Penn Hill Dental Practice recommends patients attend regular check-ups, as this can enable our dentists to identify any potential problems at an early stage.  Keeping on top of your oral health can help to prevent problems from escalating, which means that you can not only save time and money, but you could also save yourself from unnecessary pain.

During your check-up, your dentist will provide you with practical advice on how to care for your teeth and gums. This will help to ensure that your mouth stays healthy, and your teeth and gums stay fully functional for as long as possible. We also provide advice for children who may need a little assistance in developing their daily teeth cleaning routine, to help them to establish good mouth care practices for life.

As standard practice, our dental team will include a mouth cancer screening with every examination.  Unfortunately, the number of people diagnosed with mouth cancer in the UK is on the increase, but our routine screenings could provide you with an early diagnosis which may potentially save your life.

Sometimes our patients need specialist care to help them combat the more advanced form of gum disease, periodontitis. This can cause symptoms including sore, swollen and bleeding gums and bad breath, and can eventually lead to tooth loss.

Fortunately for the vast majority of patients, periodontal treatment is very successful and their natural teeth can be maintained for many years.

Rest assured that we only offer the most effective, scientifically proven, evidence-based treatment options in order to you to help retain and restore your natural teeth.

The clinical name for gum disease is gingivitis or periodontitis (depending on the severity of the condition). Gum disease can cause sore, swollen, bleeding gums and bad breath or in more severe situations, tooth loss.

Fortunately, with early intervention, the combination of teaching correct techniques and mechanical cleaning, provided by our therapists, is a very successful treatment. This enables people to keep their natural teeth for many years.

Patients may need specialist care to help combat advanced forms of the disease.

Fillings, as the name implies, quite simply fill the hole in a tooth, trying to recreate the original shape of the tooth. Fillings are often a necessary and very straightforward procedure involving the careful cleaning of the cavity and the removal of any weak parts of the tooth. Then the tooth is filled usually with a tooth coloured composite filling chosen to match the colour of your tooth.

Procedure:

• Usually numb the area around the tooth with an injection – but some small fillings may not need this, or patients may choose not to have any anaesthetic.
• Remove any decay, together with any old filling material, using a small, high-speed drill.
• Remove any weak part of the tooth which might break later.
• Wash and dry the tooth by blowing water and then air onto it.
• Etch the surface to be restored with a mild acid to help the filling adhere more closely.
• Coat the surface that is to be restored with a bonding agent (which acts like cement) and then push the filling material into the cavity and shaped as required.
• Harden the filling by pointing a bright light at it. This is called curing.
• Then trim and polish the filling as necessary.

Benefits:

• Unlike silver (amalgam) fillings, white filling material sticks to teeth and can form edges, so it may be effectively used to repair front teeth that are chipped, broken, decayed or worn. It can also be used as a ‘veneer’ to cover marks or discolouration that cleaning won’t remove.
• White fillings are less noticeable than silver fillings, which may turn black in the mouth. White fillings come in a range of shades so they can be quite closely matched to the colour of your own teeth.
• A tooth needs less preparation for a white filling than for a silver filling.

Full or partial dentures are removable replacements for lost teeth. Today’s dentures have been thoughtfully designed to look and function like your natural teeth, providing a comfortable and visually natural solution to missing teeth.

We offer full dentures to replace all teeth; or partial dentures, used where only a few teeth are missing. Dentures can be held in place by natural suction to your gum, by clasps gripping onto natural teeth, by fixatives or  the denture could be attached to dental implants.

Dentures must be kept clean and removed at night to give your gums a rest. As with teeth, regular check-ups with the dentist are recommended. If dentures become stained the hygienist will be able to professionally clean your dentures for you.

What to expect:

• The dentist uses a putty-like material to make moulds of your mouth – called impressions. A dental technician uses them to make models for the denture to be built on. Second impressions are taken in a custom made impression tray.
• The technician makes wax blocks which fit the models. The dentist puts these in your mouth to record the position of your jaws in relation to each other.
• A trial denture is made and put in your mouth. The dentist will ask you how it fits, feels and looks before they make any final changes.
• The trial denture then goes back to the technician who permanently fixes the teeth and does all the finishing touches. The denture is then ready to use. The dentist may want to see you again fairly soon to see how you are getting on with the denture. If there are problems they can make small adjustment.
• The trial denture then goes back to the technician who permanently fixes the teeth. The denture is then ready to use. The dentist may want to see you again fairly soon to see how you are getting on with the denture. If there are problems they can make small adjustment.

Benefits:

• If you have lost some teeth, dentures can improve the way you look, bite, chew and speak.
• They are custom-made to match your mouth and can be made to look as natural as possible.
• The natural teeth that are left are more protected from wear and tear. Without dentures, the natural teeth may move or tilt, stopping your teeth biting together properly.
• Dentures can be fitted immediately after teeth have been taken out so that nobody will know that you have had a tooth out.

Dentures will never feel like your own teeth and it can take time to get used to them. Decreased levels of the bony ridge can negatively affect the stability of dentures, especially in the lower jaw. If you haven’t had a denture before the dentist will want to explain the difficulties of wearing dentures, as well as the benefits and how you.

Taking good care of your children’s teeth from an early age is absolutely vital if you want to help them to smile with confidence for life.

From the moment they start to appear, your children’s teeth are just as susceptible to decay and other problems as your own teeth are. Even though their first ”baby” teeth are later replaced, they still have a huge effect on your child’s future smile.

For babies, the key steps to avoiding problems in the future are to offer only milk and water in a bottle, never juice or squash, and to start cleaning your child’s teeth twice a day as soon as they start to come through.

Initially, you can use a children’s toothbrush with a small smear of toothpaste – you may find it easier to stand or sit behind your child so you can reach their top and bottom teeth more easily. Brush gently in small circular movements and remember to brush behind the teeth and along the gumline. Even when your child can clean their own teeth, you should continue to supervise them until they are seven years old or more.

Seeing a dentist regularly is important for your child. You should start to bring your child with you to appointments even before their own teeth appear, so they can get used to the sights, smells and sounds of the practice.

Once they have their own teeth, they should have regular check-ups – we will advise you on how often these should be. These will be fairly informal but enable us to keep a close eye on how your child’s teeth are developing.

Last but certainly not least, discourage your child from eating sugary snacks and drinking sweet and/or fizzy drinks in between meals – frequent consumption of these is the main cause of tooth decay.

For more information on how we can help care for your children’s teeth, please call us – we’ll be happy to help.

Used to replace a missing tooth, dental bridges involve fixing a false tooth in place by attaching it to one or two teeth on either side. Usually these supporting teeth are crowned to give extra strength, but there are various different types of bridges. The dentist will discuss these with you fully during consultation and treatment planning. Bridges are made of metal and porcelain or sometimes just porcelain and ceramics.

Bridges are made of metal and porcelain or sometimes just porcelain and ceramics.

What to expect:

• Depending on the amount of tooth preparation required, the dentist may first give you an injection to numb the tooth or teeth.
• The dentist uses a soft, moldable material to take impressions of your mouth. A dental technician will then make exact plaster models of your upper and lower teeth and gums which show how your teeth bite together.
• The teeth that will support the bridge are prepared to take the fixings and to make sure that the bridge is not too bulky.
• Another impression is taken of the teeth, and the dental technician uses this to make the bridge. An acrylic temporary bridge or temporary crown may be fitted in the meantime.
• At your final visit, the dentist will check that the bridge fits and make any minor adjustments. Then, after checking that you are happy, it is fixed permanently in place. Your dentist or hygienist will show you the best way of keeping your new bridge clean.

Benefits:

• A bridge lets you almost forget that you have missing teeth.
• It can improve the way you look, bite, chew and speak.
• The teeth can be matched quite closely to the colour of your own teeth.
• A bridge can last many years, if you keep it clean and if there is no accidental damage.
• Natural teeth are protected from wear and tear, and the chewing load is spread.

If you do not want a bridge, you can have a removable partial denture. The dentist will explain how successful a bridge will be. If the supporting teeth are not strong enough, a denture might be better. If you have just had some teeth taken out, a denture might be made first, with a bridge fitted later when the gum has healed.