Harley Street Dental Clinic

Everyone knows a dentist is the best person to keep your teeth, gums, and mouth healthy – but did you know that regular visits to the dental practice are also important to your general health? At our Harley Street clinic, we usually recommend you visit the dentist at least every six months for a general check-up to keep you healthy. Sometimes your clinician will tell you that you need to visit more frequently, and you should always follow this advice.

One of the most obvious links between dental health and general health is that the condition of your teeth and gums can affect your diet. If you have lost some or all of your natural teeth, your ability to eat a full, healthy and balanced diet, full of fruit and vegetables, will be impacted, and you are likely to find yourself restricted to a soft food or liquid diet.

As well as taking the pleasure out of eating, this can make it difficult to get adequate nutrients to keep your body healthy. Dietary restrictions also arise in some patients who wear traditional dentures, as they find that their jaw bone shrinks and their dentures become loose, making biting, chewing, and even speaking more difficult.

A dentist will always recommend replacing missing teeth to help eliminate these problems. At Harley Street Dental Clinic many of our patients have benefited from treatment with dental implants, which hold restorations permanently and securely in place, enabling you to enjoy a full diet once more.

Studies have also shown a link between gum disease and other conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and some problems in pregnancy. At Harley Street Dental Clinic our skilled team of experts can treat gum disease effectively – even if it has advanced to become the more serious form, periodontitis or periodontal disease – which helps to keep your mouth and your whole body healthy.

There are many more conservative treatments than surgery available to your dentist, and in many cases an operation will be the last option. However, oral surgery is sometimes necessary and can significantly improve your health and wellbeing. At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we benefit from the skills and experience of maxillofacial surgeons Mr Paul Norris, Mr Nasser A Nasser, Ms Helen Witheroe, Mr Stephen Dover and Mr Peter Hardee, who can help patients with a range of conditions affecting not just the mouth, but also the jaw, face, and neck.

Why do I need oral surgery?

We see patients at our Harley Street clinic who require oral surgery for a number of reasons. This includes the placement of dental implants, treatment of TMD/TMJ problems, some orthodontic conditions, and facial bone fractures. The most common oral surgical procedure, however, remains the extraction of wisdom teeth.

Wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, are the final “adult” teeth to develop, often not appearing until you are 17 years old or older. Whilst many people’s wisdom teeth cause no issues, they are prone to becoming impacted or not fully erupting. This makes them difficult to clean, meaning there’s an increased chance of plaque building up, increasing the chances of tooth decay and gum disease. Painful cysts sometimes form because these teeth develop internally, damaging the jaw bone and/or surrounding teeth.

We benefit from full surgical and recovery facilities at our Harley Street clinic, so if your dentist says you need oral surgery, you can rest assured you will be in safe, expert hands in comfortable surroundings.

Your dentist may treat you under local anaesthetic, depending on your needs and the condition being treated, or may use sedation.

Always follow your dentist’s post-operative instructions, which may include a liquid diet and moderate use of over-the-counter painkillers, to ensure a speedy recovery.

Teeth are not the only things that make a smile great.

Gums can be a factor in a person’s smile, depending on how visible they are. Dentists can lighten gums to the liking of their patients, or cut away gummy smiles altogether. It is as scary as it sounds; or at least it used to be.

Seeing Gums

Prominent gums when smiling is a cause of embarrassment to the people who have these ‘horsy’ grins. Thankfully, gum lifts can provide troubled individuals a chance to correct their smile—but it does come with a bloody, painful price.

Let us calm you down first. Modern gum lifts are far safer, cleaner and faster than the scary whittling procedure first conducted during the late 1980s. We use accurate lasers to shape the gums of our patients seamlessly and with minimal bleeding, so there is no need to be afraid anymore. But, enough of our procedure; let us delve into the 1980s horror show you came here to read about.

Seeing Red

Gum lifts, or crown lengthening, was one of those dental procedures that fuelled the 20th century fear of going to the dentist. It was a very disconcerting procedure, yet the science behind it is solid and its effectiveness was undeniable to anyone willing to engage in a short-term relationship with oral painkillers.

We admit, taking a scalpel to a patient’s gum line sounds, medieval, to say the least. The invasiveness of the procedure would depend on the size of your teeth. Dentists would chip away at the bone beneath the cut gums in order to keep large teeth from appearing even larger. A level of stitching is required to prevent the gums from growing back, and yes—a lot of blood is involved. Not to mention some swelling and post-surgery bleeding episodes.

So, should you get a gum lift? Today, there is no excuse not to. Gum lifts are now more advanced and clinical. Just like how the white fillings replaced the silver ones, this is one very graphic instance of how dental practice continues to improve. If you have a gummy smile that you want to correct, thank your lucky stars that the laser is now here, and you can flash your pearly whites without having to stain them crimson first.

For all your non-scary dental needs, just contact Harley Street Dental Clinic.

Your dentist may be the last person you think can help if you suffer from chronic snoring. However, at Harley Street Dental Clinic, our team of dental professionals have helped many patients who regularly snore to overcome the problem.

Snoring is a common problem that can turn into a nightmare – not just for the snorer, but also for those who share a bedroom with them. It is caused by a narrowing of the airways, which happens when they relax as you sleep. This affects the air pressure within your airways, causing the soft tissues in your head and neck (such as the tonsils, soft palate and nasal passages) to vibrate and produce a sound.

Everyone snores sometimes, and partial blockage of the airways thanks to colds, flu, or seasonal conditions such as hay fever can all lead to temporary snoring. However, when it becomes chronic, it can become a serious issue, affecting your sleep (as well as the sleep of your loved ones) and sometimes indicating an underlying condition.

Common causes of snoring include:

• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Smoking
• Being overweight
• Some medications

In these cases, changes to your lifestyle can help resolve your snoring. As mentioned, chronic snoring may be a symptom of a more serious condition called sleep apnoea, which sees suffers stop breathing entirely several times a night. This should always be investigated by a sleep clinic in the first instance. However, in many cases your dentist can help with both snoring and sleep apnoea.

At Harley Street Dental Clinic your dentist can create a custom-made oral device or mouthpiece that will prevent your lower jaw from dropping back whilst you are sleeping, so preventing your airways from closing.

You will be invited into our Harley Street clinic for a consultation, where your dentist will take impressions of your mouth for your mouthpiece to be made, helping you to breathe better and sleep better.

Regular appointments with a dentist are essential to maintaining good oral health. At Harley Street Dental Practice we recommend patients visit us for a general dental check-up every six months. In some cases it may be necessary to visit more frequently, and you should always follow your dentist’s advice to ensure your mouth stays in good health.

Even if you think your teeth are in excellent condition, you should maintain regular check-up appointments. Your dentist can spot any problems even before you have noticed any symptoms yourself, and the early we can begin treatment, the quicker and less traumatic it is likely to be.

We are committed to preventative dentistry at our Harley Street clinic, helping to stop problems before they start. Your dentist can check for any early signs of decay or gum disease and can recommend the best course of action to take before these issues become serious.

When you come for your first appointment with a dentist at Harley Street Dental Clinic, they will take a detailed dental and medical history.

It is vital for your clinician to be aware of any pre-existing conditions you may have or medications you may be taking, as these can sometimes affect your treatment options.

They will carry out a thorough examination of your teeth, gums and surrounding structures, including taking x-rays as necessary to aid with diagnosis. If any treatment is needed, they will provide you with all the options and will draw up a treatment plan. You may be treated by the same dentist or referred to one of their specialist colleagues, depending on your need. We have many dental specialists under one roof at our Harley Street clinic.

Your clinician will also provide advice on maintaining good oral health at home, including tooth brushing techniques and the effects of diet on your teeth.

Many parents wonder when they should start taking their children to visit the dentist. At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we recommend bringing children in from the age of 12 months, and believe this can help instil good dental health habits for life.

Professor Raman Bedi is our paediatric dental specialist here at Harley Street. He is the chairman of the Global Child Dental Fund and co-chair of a global expert committee on caries management and prevention. He and his team are excellent at building up a good rapport with young patients, establishing a relationship of trust.

A bad experience in childhood is the cause of many adults’ dental phobia. By bringing your child to see a specialist children’s dentist from when their teeth start to appear, you can help to prevent this.

Children will quickly learn that a visit to the dentist is routine and nothing to be scared of, and establishing good preventative habits including regular, proper tooth-brushing will help to avoid the need for more invasive treatments at a later stage.

At Harley Street Dental Clinic we believe that by seeing children from the age of 12 months, the dentist will soon become a friendly face your children look forward to seeing every six months. By making dental appointments a regular, routine experience, you can help establish a good oral healthcare regime for life.

Our children’s dental team, led by Professor Bedi, believe that every child deserves a healthy mouth. If your child does require a filling, their dentist will use a laser instead of a drill, which is less traumatic and far more comfortable.

Your dentist can also provide preventative treatments for children, including fissure sealants and fluoride varnish, which help to strengthen teeth and combat tooth decay.

To book an appointment with a children’s dentist, contact our Harley Street practice today.