Looking after your oral health

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d go to the doctor and they’d look at your tongue and get you to say ‘aaaaaah’? They were checking out your oral health. Medicine has long used the health of the mouth as an indicator for the health of the rest of the body. If you have a white, furry tongue, or, heaven forbid, a green furry tongue, then something’s not right.

Oral Health in HammersmithNow research has backed up this tried and tested method of checking health and has discovered that illnesses in the rest of the body are indeed linked to your oral health.

Gum disease, which is a disease of inflammation, often works as a pointer to disease elsewhere in the body. It is often an indicator of heart disease. The idea goes that inflammation in the mouth causes inflammation in the blood vessels, raising blood pressure and allowing less blood to move through them.

Gum disease may also be linked to birth problems. Women are more likely to get gum disease when they are pregnant as the increased levels of progesterone in the body make life in the mouth more habitable for bacterial plaque. Researchers are investigating whether gum disease in the mother plays a role in low birth weight or babies born with learning disorders, heart conditions or lung conditions.

Gum disease is also linked to lung conditions. When gum disease is treated, fewer bacteria go down into the lungs to exacerbate problems there.

Obesity has also been linked to gum disease, which seems to progress faster when body fat is higher.

What can you do?

You can combat gum disease by having a great oral health routine. This means brushing your teeth twice a day with a soft bristled brush and a good fluoride toothpaste. You need to back this up with a good flossing once a day and perhaps also interdental brushes to remove trapped food.

You also need to come along to Kings Dental in Hammersmith for regular check-ups and cleanings to remove hardened plaque. Between us, we can make sure that your oral health is in A1 condition.

Cosmetic orthodontics aren’t just cosmetic

The term cosmetic orthodontics implies that any benefits that come from cosmetic braces are purely appearance-related. But this is not true. As well as getting a smile to be proud of, having your teeth straightened increase your chances of making your teeth last longer.

The difference between cosmetic and normal braces is to do with how much your misalignments prevent you from doing things. If you have wonky teeth but can still eat and talk and are not in any pain, then any improvements to their positions have been deemed as cosmetic by the dental profession.

You may be able to chew just fine, but it could be that only some of your teeth are bearing the brunt of the forces created by chewing. You may also be more likely to grind your teeth at night. Over the years, this could lead to some teeth crumbling under the strain of chewing. When your teeth are well aligned, this is less likely to happen.

Also, when your teeth line up properly, they are much easier to keep clean. Plaque has fewer unreachable places to hide, and you will suffer from less decay or gum disease, if you keep up a good oral health routine.

So, although you may think that getting your teeth straightened is just so that you can feel better about your smile, you are giving yourself other important benefits too.

Here at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith, we offer 3 great ways to get your teeth straightened. You can choose between fixed discreet braces or removable aligners.

Six Month Smiles

These bracket and wire braces are smaller than regular braces, and are made from clear ceramic and tooth-coloured wire. They are great for straightening the front 6-8 teeth and take around 6 months to do so.

Inman Aligner

A removable device with spring-loaded bows that go behind and in front of the teeth. Treatment takes 6-18 weeks.

Invisalign

Removable clear aligners that work in a series to straighten teeth. You can’t see them once they are in place. Treatment takes around a year on average.

Come on in for a consultation.

Putting your mouth back together again

If your mouth has got into a right mess, it can be daunting when you think about all the various treatments, from goodness knows how many different kinds of dentists, you might need to put it right again. But if you bring your mouth along to Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith, we can bring your mouth back to its former glory without ever having to refer you to an outside dentist.

Full Mouth Rehabilitation in HammersmithThat’s because here at Kings Dental Clinic, we have a great team of dentists who are highly skilled and experienced in every area of dentistry. We can put together a treatment plan that brings them all together in the right order so that you can have your lovely smile back in no time.

What’s wrong?

Some people have a terrible accident and lose a lot of teeth and need reconstruction. Others grew up without having access to good oral health and dentistry and are now paying the price. Yet more have been saying goodbye to teeth that have done long years of service and are now wearing out. Whatever the cause of your problems, we can put them right.

Consultation

The first thing to do is come along for a consultation and ask about full mouth rehabilitation. We will take an in-depth look at your teeth, gums and soft tissues and discuss what your aims are and how we can help you achieve them. Don’t worry about what we will think. We have seen it all before, hundreds of times, and we never judge.

Together we will draw up a costed treatment plan that sets out what treatments you need and in what order.

These treatments might include:

  • cosmetic braces for teeth that have wandered
  • inlays and onlays to cover large cavities
  • crowns to strengthen teeth that still have good roots
  • veneers to cover damage
  • white fillings to replace amalgam
  • root planning, gum and soft tissue grafting for advanced gum disease
  • dentures, bridges and dental implants to replace lost teeth.

We will be able to give you a schedule so that you know how long it will take to get your smile back.

Come on in and find out more.

When your mouth is in a mess

How did your mouth get in a mess? Was it gum disease? Maybe tooth decay? Perhaps you lost or damaged teeth in an accident? Or maybe you are just getting on a bit and your teeth are wearing out.

Prosthodontics in HammersmithWhatever the reason, when your mouth is in a mess, it affects your life in many ways. It’s not just that you can’t bite or chew your food properly anymore. It’s also because you are too embarrassed to smile and laugh and now people think you are cold and unfriendly because you don’t smile. That’s mealtimes and socialising that are depressing. Maybe your mouth is also affecting your work life, and your love life. It’s not a good way to be, especially when there are so many great ways that we at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith can restore your mouth to its former fabulousness.

We have an array of techniques and materials which we can use to fill in your gaps and repair or disguise damaged teeth.

Why not come in for a consultation and let us take a look at what’s going on inside your mouth. Then we can make suggestions of what can be done, using a variety of methods to suit your budget.

Dental implants

These are the most effective way to replace lost teeth. They seem expensive, but one implant can support up to 3 teeth on a bridge and they can last for decades, so, over time, dental implants can even work out cheaper.

Dentures

Full dentures replace all the teeth on one arch. Partial dentures replace a few. Modern dentures are much more realistic and effective than before. We can even stabilise them with dental implants.

Veneers and composite bonding

These are 2 methods that we use to cover over damage on otherwise healthy teeth. Chips, cracks, intrinsic discolouration, worn edges, even gaps and slight twists can all be made to disappear using either veneers or composite bonding.

Crowns

A cover for teeth that need support and strength above the gumline, but are strong and healthy below it, where the root is still 100%.

Let us put together a treatment plan for you, and together we can make your mouth great again.

If you ever need root canal treatment

We hope you will never get an infection in your tooth that means you have to have root canal therapy, but if you do, you can rest assured that at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith, you will be treated with the latest equipment and by a dentist trained specifically in root canal work.

Root Canals in HammersmithDr Nadia Tawfiq is our root canal dentist, working in a branch of dentistry known as endodontics, which is concerned with the treatment of the soft pulp within the tooth. The pulp is the very inner part of the tooth and it runs all the way down the tooth from the centre of the crown to the tips of the roots. This is the part of the tooth that has to be removed when it becomes diseased or infected. This can happen if the tooth is decaying, or has cracks in it, or if it gets injured in an accident of some kind.

What is root canal therapy?

Dentists carry out root canal work when the pulp inside the tooth root has become infected or diseased, but the rest of the tooth above the gum line is still healthy. Having root canal therapy allows you to keep your tooth instead of having it extracted and then having to have some kind of false tooth installed.

People tend to think of root canal therapy as a particularly painful treatment, but you need not feel any pain with Dr Tawfiq, who will make sure that you are completed numbed with a local anaesthetic. She will then use the latest rotary files and apex locators to clean the infected pulp from the tooth, all the way down to the tip of the root.

It may take more than one visit to complete the treatment, especially if it is a complex case, working on a tooth with multiple roots. You will be fitted with a temporary crown between appointments.

At the end of treatment, your tooth will be covered with a porcelain crown to protect it and it should then last you a good many more years. We have a 95% success rate to back up this claim.

Get replacement teeth that do a proper job

There’s nothing more frustrating than having to rely on something that never quite works properly: that smart TV that pixelates every time you get to the dramatic point in the latest must-watch TV series, a satnav that takes you on unnecessary detours when you’re in a hurry and false teeth that don’t have the power to chew like your natural teeth did.

Dental Implants in HammersmithAt Kings Dental Clinic, while we can’t help you with your satnav or your TV, we can replace dentures or bridges with dental implants, and we can probably do so even if you have previously been rejected for treatment because your jawbone has degenerated.

What’s so great about dental implants?

Dental implants are far more stable than dentures because they are fixed directly into your jawbone. The implant post, which is made of titanium, fuses with your bone, and becomes anchored so securely that you will be able to eat whatever you like again. Anyone who has had their diet restricted to soft foods because it’s all their false teeth can cope with will be delighted by this news.

You do need to have a jawbone that can grow new cells over the implant to bond with it, and, in the past, this was the main reason people were turned down for treatment. It may be that they had been without teeth for so long that the bone had shrunk away. Or perhaps they were a smoker or had uncontrolled type 2  diabetes. These days, we can often solve these issues. Smokers must stop smoking before they can be treated. Diabetics need to get their disease under control with a low carb diet and plenty of exercise.

We can then rebuild the jawbone with a bone graft, where we put extra bone material into the jaw and leave it for some weeks to bond with the existing bone. We can put it into either jaw. If your upper jaw is the issue, we can instead use extra-long implants that anchor through the jaw and into the dense cheekbones above.

These treatments do add time to the overall implant journey, but most patients are happy to do so because the benefits of implants are so desirable.

Smoking: what it does to your mouth

When you think of the harm that smoking tobacco causes, you probably worry most about lung cancer. Maybe you think that as long as you come along for bi-annual check-ups and a good clean-up from the hygienist that, as far as your oral health is concerned, you don’t need to worry too much.

Smoking Cessation in HammersmithAs dentists, the team at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith gets to see close up what smoking tobacco does to the inside of your mouth, and it’s bad, very bad. The problem with tobacco smoke is that it affects your blood vessels, constricting them, and this cuts down on vital supplies of oxygen to your gums.

Gum disease

When your gums are not getting enough oxygen to keep them healthy, they are far more susceptible to gum disease, which is caused by the acids from plaque attacking first your gums and then bone underneath and your tooth roots.

Smoking makes your oxygen-deprived gums recede more quickly, exposing the tooth roots. Tooth roots are not covered in protective enamel like the crowns of your teeth are. The acids from plaque can damage them far more easily.

Oral cancer

Smoking also plays a bit part in mouth cancers, the incidence of which is on the rise. The toxic chemicals from the smoke get into the cells in the soft parts of the mouth and change them to make them grow out of control into tumours. And if you drink as well as smoke, it’s even worse because the toxins in the smoke get dissolved in the alcohol in your mouth and this makes it even easier for them to pass through the membranes into your cells.

Unkissable

Also, your breath smells terrible (cigarettes and coffee is a particularly nasty breath combo) and your brown stained teeth and tongue can severely limit your chances on the dating scene.

Isn’t it about time you stopped? Come to us at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith and we can help with our smoking cessation advice and support. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the conditions in your mouth improve, and what’s going on in your mouth is an indicator of what’s going on in your body.

Good roots? Get crowns

As dentists in the 21st Century, our main aim is to help you to hang onto your teeth for as long as you can. Whereas in the past, dentists couldn’t wait to pull your teeth out and give you the latest in dentures, nowadays we know that your tooth roots are invaluable for two reasons. They stop your teeth wobbling around when you eat and speak, and they also keep your jawbone cells in a state of constant renewal, so that your jawbone is big and strong.

Dental Crowns in HammersmithWe have a good range of techniques for helping you keep your teeth here at Kings Dental and one of them is dental crowns. In Hammersmith, these little treasures in our toolkit have a long and illustrious history. Crowns have been used in dentistry since the Etruscans (the people who lived in Tuscany in ancient times) had to find ways to repair their teeth, no doubt after chomping down on olive stones.

What is a dental crown?

The dental crown is a porcelain cover that goes over the entire surface of the any tooth that has suffered a trauma of some kind, or have had a large filling, or have had root canal treatment. The crown is fitted over the remains of the tooth, which may have to be shaped first, and this strengthens and protects it from further damage.

Getting a crown fitted

This usually needs 2 appointments. At the first appointment, we examine and prepare the tooth. We check the tooth roots and bone around it are healthy, which may mean taking x-rays. If they are, we can go onto the next stage.

Next, we give you a local anaesthetic, before filing down the tooth to make room for the crown. If, on the other hand, you have hardly any tooth left to start with, we can we will rebuild it up so that it can support the crown. Next, we take an impression of your tooth. This is used to make the crown out of porcelain that is colour-matched to your teeth. We fit it at the next appointment, cementing it in place.

So your teeth look fab, how’s your face doing?

Have you ever done up one room in the house only to find that now it’s had a fresh coat of paint and a new carpet that other rooms are looking rather tired and worn in comparison? It can be a bit like that with teeth: you invest in getting that fabulous new smile: whitening, veneers, maybe even cosmetic braces and, all of a sudden, the face that frames them is looking a bit on the tired side.

Facial Aesthetics in HammersmithIt can be a bit disheartening, getting older, but there are ways to freshen up your face with facial aesthetics treatments that are not permanent and don’t involve surgery. Here at Kings Dental Clinic in Hammersmith, we provide a range of facial aesthetics treatments.

As well as Botox, which relaxes wrinkles formed by habitually contracting certain muscles, and dermal fillers, which plump wrinkles, hollows and flattened top lips, we also offer:

Thread lifts

Thread lifts use a synthetic fibre that dissolves under the skin called polydioxanone (PDO) to lift the face. We insert several PDO fibres into the dermatological layer of the skin to stimulate the production of collagen and help improve the look of sagging skin, wrinkles, jowls, forehead wrinkles and to improve the definition of the jawline. Treatment takes about half an hour and is administered under a local anaesthetic. Treatments last about 10 months, but can last longer if you have 2 further treatments done.

Platelet rich plasma therapy

Also known as the Vampire face lift, for this we take some of your blood and mix it with a dermal filler before injecting it back into your skin to bring your collagen and elastin back to life, while also removing damaged cells from your skin. You may be a bit bruised for a few days after treatment, but after 3-4 weeks, you will begin to see a reduction in wrinkles, an improvement in skin tone and texture and better skin hydration. The improvements should continue for up to 3-6 months and the treatment lasts about a year.

We also offer mesotherapy. Why not come in for a consultation and find out which treatments, or combination of treatments, would work best for you?

Hollywood comes to Hammersmith

What do you see whenever you look at a picture of a movie star? Unless, it’s Shrek or Jaws, you see a human being with a wonderful set of teeth that line up harmoniously to create a smile that the rest of humanity can only dream of. Or at least, that’s how it used to be.

But cosmetic dentistry in Hammersmith with us at Kings Dental Clinic is every bit as good as anything you will find in the movies. You can be your own movie star as far as your smile is concerned.

Cosmetic Dentistry in HammersmithAt Kings Dental Clinic, we have a wide range of cosmetic dentistry treatments. You can have treatments as and when you feel the need, or you can go for a full smile makeover, which involves an in-depth consultation and assessment of your teeth, gums, lips and face so that we can create a smile that brings out all your natural fabulousness.

We can even get you ready for really important occasions when you will be making memories to last a lifetime and preserving them in photos and videos.

Wedding day smile packages

Getting ready for a wedding can take months and months, and so can getting a great smile. So, if you are going to be in a wedding party, whether you will be the bride, the groom, a bridesmaid, best man, usher or parent, it’s a good idea to schedule in time to get your smile wedding-ready as well as your wardrobe.

We offer a range of packages so that you can pick the one that best suits your dental needs and suits the role you need to fulfil on the big day.

Our silver package gives you a great polish and home-whitening kit.

Our gold package offers the above plus facial rejuvenation.

Our platinum package includes a full smile makeover and our diamond package even has dental implants and endodontic treatment in it.

Take a look at our smile packages on the cosmetic dentistry pages. The prices are there too and you will find that there are discounts when bride and groom both have treatments, and even bigger discounts when more members of the wedding party come along too.