Get Your Perfect Smile!

A recent survey revealed that 3 in 4 UK adults don’t like smiling for the camera. This isn’t good enough! A perfect smile will not only help you to appear younger and more attractive but can also help to improve your confidence and self-esteem. This will have positive benefits to all areas of your life, including your career, social life and even your love life.

If you’re tired of hiding your teeth when you smile, there are so many options available to you. A smile makeover with Benfleet Dental Centre will enable you to address the imperfections in your smile that might be holding you back.

A smile makeover takes into consideration your facial appearance, skin tone, hair colour, teeth (colour, width, length, shape and tooth display), gum tissue and lips to develop your ideal smile.

Smile makeovers are performed for many reasons, and our dentists will ensure that your treatment plan is tailored to ensure that you achieve the results you are looking for.

The number one priority is to ensure that you have realistic expectations about what can be achieved. If more extensive treatment is required (such as facial aesthetics) we can help guide you to ensure you are completely satisfied with the outcome.

If you’re thinking about a smile makeover, you need to start by asking yourself the following question:

What is it that you like or dislike about your smile or your teeth?

We start here because it gives us an indication about your insecurities. Perhaps you don’t really know and you simply don’t feel confident with your smile or you would prefer if it looked more like the typical “perfect” smile you see in films and on TV. The following are some of the most common reasons to dislike your smile:

Tooth Colour

Silver or amalgam dental fillings can be replaced with natural, tooth-coloured composite restorations, while teeth whitening can improve the colour of stained or dulled teeth.

Tooth colour and shading are important considerations during the evaluation of and preparation for various procedures, including porcelain veneers, crowns, bridges, composite bonding and dental implants.

If you are worried about staining, you might explore treatments such as a dental hygienist cleaning first, as this will remove all surface staining. After this, you could then look at teeth whitening to help remove deep-set stains.

Alignment and Spacing

Teeth that are crooked, overlapping or have gaps between them can be straightened and aligned when necessary through teeth straightening procedures and improved with veneers.

This treatment will not only help to improve the appearance of your smile but it will also help you to care for your teeth, as straight teeth are much easier to keep clean. You’re less likely to have food debris stuck in your teeth, which can cause plaque buildup and bad breath.

Missing Teeth

One or more missing teeth can negatively affect the appearance of your smile – as well as affect your bite and increase your risk for tooth decay – making replacement an integral part of oral health and facial aesthetics.

Missing teeth can be replaced by dental implants, bridges or partial dentures. You could also explore treatments like a dental bridge, which uses the surrounding teeth to support a crown. Choosing porcelain or ceramic for your restoration will help to achieve a natural-looking finish.

Harmony and Balance

Uneven, chipped and cracked teeth can be cosmetically bonded for an improved appearance, and a gummy smile can be re-contoured to help improve the overall look of the smile.

Composite bonding is a modern treatment where the restoration material is applied directly to the tooth and shaped. It offers a cost-effective alternative to treatments such as veneers. With veneer treatment, small porcelain shells are placed on the front of the teeth to change the appearance of the smile. It’s a highly effective way to achieve a fast makeover.

Fuller Lips, Smile and Cheeks

An un-shapely or ageing face can be improved or rejuvenated with certain procedures in the smile makeover category, including orthodontics and/or oral maxillofacial surgery.

Our fully trained team of dentists at Benfleet Dental Centre will work closely with you to develop a treatment plan designed to achieve exactly what you want from your makeover.

This treatment plan may consist of many cosmetic and functionally restorative procedures, potentially including teeth whitening, composite bonding, veneers, dental crowns, orthodontics (braces), oral maxillofacial surgery and gummy smile reduction.

Treatments to consider to boost your confidence

Now you know what parts of your smile or appearance are damaging your confidence, it’s time to start looking at the potential treatment plans. The following are some of the most popular treatment options available from Benfleet Dental Centre. We have achieved incredible transformations with the following treatments:

Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening can be a very effective way of lightening the natural colour of your teeth without damaging the tooth itself and there are two main forms of treatment available.

In-surgery tooth whitening

In this instance the whitening solution will either be painted onto your teeth or loaded into custom made bleaching trays and then a special light will be shone onto the teeth to help activate the bleaching solution. The treatment will normally take around an hour and during this time the procedure may be repeated with fresh solution two or three times.

At-home tooth whitening

At Home Tooth Whitening, involves taking impressions and making moulds of your teeth to create whitening trays. These are then worn at home, normally at night, for a period of 2-3 weeks. This allows you to fit the whitening around your own schedule

The darker your teeth, the longer your teeth will take to get lighter, but your dentist will be able to advise you on the expected time frame.

Refill gels can be readily purchased when you visit the dentist to enhance the whitening effect of your teeth if desired. If you are not a good candidate for teeth whitening for any reason, we can advise you on alternative treatments that might be more successful.

Teeth Straightening

In the past few years there has been a large increase in the number of adults looking to improve the appearance of their smile using new teeth straightening methods. Here at Benfleet Dental Centre we are able to offer Clear Braces and Cfast.

Clear Braces - Rather than traditional braces, Clear Braces are made of clear resin meaning that they should be practically invisible when they are in place. They are easily removable and as such do not interfere as much with daily life, such as eating, drinking or oral hygiene routines as other more traditional orthodontic appliances.

Following a full consultation with the dentist, personalised aligners will be made, each of these will need to be worn for two weeks before switching to the next one. This allows the teeth to move little by little, week by week into the desired position.

CFast: Cosmetic Tooth Straightening - CFast was originally developed by Dr Biju Krishnan in 2009 and is now being used by dentists across the world. CFast is a short term orthodontic treatment which focuses on straightening the front 6-8 teeth that are visible when we smile.

It is possible to see results in as little as 8 weeks, with an average treatment time of 5 months. CFast uses clear brackets and tooth coloured nickel-titanium wires to make sure that the brace is as unobtrusive as possible and therefore minimises the effect on your day to day life.

Veneers

A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain made to fit over the front surface of a tooth. Veneers can improve the colour, shape and position of your teeth.

A precise shade of porcelain can be chosen to give the right colour to improve a single discoloured tooth or to lighten the front teeth. A veneer can make a chipped tooth look intact again. The porcelain covers the whole of the front of the tooth with a thicker section replacing the broken part.

Veneers can also be used to close small gaps, when orthodontics (braces) are not suitable. If one tooth is slightly out of position, a veneer can sometimes be fitted to bring it into line with the others.

Veneers should last for many years; but they can chip or break, just as your own teeth can. Your dentist at Benfleet Dental Centre will give you an idea of how long each individual veneer should last. Small chips can be repaired, or a new veneer fitted if necessary.

Dental Implants

A dental implant is used to replace a missing tooth by inserting a titanium screw into the bone and placing a crown, bridge or denture over it. The titanium screw fuses with the patient’s bone and provides a solid base on which an appliance can be placed.

We use enhanced imaging techniques where necessary to identify the suitability of the individual case and to plan the best treatment for the individual patient. We work closely with Astra Tech, a leading company in the field of dental implantology to ensure you get the best treatment.

Facial Aesthetics

Patients will often start the process of improving their smiles, only to feel their new smile doesn’t match their face. Your teeth might look youthful, but your face might be telling your true age. If you want to turn back the clock and feel confident, then the following facial aesthetic treatments should be considered:

Anti-wrinkle Botox injections

Botox injections are one of the most popular cosmetic treatments in the UK. Botox injections are particularly effective in treating lines around the eyes commonly known as Crow's Feet and are also used to treat lines on the forehead.

Additionally, Botox injections are also used in improving the appearance of vertical frown lines between the eyes, also known as Glabellar lines. Botox injections work quickly and are relatively painless. The Botox relaxes the facial muscles that produce frown and laughter lines. Following the initial injection, the lines soften slightly after approximately 10 days.

Dermal Fillers

At Benfleet Dental Centre, we use Dermal Fillers from Juvederm or Restylane. Dermal fillers are gels containing Hyaluronic acid which is normally present in skin. As part of the ageing process, the amount of hyaluronic acid in the skin reduces and the skin loses its elasticity.

These fillers are used to “fill out” and “plump up” lines on the face such as those between the nose and the corner of the mouth. Dermal fillers are commonly used to treat lines around the lips, both above and below the mouth, lines between the nose and mouth and also frown and laughter lines that have not completely softened with Botox injections.

Book your smile makeover consultation

This is a lot of information to take in, and we don’t blame you if you aren’t sure where to start. The next step is to book a consultation with our team so we can explore the treatment options that are best suited to you and your needs.

We’ll guide you through the treatment options and create a treatment plan that addresses your unique needs. Call Benfleet Dental Centre today on 01702 557766 to book your consultation and see what our dentists can do to help you achieve your perfect smile.