, gums and the rest of your mouth.
We will tell you what problems we find – and explain them to you and discuss the treatment options, AND the costs involved for each treatment option.
Take your time to take this all in – and only when YOU are ready, we can progress to starting the treatment YOU chose.
It is so satisfying getting a patient through a treatment they didn’t think they could cope with, and seeing them blossom into a patient that is no longer as fearful as they used to be. You CAN do this – just let us help.
Often a nervous patient will just want a tooth taken out, if it is hurting them – but you soon run out of teeth that way!
In this modern age, there is so much more we can do to save teeth now, and treatments don’t hurt any more – so, please give your teeth a chance.
New Patient Exam is currently £40, which includes the first two x-rays.
We may need to take more than two x-rays if there a number of problems found with your teeth & gums, and/or if you have cavities, crowns, bridges, root canal treatments, problem wisdom teeth, or if you have dental implants. If you had x-rays taken recently by a previous Dentist, they might be helpful. If we can get a copy of them, it might minimise the number of new x-rays needed. Additional x-rays are £18 each, but up to a maximum fee of £65.
From that initial examination, we will always give you a written treatment plan, showing the costs involved for each treatment discussed – and from that, you can decide if and when you want to go ahead with any treatment.
We will need a medical history – so please bring a list of medications you take.
We need to fill out a medical history form – so it would be most helpful, if you are able to explain any medical conditions you have, and the relevant medications you take, plus any allergies, and special needs. For instance if you need a ground floor surgery, we can easily book a ground-floor surgery for you – just let us know when you book appointments.
Sometimes we don’t need anything – especially if it’s been many years since you were last at a dentist – we would take new x-rays in that case. We don’t need “everything”. In fact, every dentist in the UK is legally responsible to file & look after their dental records of you for at least 11 years – so they can’t just send it all to the next dentist.
However, if possible, copies of dental x-rays from your last dentist would be the most useful thing they could send us. They should be dated so we know when each image was taken.
Any information about problem teeth your dentist would want us to know about would also be very helpful and thankfully received.
Your consent is necessary for your last dentist to send us x-rays and other info – so we kindly ask that you contact your last dentist and ask them to send your protected data to us.
Yes, of course – and white crowns too, when crowns are necessary.
When we say “white” we really mean a shade that matches your teeth. We don’t really use the old-fashioned amalgam metal fillings any more – we just don’t need to.
Times have moved on and modern white “Composite” filling materials have largely replaced the old metal fillings. We can usually match the shade of the material to your tooth quite closely. Teeth restored with composite fillings look more natural AND last really well.
For best results that last well, we use rubber dam on every composite restoration placed.
Rubber dam is a thin, stretchy material we place over a large portion of the front of your mouth, to gently keep the saliva, tongue and cheeks out of the way of the teeth we are working on, while we restore your teeth.
Don’t worry – most patients get used to it – and many prefer it to the “traditional” cotton wool rolls being stuffed all around your mouth !
So why use it? When you breath out normally, the water-vapour in your breath can steam up the small dental mirror that we normally use to look in your mouth!
In the same way, the water vapour in your breath can wet the surface of the cavity, just as we were about to place the filling – leaving a layer of water between the tooth and filling material. This means the filling doesn’t bond to the tooth so well, the edges of the filling will start to stain within a few years – and the filling won’t last as long as expected, as bacteria can creep in and cause new decay.
(White) Composite filling materials bond better to the tooth when rubber dam is used, so the seal created to your tooth lasts for longer – helping the filling to stay looking good for longer – and your tooth should survive better too.
We also use rubber dam during root canal treatment, for similar reasons.
We wear dental “Loupes” because they magnify our view inside your mouth.
Don’t be worried – this highly magnified view, helped by a bright light on our loupes, helps us to see even better than before, so we can provide the best treatment for you.
Some aspects of your health might affect your teeth, but many health issues can affect your gums and vice versa.
Heavy smoking can seriously affect your gums, as well as other aspects of your general health. Smoking impairs the healing response after dental extractions too. Smoking can worsen any gum disease you might have, increasing the risk of losing gum & bone around your teeth. Heavy smoking and gum disease is well associated with health conditions like an increased risk of heart disease
Diabetes is also linked to gum disease – with research showing either can worsen the other.
A few medications can have adverse effects in the mouth – e.g. medications that can dry the mouth of saliva can reduce the protection that saliva usually provides).
Clearly, reducing or stopping smoking, and vastly improving dental hygiene can greatly reduce gum disease and risk of losing teeth.
Please don’t be offended if we ask you if you smoke (and how heavily you do so), how well your diabetes is, and what medical conditions and medications you might have – as this can affect how well dental treatment might work. It helps us to target better your dental treatment, where necessary.
If your gums bleed when you brush your teeth, your gums are already damaged (inflamed) by plaque and tartar that is already stuck in the gum-line of your teeth. The last thing you want to do is stop brushing!
You need to brush out all the plaque and ideally you may need a dental hygienist appointment to scale all the debris away. The longer the gums are inflamed & unhealthy, the higher chance you will lose some bone that holds the teeth in.
See your dentist and/or hygienist for the necessary help to get your teeth & gums healthy. But even more important than that, you need to start spending more time & effort getting EVERY surface of every tooth, perfectly clean, at least twice a day, with fluoride toothpaste, and regular flossing.
Not quite ! We are definitely over the worst though. We do not have a back-log to seeing our existing patients and we keep appointment spaces open for new patients.
We no longer ask patients to wear a mask in our practice, in the waiting room, and when walking to & from the surgery unless they currently have a cold. We still use our ventilation system in the surgeries when doing treatment on patients.
New research on dentistry being carried out on patients with active Covid infection has shown that the Covid virus was not in the dental aerosol created when using drills and scalers in their mouths – so the risk of spreading Covid in a dentistry setting is much lower than had been assumed. Great news !!
