Practice Philosophy

Our philosophy can be summed up as People, Prevention and Preservation.

We recognise that our patients are the most important people at our practice and remember at all times that we treat people and not just their teeth. Our primary desire is to help our patients prevent dental disease by showing them how they can best take care of their oral health and encouraging them to take personal responsibility to maintain a healthy dental condition.

When a person has experienced damage to their dental condition we attempt to preserve as much of their natural dentition as is practicable and according to their means. There are occasions when teeth have to be replaced or removed and a prosthetic (veneer, crown, bridge or implant) may be required. Our approach is always conservative and based on careful diagnosis.

We discuss treatment options fully with our patients before treatment occurs to ensure that they are well-informed and they agree to the schedule of treatment. We have assembled an experienced and qualified team to provide the highest level of dental care with this philosophy.

We have introduced several initiatives to support our goal of prevention and these include the following:

• Caries programme

Some of our patients experience higher than normal levels of dental disease (caries) and this programme is a structured diagnostic approach to investigating potential causes for their condition. The programme combines a selection of tests to evaluate whether the cause is biological and/or behavioural in origin. Patients are provided with a written report showing their likelihood of avoiding future caries and recommending actions to improve their chances of avoiding further fillings.

• Periodontal programme

Periondontal disease is the primary cause of tooth loss in adults from the age of 35 years onwards. Maintaining good oral hygiene will help ensure that teeth will last a lifetime. However, research has shown that up to 30% of the population may be genetically disposed to periodontal disease. Research has also shown that periodontal disease can be linked to many serious diseases such as heart and respiratory diseases. The consequences of periodontal diseases can range from bad breath to the significant lifestyle changes that are involved when teeth are lost.

Often the patient is the first to detect the onset of periodontal disease (bleeding gums, bad breath, change in the fit of dentures, loosening teeth, etc) and it is important that these symptoms are brought to the attention of a dentist so that early intervention can be made before the disease progresses.

The periodontal programme is a structured set of therapies designed to treat the existing periodontal condition of the patient. These therapies may include oral health instruction, scaling, fluoride treatment, root planning and/or treatment of diseased epithelium by laser depending on the severity of the periodontal disease. The treatment occurs over a number of appointments and the patient is provided with a schedule of therapies for each appointment.

Our prevention programmes can provide patients with very informative customised reports showing the periodontal condition of their individual teeth. Apart from informing patients about their periodontal condition, we have found these reports often motivate patients to participate more in their treatment as they can monitor their progress. This link gives an example of a typical report.

• Laser-assisted caries screening

X-rays are a useful aid in helping a dentist diagnose the source of dental pain and may indicate the presence of caries. However, often caries is present without symptom and research indicates that x-rays may not detect many instances of caries. The diagnodent is a laser that can be used to scan teeth and detect early stages of caries. Clinical studies show the device to be 90% accurate in detecting decay compared to the 50-60% accuracy observed with x-rays. We routinely scan patients with the diagnodent to detect the early onset of caries.

We offer a range of herbal hygiene products that are clinically proven to offer superior healing and are very effective in dealing with bad breath.

We are conscious that many people are concerned about dental needles and we offer two painless choice; the first is the Wand which is computerised anaesthesia that is virtually painless and wears off very quickly so that patients are not left with the numbed face that they normally experience with dental injections, the second is nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which is particularly good for nervous patients who have developed a fear of dental procedures.