Dental Blog - Orpington Dental Care

Improve your dental alignment

When you choose to straighten your teeth, you choose to have a more appealing smile and a higher standard of oral hygiene. In Orpington, braces are fully customised for efficiency and comfort. They use low-visibility materials to stay discreet, protecting you from unwanted attention while treatment is ongoing. At Orpington Dental Care, we treat misaligned teeth with a range of contemporary methods. Whether you have a crooked smile or front teeth that stick out too much, we can comfortably improve your dental appearance.

Why have braces in Orpington?

A crooked smile can cause long-term cosmetic worries. Small imperfections, like one or two teeth that are slightly out of position, can have an impact on how you feel about your overall appearance. You’ll benefit from braces in Orpington if you tend to keep your teeth hidden when laughing out loud or appearing in photographs.

Our modern realignment treatments are user-friendly. When you come to us for your consultation, we’ll assess your concerns, and recommend the best way to achieve the transformation you want.

Options

Many people seeking braces in Orpington opt for Invisalign. This popular treatment is suitable for a range of mild-to-moderate needs. It uses a series of transparent plastic aligners. You wear a set of these precisely-shaped appliances for around 7-10 days, before moving on to the next set in the series. The slightly different shape of each aligner gradually pressures your teeth into better positions.

With Invisalign, there are no wires or brackets attached to your teeth, so you can take the appliances out of your mouth when you want to brush your teeth or eat a meal.

Another type of braces in Orpington is Six Month Smiles. This uses clear brackets and tooth-coloured wires to remain virtually hidden from view. Because it focuses on the teeth at the front of your mouth, the average treatment time is shorter than other methods of tooth realignment.

Duration

The dentist will let you know exactly how long treatment will take before it begins. We work to careful treatment plans, and regular check-ups mean the process stays on track. It can take a while to achieve the results you want, but you’ll enjoy the benefits for many years afterwards.

Discoloured teeth?

As the daily habits of drinking tea and coffee, smoking and even time itself take their toll, your teeth are usually the ones to bear the brunt of it all. Unfortunately, these habits can’t always go unnoticed, meaning that yellow or stained teeth might leave you feeling nervous about smiling or laughing. No one should have to feel afraid of showing off their teeth and if it starts to affect your confidence, you know that something has to be done.

Teeth Whitening in Orpington Getting your pearly whites back, though it may seem so, does not require magic. If you are unhappy with your discoloured teeth, cosmetic treatments like teeth whitening will have you smiling non-stop. This is used to enhance the appearance of your teeth and get your confidence back on track.

Brighter smiles

If you are considering teeth whitening in Orpington, then you might want to get to know the options you can choose from. At Orpington Dental, we offer two treatments that are both effective in brightening your smile.

Power whitening is done there and then in the dentist chair. After a protective barrier is used for your mouth and lips, a gel is placed onto your lips which is activated by the lamp light. Here, the bleaching process begins and after an hour, you will see your brand new white teeth. This is a quick and effective way to brighten your smile, and it means you can be prepared to laugh with confidence at any given moment.

Home whitening is a flexible alternative to suit you. You take a custom-made tray home with you, applying gel in a similar manner. You can then choose when you would like to use the tray, perhaps during the night or a few hours in the day. After a couple of weeks, your teeth will be a few shades brighter and your smile will be several times wider.

A shade that suits you

Whatever your choice of treatment, the result will hopefully be the same. By receiving teeth whitening treatment, you can grin without a worry in the world. Drop into our surgery today and find out if you could benefit from this quick and easy treatment.

Making life easier with dental implants in Orpington

The trouble with losing your teeth is that the replacements can mean a serious change to your diet, and a lot more hassle, inconvenience and potential embarrassment.

If you are at an age when your teeth are beginning to fail, you may be wondering what steps to take to replace them. Perhaps your teeth have had so many fillings over the years and now they just can’t withstand the pressure of chewing anymore. Or perhaps gum disease is finally causing them to come loose in their sockets.

Whatever the reason, the result is the same, and the solution could be either a fixed bridge, full or partial dentures, or dental implants in Orpington.

Here at Orpington Dental Care, we have seen how dental implants, which seem new but have actually been around for more than 30 years, can help people maintain bone health, their nutritious diets and their youthful looks. Here’s how:

Bone health

Dental implants are replacement tooth roots and having something embedded in your jawbone that vibrates a tiny bit every time your teeth come together reminds your jawbone that it is still in use. These reminders stop the bone dissolving itself, shrinking in size and losing density.

Nutritious diet

Dental implants in Orpington can withstand chewing forces more powerful than the average male chew, so you can carry on eating all those great foods you love: apples, nuts, raw vegetables, steaks and so on; foods that provide essential fibre and nutrients for your overall and digestive health. Other tooth replacements, such as dentures, only offer about a quarter of the chewing power you need and mean that you will have to be confined to a soft food diet for the rest of your life.

Youthful looks

No one wants to look older than they are, but if you lose all your teeth and do not replace the roots, it’s inevitable that you will. As mentioned above, your jawbone will resorb and no longer provide the strong framework for your cheeks, which will collapse inwards. Also, you will develop a pointy chin that is nearer to your nose than it used to be. These are actually symptoms of tooth loss but are perceived as being related to age.

Your straight teeth

Or are they your wonky teeth? They can be straight teeth if you invest in braces in Orpington with us at Orpington Dental Care.

It may seem like a matter of pure vanity, but actually having your teeth straightened is much better for your oral health as well as your looks. When your teeth are straight, you will find it much easier to brush away the plaque that builds up during the day and love to sneak off and hide in the crevices that are created by wonky teeth.

Often people don’t bother with braces in Orpington because they mistakenly believe that wearing braces is going to involve years of metal brackets cemented on their teeth and restrictions in diet, not to mention endless faffing about with floss and interdental brushes trying to remove food particles. If that’s what you think is what happens with braces in Orpington, we have got one word to say to you: Invisalign.

What is Invisalign?

Invisalign is a break-through technology that came on the market about 20 years ago and uses mouth guard-style clear aligners that snap on over the teeth and can be removed, indeed must be removed, for eating and for tooth cleaning.

You can be forgiven for never having seen Invisalign. This is because the aligners really do live up to the marketing hype of being as good as invisible once they are snugly hugging your teeth. The transparent plastic is only 0.3mm thick and each aligner is custom-made for your own teeth. As you as long remove the aligners every time you eat or drink anything other than plain water, they won’t discolour and become visible.

Do you have the discipline for Invisalign?

The thing with these braces in Orpington is that whether they do their job or not is up to you. Teeth need to be under sustained pressure for at least 20-22 hours a day if they are going to move in your jaw. If you don’t have the discipline to wear them for this time, you would be better off spending your money on fixed braces. Come in and find out more!

Reliable replacement teeth

Are you in the market for replacement teeth? Perhaps you have lost some in an accident, or yours are beginning to fail. Whatever the reason for needing new teeth, the method of replacement that you choose can affect your quality of life for the rest of your life. If you care about having teeth that behave just like the ones you have lost, then you need dental implants in Orpington.

Here at Orpington Dental Care, we regularly see first-hand what a difference dental implants in Orpington make to the quality of life for our patients. People who have had dentures or had teeth that didn’t work very well, are amazed at how much easier eating, speaking and laughing become when they have dental implants to stabilise their crowns.

Why are dental implants different?

The major difference between dental implants in Orpington and the other two methods of tooth replacement (dentures and fixed bridgework) is that dental implants replace the roots of the teeth as well as the crowns. Dentures rely on adherence to the gums for their stability, and bridges are attached to neighbouring teeth and use their roots for stability.

Both of these other methods have disadvantages. Dentures can only provide about a quarter of the stability of natural teeth. This means there will be all sorts of foods you will no longer be able to eat, particularly chewy or crunchy foods. Bridges offer much more stability but using neighbouring teeth as buttresses means they have to be ground down to be covered by buttress crowns and can no longer operate as natural teeth in their own right. In effect, you lose two good teeth to replace one or two missing teeth.

Dental implants, on the other hand, are embedded into carefully drilled channels in your jawbone, where, over a period of several weeks, they integrate with your bone tissue to become as securely held in place as your natural teeth and are able to sustain chewing forces of up to 97kg or 200lbs, which is more than the average male chew.

To find out if you are a suitable candidate for dental implants in Orpington, come in for a consultation with our implant dentist.

Four million and counting

Since it first came on the market in 1997, Invisalign has had more than four million happy users; people whose smiles are now beautiful and straight and in use all day, every day.

At Orpington Dental, we love seeing how happy our patients are when they find out there is a way to get their teeth straightened that doesn’t involve having to give up their favourite foods or walk round looking like a railway station for a couple of years.

Invisalign in Orpington They also love the whole digital age process, from the scanning to produce pinpoint accurate pictures of their teeth on the screen to how they can actually watch how their teeth will move to reach alignment. There’s nothing like seeing the end-point before you begin to inspire you to make this commitment to yourself.

More than looking lovely

Committing to straightening your teeth is about a whole lot more than looking fabulous. Straight teeth are also much easier to keep clean. There are fewer nooks and crannies for plaque to hide away and build up, causing decay and gum disease. When you have straight teeth, you have a much higher chance of being able to hang on to them for your whole life and avoid the hassles and expense of replacement teeth in later life.

How Invisalign in Orpington works

Invisalign uses mouth guard-like aligners that are 3D printed from clear, rigid plastic. You snap them into place over your top or bottom teeth, or both. Precisely placed pressure bumps inside the aligners gently press on your teeth, persuading them to shift out of the way to relieve the pressure. You wear each set of aligners for 7-10 days, by which time the pressure will have worn off. When it has, you put the next set of aligners in. These nudge your teeth a bit further along the path to alignment, and so on, until your teeth are straight. This takes, on average, a year.

You take your aligners out to eat and to clean your teeth, and as you must wear them for 20-22 hours a day, you’ll probably find you cut out a lot of snacking and may even lose weight. A double bonus.

Ways to straighten your teeth without braces in Orpington

Braces are a popular and effective treatment but not everyone looks forward to wearing them. Braces are very common for children and teenagers, but adults would rather not have a mouthful of metal brackets and wires. Luckily, dentistry has advanced and teeth straightening treatment can be accomplished through alternative methods.

At Orpington Dental Care, we care about comfort, aesthetics and efficiency, when it comes to braces in Orpington. You probably have friends with regular braces who aren’t allowed to eat their favourite foods and need to visit the dentist regularly for adjustments. With Invisalign, you can enjoy all your favourite foods without altering your lifestyle. Six Month Smiles, on the other hand, helps you gain beautifully straight teeth discreetly.

Invisalign – no one needs to know

Invisalign is a discreet teeth straightening treatment, which consists of plastic, removable aligners. These aligners are customised to fit over your teeth and help them move into their optimal position over a specific period of time. If you opt for Invisalign, you need to ensure that you wear your aligners at least 22 hours per day for best results. Invisalign aligners can be removed for eating and brushing your teeth and they are easy to keep clean and hygienic. Last, but not least they are more comfortable than regular braces and require fewer adjustments.

Six Month Smiles – smile confidently

Just like regular braces, Six Month Smiles braces in Orpington are fixed to the teeth. However, these braces only focus on the front teeth and do not move the tooth roots, therefore they cannot affect your bite. Six Month Smiles braces have taken the technology of regular braces and modified the treatment to offer patients a cosmetic solution in only six months (or less!). These braces are ideal for patients who want to straighten their teeth for a special event, like a wedding or a graduation.

If you are not completely confident about your smile, and you would like to look into your options, contact us today and we will book a consultation appointment for you. With our discreet braces in Orpington, you can focus on doing what you do best – being yourself and keep smiling.

Have you recently discovered you are in need of dental implants?

Perhaps you have lost one, or a number of teeth and are wondering what the best route forward is. This can be a daunting and confusing time as there are a number of options available for replacing missing teeth. Now is the time to consider dental implants in Orpington.

Dental Implants in Orpington Here at Orpington Dental Care, our friendly team can advise you on the best solution. With missing teeth, usually the most reliable and healthy option will be dental implants. These really are the next best thing to your own healthy, natural teeth. They are stable and strong when looked after well and your body will actually adopt the implants as if they were your own teeth.

Dental implants are a reliable solution

For patients in Orpington, dental implants are a popular and reliable solution to missing teeth that look, feel, fit and function like your own original teeth. In the long run, alternative options, for example, dentures or bridges, can lead to face-altering bone deterioration. As you can imagine, this commonly interferes with eating, smiling, speaking and other activities of everyday life.

Here in Orpington, dental implants are our first recommendation for replacing lost teeth. They allow you to enjoy your life without worrying about your teeth. What more could you ask for from a tooth replacement solution? Forget the idea of removable dentures or tooth-supported replacement teeth. These traditional alternatives can loosen and even fall out when you talk, eat or laugh. Dental implant technology today allows you to have a better standard of tooth replacement. One that can let you lead your life without fear of embarrassment.

Dental implants protect your jawbone

Did you know that some tooth replacement options have the side effect of allowing your appearance to change over time? When your natural tooth is lost, your jawbone knows and reacts. Loss of vibrations and stimulation from chewing mean that your jawbone has no work to do. The bone will gradually deteriorate and shrink without essential stimulation. Dental implants actually protect your jawbone. They stimulate your jawbone, actually helping to maintain bone growth and prevent loss. Give is a call to find out how we can help you.

The lowdown on Invisalign braces

Let’s face it, crooked, misaligned teeth are not teeth at their best. Individually your teeth may be perfect, but if they are not neatly lined up their beauty is lost. Not only that but your misaligned teeth be difficult to clean, which can lead to all sorts of unwanted dental hygiene issues.

Choosing your alignment method

So, you have decided that braces are your route forward. Now it’s time to choose which type of braces to run with. There are many different types of braces out there that will properly align your teeth. However, traditional metal braces can be unattractive, uncomfortable and sometimes painful to wear. This is where we can help you. Having had years of experience with braces and tooth alignment, we have seen the results of many different types of Braces. Here in Orpington, braces are in high demand and the type we recommend is Invisalign in most cases. They are clear, discreet, easy to keep clean and manage, results are fantastic and long lasting when cared for properly. Of course, they may not be suitable in all cases, for instance people who have drastic tooth misalignment.

Here are a couple of factors to consider when choosing your tooth alignment programme.

Maximum comfort and safety

Choosing Invisalign clear braces in Orpington is the right option for reducing damage to your teeth. Invisalign aligners are smooth and custom-made to fit your teeth. When properly fitted, your gums and other sensitive areas in your mouth will not hurt when wearing them. The brackets of traditional wire and metal braces are attached to the surface of your teeth, which can lead to demineralisation and damage to the tooth surface. Invisalign aligners will not do this. So long as you remember to brush and floss after each meal your teeth are at no risk of damage.

Visability

Invisalign aligners are so thin, 0.3mm, that they disappear from view once they are snapped on over your teeth.

When you choose Invisalign braces in Orpington, you will receive a comprehensive, computerised treatment plan. This means you know exactly what to expect and how long you will need to wear your braces.

Uses of dental implants

We all wish for a healthy and beautiful smile, but most people experience tooth loss at some point in their life. Missing teeth not only affect the way you look, but can also leave the surrounding teeth in your mouth vulnerable to other dental problems, including further tooth loss. Luckily, dental implants are a solution if you are missing one or more teeth.

At Orpington Dental, dental implants are our preferred choice of treatment for tooth loss. This is because, unlike conventional dentures and bridges, dental implants replace the missing tooth roots and create a strong and stable foundation for replacement teeth.

How are dental implants used?

Dental implants are small, screw-shaped, titanium posts, which are surgically embedded into the jawbone. Once they are in place, they are used as anchors for artificial teeth. The restorations used with dental implants include dental crowns, dental bridges, and dentures.

Crowns are ideal for patients who wish to replace only one missing tooth. They are attached to the dental implants through an abutment, a connecting fixture that joins the implant and the crown. Crowns are commonly made of porcelain or composite materials and they are customised to match the colour of your natural teeth.

Dental bridges are used for groups of two or three missing teeth in a row. A bridge consists of two crowns, which are secured to dental implants on either side of the gap. The central piece of a dental bridge looks like your natural teeth but is made of one solid piece.

Last but not least, implant-supported dentures are securely attached to strategically placed dental implant posts through special fixtures. Implant-supported dentures are stable and do not require the use of dental adhesives. This treatment is a great and cost-effective option for patients who are missing all of their teeth.

Restore your oral health and function

If you have one or several missing teeth, do not let them compromise your health and quality of life. If you can benefit from dental implants, our experienced dentists will examine your teeth thoroughly and create a customised plan for your dental needs. To learn more about dental implants in Orpington, schedule an appointment today.

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