//Dental Blog//
Patients deserve an instant smile
Andrew | Porcelain Veneers | Friday, June 20th, 2008
Dental Veneer Patients shouldn’t have to wait for a fantastic smile. Thankfully, thanks to another Winning Smiles dental hero, Pascal Magne, they don’t have to.
Veneers are a really great way to tackle dental cosmetic problems when teeth are;
- badly discoloured
- broken/chipped
- have gaps between them
In fact, Veneers are the most asked about cosmetic dental treatment after whitening (which is usually better for discoloured teeth). But there can be a problem…..
Most dentists know how to make perfectly functional temporary crowns. But temporary veneers on the other hand are considered a bit of a black art (if they are considered at all).
Veneers require the removal of a thin layer of enamel from the tooth. And what happens when (even) a thin layer of enamel is removed from a front tooth? The yellow dentine starts to shine through. After committing to veneer treatment, the last thing you want is to come out looking worse -even for a few day! (let alone a few weeks.)… We don’t ask our patients to stand for that.
Pascal currently works and teaches at the University of Southern California and is world renowned for his veneer knowledge and research, and has written THE book, my ‘Veneer-Bible’. Pascal outlines a beautiful technique to produce temporary veneers for patients, whilst waiting for their permanent porcelain [Pascal also teaches how to produce and prep for perfect permanent veneers of course!!].
This is a before photo (old veneers to be replaced), and one showing temporaries veneers in place:
- They look better than the patient’s own teeth.
- They stay put.
- They come off fairly easily when the time comes to glue the permanent ones on.
And the drawbacks?
Well preparation time is longer - but instead of waiting for a couple of weeks, the patient gets instant improvements. We think it’s worth it.
Here are the permanent Veneers in place a week or so later:
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Special offer: free teeth whitening with Invisalign
Matt | Special Offers, Teeth Straightening, Teeth Whitening | Thursday, June 12th, 2008
I’m delighted to tell you that Winning Smiles Romford are now offering free teeth whitening to people taking up Invisalign treatment.
(Sorry about the bold type and cartoon - always with the dramatic stuff this marketing department).
Hopefully, this will be a no-brainer for most people thinking of straightening their teeth, as both treatments are designed to improve the look of the smile. The idea works very well if only because the invisible trays used to straighten the teeth, also house the bleach for overnight whitening.
So, no separate visits and equipment to worry about, and it makes sense for us at Winning Smiles, because we’re not setting up twice, taking a bit off our costs.
Saving £395 on free whitening is a good offer, and we hope an attractive one to our Invisalign patients.
We haven’t yet agreed how long the offer will remain in place, (discussions continue), perhaps we’ll stop offering it when people stop asking for it.
Still, you never know, perhaps people should come in and have a free of charge dental assessment soon, just in case. Contact us here, and we’ll be in touch with some suggested dates.
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Cheap white fillings - the truth
Andrew | Rogue Dentistry, White Fillings | Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Approx time to read: 2 mins
I wrote earlier today about white fillings. They are supposed to restore the natural beauty and strength of a damaged tooth.
But all too often they are neither beautiful nor strong…..
The problem is: amalgam fillings (the grey metal ones) are a doddle to fit. They are technique-insensitive. Because they are so forgiving, they tend to last a long time regardless of the skill of the operator (within reason).
In contrast, every step in the process of providing white fillings (from buying the right material through to polishing and finishing) is way more complex than it is for a comparable amalgam.
If you roll up a ball of cheap white filling material and squash it into a roughly prepped hole in the tooth: appointment time: 10 mins. Cost: £50.
The patient is ‘happy’ - they got a ‘cosmetic’ filling in 10 minutes for £50…..(the same patient is not so happy when that filling fails 2 years later and they then have to shell out £500 for a crown!).
Look at the picture of the old filling above (we removed it from a new patient): note how it is getting brown around the edges. Decay carries on merrily under the filling but nobody notices because it usually happens underneath. The result is root canal treatment if it is caught early, but extraction if not.
So here’s a picture of the Winning Smiles replacement white filling. Hard to spot the joins?
Producing natural looking, strong white fillings that last for more than 10 years does take more than 10 mins and costs more than £50.
However that 10 minute white filling could cost a patient the whole tooth!
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The best white fillings in the world are made in Italy
Andrew | White Fillings | Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
White fillings may sound straightforward, but this has been a complex field for many years.
One man in particular stands out head and shoulders above the crowd in the science and application of white fillings composite material, designed to last for an incredible 15 to 20 years.
That man is Dr Lorenzo Vanini - a hero of ours at Winning Smiles.
Lorenzo has dedicated his life to producing beautiful white fillings that will last as long as amalgam will. He invented both the advanced material and a far superior tooth colour matching system to ensure that fillings are the natural colour of the teeth. And finally, as you would expect, Lorenzo has perfected an exacting method to apply the fillings.
So, I was delighted to have been invited several times to Italy, Lake Como, to learn from the acknowledged master.
Although, I can assure you I would have travelled to Billericay for those cosmetic dentistry skills, if necessary.
…ok so Essex is not Lake Como, and our nearest celebrity might be Frank Bruno rather than George Clooney (who lives round the corner from Lorenzo), but that now doesn’t stop us providing World class cosmetic fillings!
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Invisalign Informational Video
Andrew | Teeth Straightening | Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
This is a great video that shows how the system works, and the benefits. Worth watching if you are considering straightening your teeth at Winning Smiles, without the metal braces!
We hope you find it useful
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