Dental Blog - Harley Street Dental Clinic

Are you a tooth grinder?

Life can be very stressful. We work all day, take care of the kids, travel on overcrowded public transport where we are bombarded by other people’s stress as they go by us, we are surrounded by sirens and TV is full of awful news and gory entertainment. It’s no wonder we are stressed out. If you wake up with headaches and a sore jaw, you could be manifesting that stress as night-time grinding of your teeth. During the day, you may go about your business with your jaw clenched tight. It’s not decay or gum disease, but the place to go for help is still the dental clinic in W1.

Dental Clinic in W1 At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we often treat people with the problems that come under the umbrella heading of TMJD (temporomandibular joint) disorders.

The symptoms of TMJD

If you are grinding your teeth at night, you may suffer from headaches and neck ache, as well as facial pain, shoulder pain, back pain and even migraines. And over time, you might well find that your teeth start to crumble from all that grinding, or bruxism, as it is known in the dental profession. When you come to us at the dental clinic in W1, we have various ways to treat TMJD.

Night guard

The simplest way to treat night-time grinding is to make you a night guard. We take impressions of your teeth, and make a guard that, when you bite down on it in your sleep, will keep your jaw in a relaxed position. It will also protect your teeth.

Cerezen

We also offer a great new device called Cerezen. This is a pair of 3D-printed hollow inserts. They are custom-made for each patient and you put them in your ear canal, which is about as close as we can get to the jaw joint. The Cerezen inserts are only comfortable when your jaw is relaxed so they gently encourage you to adopt a relaxed, open-bite jaw position.

The important thing is to come into the dental clinic and W1 so that we can help you as TMJ problems only get worse over time.

Are you nervous about visiting the dentist in Harley Street?

Dentists these days are aware of the problems that anxiety around visiting a dental clinic can cause for a patient. If you are someone who suffers from nerves or a phobic response when you visit the dentist in Harley Street, Harley Street Dental Clinic can help. We have lots of experience in dealing with anxious patients and guiding them through everything from regular check-ups to extensive procedures. We can talk to you about your needs and do everything we can to make you comfortable at our practice.

Here are some techniques that are effective for dealing with nerves when you visit the dentist in Harley Street:

Take deep breaths – this might sound simple, but it can be helpful when you are nervous about visiting the dentist in Harley Street. When we are stressed, the breathing speeds up so that the body takes on more oxygen to deal with whatever we are stressed about. This can be accompanied by an adrenaline response and other symptoms, such as feeling nauseous. We can reverse the effects of this by taking slow, deep breaths. This can put the body in a parasympathetic, or relaxed, state;
Listen to music or watch a film – for longer dental treatments, you may just need a bit of distraction, so you are not thinking about your fears. It’s our job to make sure you experience little to no discomfort so that you are not disturbed once your treatment is underway;
Sedation – there are usually extra sedation options that we can discuss with you when you visit Harley Street Dental Clinic. You might be able to have inhalation sedation which is where you inhale a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide to help you relax. This has a swift effect on your state. It also fades quickly as well so it does not affect your ability to get on with your day afterwards.

Once you begin to have positive experiences at the dentist in Harley Street at Harley Street Dental Clinic, it is usually easier to visit again in the future. We hope that by supporting you through any issues with nerves, we can help you to have a stress-free time taking care of your oral health in the future.

Come early

A trip to the orthodontist in Harley Street should be on the list of must-dos for every parent with young children. Bringing your child in for a check-up with the orthodontist at Harley Street Dental Clinic when they are around seven years old will allow us to find out what the future holds for the alignment of their teeth. And if there are problems on the way, knowing what’s in store means we can formulate a treatment plan to deal with problems as they appear rather than waiting until they have arrived and settled in.

In the past, parents expected to bring their children to the orthodontist in Harley Street when they were 11 or 12 years old, and most, if not all, of their adult teeth were already descended and in place. Nowadays however, we can accurately predict how the teeth are going to descend and what problems, if any, there will be. This means we can correct the position of the teeth by guiding them into the right place with suitable braces, rather than waiting for them to have settled into their misalignments that we can have to correct. It makes sense really.

Jaw issues

Although more and more adults are now getting braces for their wonky teeth, nothing beats getting your teeth realigned when you are a child by the orthodontist in Harley Street. Indeed, there are certain issues related to the jaw that need to be treated in childhood when the jawbones are still malleable. If the arches are too narrow to comfortably accommodate the teeth, they will come through crowded and some may not descend properly. We can widen the jawbone when your child is still young. If issues such as this are left until after the age of about 18, the bone will have set hard and will not be able to change.

Braces for kids

We have a wide variety of braces for kids. We often find that young children are far less self-conscious than teenagers and so are happy to have metal braces, and these can be brightened up and made a feature of by adding colourful elastics to them.

Preparing you for dental implants in London

At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we know that preparation is one of the most important factors when it comes to any dental treatment. When you know what to expect, you can make an informed choice about going ahead. Just the act of making that choice with realistic expectations and accurate information, can offer you an empowering boost that sees you through any difficult bits.

When you have your teeth replaced with dental implants in London at Harley Street Dental Clinic, we talk to you about any challenges you are likely to face. Each patient is different, and you may have specific lifestyle factors that will change the course of your treatment. We can talk to you about these when you have had your first consultation with us. Some common challenges and what we do to tackle them are:

Insufficient jawbone density – this is common, especially in people who have had missing teeth for a while already. We can explore different solutions, such as using implants that are angled to take advantage of the jawbone that you do have. You may also be able to have shallower dental implants that are designed to retain removable dentures. A bone graft is also an option for some patients. This is where we get bone from an external source and add it to the material of your jawbone. After a few months, it becomes part of the structure of your jaw and provides a better site for anchoring your new teeth;
Discomfort – fitting dental implants in London should be pain free. This is because we numb the area before we begin. However, afterwards, once the anaesthetic has worn off, you might experience some soreness, bruising or light bleeding. We can give you advice on how to soothe this. It should not last too long and we will let you know what is normal and what is a cause for concern. You can always call Harley Street Dental Clinic for support if you are worried;
Failure – the rate of failure for dental implants is very low. Less than 5% of patients with normal circumstances experience any difficulty. We keep a close eye on your progress when you have dental implants with us.

Dentist in W1

Have you been searching for a friendly dentist in W1? Here at Harley Street Dental Clinic, we offer a high quality of service and the utmost of professional dental care to all our patients, young and old. It’s what we pride ourselves on.

If you want a dentist in W1 who can provide you a good understanding about the treatments on offer so you can make more informed choices about treatments, then call us for an appointment now. Whether you want a routine check-up or facial aesthetics, our highly experienced and professional team at Harley Street Dental Clinic are here to provide the highest level of care and attention to all our patients.

Dentist in W1 In our practice, our goal is to have our patients smiling with confidence. We know the importance of how a healthy, straight smile is not just pleasing to the eye but can affect the overall health of a person. A healthy, straight smile can boost up your self-esteem, whereas misaligned teeth can cause real health issues such as gum disease or even bad breath.

We also believe that everyone should be able to have the chance to achieve their ideal smile and that dental care should be affordable to all. We can arrange a meeting to discuss financing arrangements.

What does Harley Street Dental Clinic have to offer?

We offer a range of treatments starting from the basic general check-up. We offer dental hygiene treatments where we can clean away plaque build-up and advise on the best brushing techniques. Preventive dentistry is highly important as the more you look after your teeth, the less work will be required later. If you have misalignment problems, then we have a dedicated team of dentists who can run through the ins and outs of straightening treatments. We have our dentists who can discuss with you restorative procedures to replace missing teeth and we have dentists who can discuss with you the process of cosmetic dentistry, for example if you wanted your teeth whitening or gum realignment.

So if you are looking for a brilliant dentist in W1, then you should a large team of them in Harley Street Dental Clinic.

Not metal braces

Although some metals can look fantastic on the body, think silver, gold and platinum jewellery, one place no metal ever seems to be on trend is in the mouth. This is why many adults who could really benefit from getting their crooked, gappy or crowded teeth straightened don’t seek out treatment. However, with invisible braces in Harley Street straight teeth are on the menu for everyone, including the most image-aware adults.

Invisible braces in Harley Street come in various different forms. Some are fixed to the front of the teeth and are more discreet than invisible. Others go on the underside of the teeth and are completely hidden by the teeth and tongue. Yet more are not fixed but fit snugly over the teeth like a tight plastic jacket. All allow our patients to go through teeth straightening without finding themselves being scrutinised by strangers as they go about their daily business.

Staying in, or coming out?

You can have some choice about whether to go for braces that are fixed to your teeth, or invisible braces that come out when you eat, depending on the severity of your alignment problems.

Staying in

These invisible braces in Harley Street use brackets cemented to the teeth. These are placed at carefully worked-out angles. They are run through with wires that exert a pulling pressure to gently move the teeth into alignment.

Six Month Smiles feature see-through ceramic brackets and wires that are coated with a tooth-coloured material. They are designed to work on mild to moderate issues with the front six to eight teeth only. The average treatment time is six months, hence the brand name.

Incognito does the same thing, but what makes them invisible is the fact that they are hidden away on the tongue-side of the teeth. Each bracket is custom-made for each tooth, so they take longer to prepare and cost more. However, they are tucked out of sight and can be used for severe alignment issues.

Coming out

Invisible aligners, such as those by Invisalign, are mouth-guard style aligners with built-in pressure points that push the teeth into alignment. They are removed for eating and cleaning.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who are dental implants for?

At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we strive to make dental implants in Harley Street available to everyone who wants them. If you look in the mirror and you see anything about your smile that makes you feel less than the fairest of them all, maybe we can help to turn things around for you. The way you look is directly linked to the way that you feel about yourself and, if you have gaps in your teeth, this can lead to low self-esteem and a reluctance to smile.

Dental implants in Harley Street are a tooth replacement method that we offer at Harley Street Dental Clinic. One of the reasons why they are so popular is that they restore someone’s smile in a way that looks natural. At the same time, they offer a high level of functionality.

These are just some of the steps that you need to take to get dental implants in Harley Street:

Know what you want – next time you look in the mirror, decide what you want to see. Harley Street Dental Clinic can make recommendations based on our experience and what we know about the ideal look for teeth. However, your preferences and unique vision of a beautiful smile may be different to that of another patient, so your input is important. If you notice more than just gaps that you want to address, you can talk to us about all the aspects that you see. We can create a smile makeover plan for you;
Fitting – we typically fit all of your dental implants in Harley Street at the same time. Of course, each patient has a unique treatment schedule, so we will let you know roughly how long your treatment will take, how many implants you need, and so on, when you come to us for your initial consultation;
Healing – taking care of your dental implants after they are fitted is an important part of the whole process. We help you by scheduling follow-up appointments and by giving you plenty of at-home care advice. You will gradually be able to apply more pressure to your dental implants as the days, weeks and months go by.

Your teeth, for the whole of your life

These days it seems that everything we buy has been designed to have built-in obsolescence. That new phone will only last three years before it gets too slow to be worth the bother. Your washing machine? Something irreplaceable will go when it’s about five years old. Built-to-last is almost impossible to find, so it’s no wonder if you think dentistry works the same way as most manufacturing. However, at this dental clinic in W1, we have a different ethos, we believe teeth are built by Mother Nature to last for your lifetime, and it’s our job to make sure they do.

Dental Clinic in W1 At Harley Street Dental Clinic, we call this ethos ‘teeth for life’ and if you look at our website, you will see we have a whole range of services that come under the title of preventive dentistry. But we can’t make your teeth last for a lifetime if you are not in on the partnership. In fact, you have to do most of the maintenance work to make sure they do. We are there as back-up, to spot and fix problems in their early stages, when they are not yet palpable, and to do a regular extra-deep maintenance.

Your teeth are like your car

If your teeth were your beloved car, you’d know you need to wash it, and fill it with oil and water to keep it on the road between services at the garage to replace oil and filters. Well, teeth are the same. You keep them going by brushing them twice a day for two minutes with a soft to medium brush and come into the dental clinic in W1 for a check-up and scale and polish every six months.

We have ways to preserve the exterior coating on your teeth too, which is super important for kids, who tend to suffer more from decay. We can coat them with fissure sealants and harden the enamel with fluoride treatments, rather like a good sealant to protect the paint on your car and a wax to feed the paintwork.

At this dental clinic in W1, we also offer other treatments that are preventive, such as help with bad breath and snoring and gum issues.

Types of dentist in Harley Street

When you visit the dentist in Harley Street, you might think that they can address all of your dental issues. Most general dentists can offer support and advice for the whole range of dental issues. However, when things start to get more complex in any area, they may choose to refer you to a specialist so that you can get more in-depth treatment. One of the main reasons for this is that, once someone specialises in a certain area, they typically do work in this area every day. This means they have a high level of experience. They also usually no longer practise general dentistry, so you won’t meet them unless you are referred to them.

One of the advantages of a dentist in Harley Street, like Harley Street Dental Clinic, is that we have lots of different kinds of dentists on our team. This means that, if you need complex, specialist work, we can often refer you to someone within the same practice. We also take referrals from external dentists if you are not a regular patient with us at the moment. If you are, you can take advantage of our in-house referral scheme. This means that you don’t have to find a new dentist in Harley Street that you can trust, and you will get continuity of care and excellent communication between your healthcare providers.

Some of the types of dentist that we have at Harley Street Dental Clinic include:

Orthodontist – this is someone who is trained to correct problems caused by misalignment of the teeth. They deal with equipment like braces and retainers;
Paediatric dentist – a practitioner who specialises in dealing with children’s teeth. They can monitor them as they grow and often anticipate and prevent issues before thy happen;
Prosthodontist – if you have missing teeth or a problem with your jawbone, you might be referred to a prosthodontist;
Periodontist – periodontics is the study of issues that affect the structures surrounding the teeth like the nerves, bone and gums. Someone who can detect and treat issues in these areas is a periodontist.

All of these practitioners have had years of training on top of their general dentistry degree to gain extra knowledge in these areas.

Let’s get clear about braces

One of the benefits that we offer our patients at Harley Street Dental Clinic is clarity about their dental treatment. We can explain options and procedures in a way that is engaging, informative and free from confusing clinical terms. One of the treatments that people often have some misconceptions about is clear braces in Harley Street. This is usually because they are mixing them up with traditional braces or they aren’t familiar with all of the options that are available.

What do clear braces in Harley Street do?

Firstly, it’s important to understand that clear braces in Harley Street do the same job as traditional teeth-straightening treatments. They move the teeth into more ideal positions with gentle pressure. It’s the way that they do this and the equipment that we use that makes clear braces different.

What types of clear braces are there?

The term ‘clear braces’ is applied to any kind of realignment treatment that uses equipment that is see-through to help it blend in with someone’s smile. This might include a system that incorporates clear brackets used alongside tooth-coloured wires or it might be an aligner made from clear plastic. The former is fixed to the teeth for the duration of treatment while the latter is removable and under the patient’s control.

Both types of clear braces are low-impact for the aesthetics of a patient’s smile. This is one of the reasons why people choose this kind of equipment. It means that they do not have to worry about the impression they will make in the world while they are having their smile fixed. Some methods are so discreet that it is hard to tell that someone is wearing dental equipment at all. We can discuss your priorities and the options that are available to you when you visit Harley Street Dental Clinic.

How long does treatment take with clear braces in Harley Street?

Treatment time varies from patient to patient depending on their individual circumstances. Clear braces tend to be used for mild to moderate malocclusions and they are also usually focused on the teeth that are visible when a patient smiles. Both factors mean that treatment with clear braces often lasts for less time than a traditional realignment procedure.

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