“I’m just going for a fag, get us another glass of red will you, oh, and let’s get a kebab on the way home yeah?” As familiar (and nice!) as that might sound, we don’t half subject our mouth to torture in London. Combine that with general wear and tear and time, our teeth can start to look very tired and worn, so it may be time for a makeover to restore the smile we once had. One tried and tested solution is a porcelain veneer and once fitted can hide a multiple of sins like cracks, gaps, chips and evidence of receding gums. They are very durable- lasting up to 10 years if treated with respect; they can extend the length of the teeth, are easy to fit, look incredibly natural in the mouth and are reasonably priced at around £300. The treatment is a pretty straight forward procedure. The dentist first removes the original porcelain on the tooth and then takes a mould of what is left and then sends this off to a lab for the veneers to be made. In the meantime, you will be fitted with temporary veneers for a couple of weeks. On their arrival, they are cemented in place and sealed with a curing lamp. If you are in a hurry however, CEREC treatment allows this whole process to be completed in around an hour, as the veneers can be manufactured on site and price-wise, it’s pretty much the same.

Wouldn’t it be fanatastic if you woke up one morning in central London with a pocket full of money, yawned in front of the mirror and thought to yourself ‘right that’s it, I’m gonna get my teeth done- today!’. Well, thanks to a system call CEREC, you can. If you decide that you want a crown, or some veneers to hide those cracks, gaps or stains, or even a bridge to plug a gap, the process would’ve normally taken a couple of weeks, because the new fittings would have had to be manufactured in a lab, but with CEREC, the work can be done at the dentists. Once you arrive, the dentist will take digital photos of your mouth and then log them into a computer, to get a 3D image of the work to be done. This information is then fed into a machine, and the new fittings manufactured on the spot. Whilst this takes place, the dentist can prepare the teeth, carry out any other work that needs to be done, and then complete the operation. Also, if there are any problems with the fittings, they can be adjusted on the spot. And having this treatment is no more expensive than having this type of work done in the traditional way. Essentially then, you walk into the dentists with a tired looking mouth and come out again with a new look in as little as an hour and a half!

Having tired, worn, chipped, cracked or stained teeth can really affect your confidence in London. You may find yourself smiling less and hiding what you have. It can even affect the way you talk to people, project yourself, and you can find that you are disappearing into your shell. It could be time then, to consider a makeover. Depending on how far ‘gone’ your teeth are, veneers are a great option. These little gems can make your smile return and everything else that comes with it, and it isn’t that expensive either. A porcelain veneer will set you back, on average, around £200, less on the NHS and the procedure takes around two weeks, or if you choose CEREC, about 2 hours. First the dentist will shave away the original enamel and then take a mould. The mould will then be sent off so that the veneers can be made, and in the interim, you will be fitted with a temp. When the veneers return, they are simply cemented onto the teeth and you walk away with a very natural, translucent look to your smile for up to 10 years. Another option is a lumineer- a similar process in preparation, except the original enamel is retained, and the new lumineer simply pasted onto the old tooth and this process is reversible.

There is an ever increasing trend in the city of London to get the perfect Hollywood smile and there are many options to choose from. But a quick fix that might be worth considering is lumineers. They will hide any stains or cracks and re-instate the original look of the tooth. Made from patented porcelain, they are strong and wafer thin compared to normal veneers and their great advantage is that the treatment involves minimal preparation of the tooth. With porcelain veneers, a lot of the tooth is removed before the veneer is cemented on. But with a lumineer, they are simply bonded onto the surface of the tooth, making the treatment reversible. They can also be used in conjunction with crowns and bridges. Preparation and fitting can take about 2 weeks, unless you take the CEREC option, where the treatment can be done in a day. Because the tooth has minimal preparation, it negates the use of a temporary veneer whilst the new lumineer is being manufactured. Fitting is simple they are bonded to the teeth and cured using a light. The main disadvantage is they are not as durable as a traditional veneer and last only around 3 years. But they are comparable in price to other techniques and the results are illuminating.

If you’re in a hurry to get a perfect, natural smile in London, but prefer not to go down the course of veneers or crowns, nor visits to the dentist, then the latest option on the market, Enlighten Tooth Whitening could be the treatment for you. The treatment has gained many plaudits in dentistry circle because of the natural finished look achieved, that it can be used by anyone across the scale and that it is done at home in as little as two weeks. Once you have been given the OK by your dentist to start the treatment, impressions will be taken of your teeth to make special bleaching trays that will seal around the teeth. Once your trays have been constructed, you will fill them with a bleaching agent and seal them to the teeth while you sleep for the next two weeks. During this time, you should be brushing your teeth with whitening toothpaste, and be avoiding tobacco and foods that can cause staining. Once the course is complete, it may take a while for the bleaching to settle down and may also require a couple of further sessions later in the year, but the results are considered to be revolutionary.

The teeth can suffer from many conditions and disease that wear down or damage the tooth enamel making the teeth lose some of their functionality or look damaged and in poor condition. Not only will this affect the appearance of the smile but it will also cause some emotional damage if the teeth cause pain or make patients anxious about their appearance.

One of the most effective ways of repairing teeth that are damaged by worn enamel or discolouration is by having a set of dental veneers fitted. In the past dental veneers were successful but also required the removal of otherwise healthy tooth enamel. This was always done reluctantly by dentists as tooth enamel will not come back once it has been removed and this can be bad for the teeth. However, modern veneers are very thin and extremely lifelike, meaning that nobody will notice that they are not real teeth and will mostly be stunned by how great they actually look.

Dental veneers themselves are thin ceramic shells, often made of porcelain as this looks very much like real tooth enamel. They are cemented over the top of the existing teeth suing composite resin, which sets them firmly in place. Because they are so thin they can even be placed over the top of existing dental work such as crowns and fillings.

Dental veneers can be expensive but they will also last a very long time if properly cared for. It is not unusual for veneers to last as long as fifteen to twenty years and in some cases even longer. Make an appointment with your London dentist to discuss further the possibility of having dental veneers and the benefits this could have for your teeth.

There is a new type of veneer in the market that promises to be the best yet. Produced by Cerinate, Lumineers are the thinnest and most versatile porcelain veneer ever made and deliver stunning results. Designed to perfectly cover discoloration and restore the shape to teeth that have suffered from enamel erosion, ask your City of London dentist about the new Lumineers.

Lumineers have improved upon the traditional veneer in the sense that they are thinner and stronger. This means they require less preparatory work before application and are less likely to chip and crack in the mouth. Only about the same width as a contact lens, Lumineers require minimal enamel removal before application, one of the most common drawbacks of traditional veneers. Dentists are always reluctant to remove otherwise healthy enamel and now, with these new forms of dental caps, they simply don’t have to. Not only can Lumineers fit over existing teeth, they can also be applied to teeth with previous restorations such as crowns. This is especially good news for patients and dentists because these can often be very hard to remove.

Lumineers are able to completely transform a smile, even one that has been badly affected by staining and enamel erosion. Manufactured at a special laboratory in the US, they are the very latest in dental technology and represent the future of veneer technology. With appropriate brushing and flossing, Lumineers are capable of lasting as long as twenty years before they will need replacing, and although they may cost slightly more than traditional veneers, the results are worth it. Find out about Lumineers at your next appointment.

White teeth eh! Yes we all want them, but is the price to prohibitive for most of us. A City of London dentist says that today we have 2 very good alternatives to veneers, which most people have fitted to achieve a film star smile and whiter teeth. In most chemist shops today and on the internet you can buy a teeth bleaching kit, and for less than £40 in most cases. The kit comes complete with a gum shield and the bleaching agent that enables you to do this simple procedure yourself, and in the comfort of your own home. You need to make a mould of your teeth by biting into the blank shield; this is the same procedure as you do to make a sporting gum shield. Then you mix some of the bleach and put it into the mould. This then goes onto the teeth for around 40 minutes, and it will simply bleach your teeth whiter, it isn`t the best way to whiter teeth, but for most people it works well and its cheap. Another popular method is the Intense Light whitening format; this is done by mobile technicians who come to your house or to a salon near you. The light is shone onto the teeth to whiten them, with both methods though you will need to steer clear of coloured food stuffs in order to keep those teeth whiter for longer. The light method costs around £200-400 and is becoming quite popular with younger people.

A new formula made from porcelain has completely taken the dentistry world by surprise, the Lumineer as it’s called is so much easier to fit says a City of London dentist. Veneers are popular among those who seek a solution to minor teeth problems, ones which are largely cosmetic. A discoloured, chipped, wonky or cracked tooth is more an inconvenience than a usual tooth problem. Veneers up to now have been very thick in size due to the material used, that makes it impossible to have one fitted without first removing its equivalent in enamel from the rogue tooth. As enamel doesn’t grow back it means that you can only ever have another veneer on that tooth. Most of these veneers last up to around 15 years, and it involves removing the worn out one and replacing it with another one. The Lumineer puts paid to all that as it is so tough it now comes in a super thin version, this allows the dentist to simple just place it on the front of the tooth with a little cement. No preparation, except in some cases, is necessary and if any is required it is just a quick roughening of the surface to get a good adhesion. They can be removed at any time to allow treatment to the tooth, then simple replaced back on, or even exchanged for another one. They are expected to last up 20 years, and keep their colour much longer as well. The price is also very competitive.

The new Lumineer veneer is great for hiding small amounts of defects to your teeth; this can include a misaligned, cracked or even a chipped tooth. The cost has also made it a considerably popular choice when choosing what cosmetic surgery to have to repair damaged teeth, says a City of London dentist. The new veneer is so thin and tough that it is a true veneer in the normal context of the word, as used in the furniture business. A conventional veneer needs to be quite thick to do the job properly, this means that it can`t just be plonked onto a tooth to repair it. The tooth needs to have some extensive work done on it first so the veneer will fit onto the tooth and look natural, this means that your teeth’s natural enamel needs to be shaved off to make this possible. With the Lumineer being so ultra thin, no work needs to be done on the tooth to prepare it; it is simply cemented on in around 20 minutes. If your tooth needs any work done on it, then the Lumineer is simply taken off and then replaced when the work is done. With a veneer it would need to be taken off and a new veneer fitted afterwards, and this can be quite costly. The lack of work in making the Lumineer and fitting it means the price has come down; on top of that they last longer than a normal veneer with a life of around 20 years.