Treatments and procedures

Do you feel a shooting pain in your teeth when eating or drinking something hot? Does the thought of biting into ice cream or a cold hard apple make you wince? Sensitive teeth can be a burden for many people and can be caused by several things. It is always important to seek advice from a dental professional so the source of the problem can be identified and treated.

One cause of sensitivity is dental erosion, which is the loss of tooth enamel. Enamel is the hard outer coating of a tooth, which protects the sensitive dentine underneath. If the enamel is worn away or eroded, this dentine is exposed which can lead to pain and sensitivity, which can be worsened with extreme temperatures.

Pregnancy can be an exciting time and while you have so much to plan for, your oral health may be one of the last things you’re thinking about. But it’s more important than ever to pay close attention to your dental health in this time.

That’s because hormone changes during pregnancy can affect your oral health and many pregnant women notice that their gums are red, inflamed and sometimes bleed when they brush their teeth. The swelling and inflamed gums are referred to as ‘pregnancy gingivitis’ and can start as soon as the second month of pregnancy. The hormone progesterone can be around 10 times higher than normal during pregnancy, affecting the body’s response to toxins as a result of plaque build-up. Women are therefore more susceptible to developing periodontal disease when these hormonal fluctuations occur.

One area of speciality areas within dentistry is known as oral surgery and this applies to procedures of a surgical nature, such as the extraction of teeth or wisdom teeth. Oral surgery requires additional training in techniques to perform procedures with care, helping patients to be able to use their teeth and mouths again.

If you have advanced tooth decay or an impacted wisdom tooth, you may require oral surgery to have them safely extracted. Depending on your particular case and the severity of your problem, you will be given anaesthetic and offered sedation if you are anxious.

There is a solution to having straighter teeth without having to wear metal braces. Known as invisible orthodontics, this type of treatment offers you the choice of wearing a clear and sometimes removable appliance while straightening and aligning your teeth.

This is often a favourable option for adults who have professional careers and don’t feel comfortable wearing unsightly ‘train track’ braces for months on end. The technology behind invisible orthodontics is highly advanced and often gives patients a much shorter treatment time, depending on their individual cases.

One option to improve the cosmetic look of your smile is to have your metal-coloured fillings replaced with tooth-coloured or ‘white’ fillings. This is a safe procedure that entails one of our dentists removing any decay from your tooth, taking out the metal or amalgam filling and placing a tooth coloured filling instead. The new filling is made from a very hard substance and will withstand the forces in your mouth when you bite and chew over a long period of time. This will allow you to smile without a metallic glint in sight, giving your teeth a more natural appearance overall.

If you require a more extensive restoration than a crown or have more than one tooth that needs to be repaired, a good solution is a bridge. Bridges are usually made of a precious metal base which gives them a solid structure and makes them hard-wearing. If you need a bridge in your smile line, porcelain is usually added to the base to make it look more like real teeth. A bridge helps to strengthen the prepared teeth and makes chewing and eating easier because they are fixed and can’t come out.