Treatments
Preventive treatments
The best way to keep your teeth for life is to keep them healthy. At Stephen Cowley and Associates we advocate regular dental check-ups, usually every six months. We try to identify problems early, thus preventing serious problems from developing. That is why we allow plenty of time during every regular check up and hygienist visits for thorough investigation and careful patient instruction. Mandy our hygienist is meticulous in her desire to keep your teeth as clean and healthy as possible thus minimising potential problems. She will carefully and patiently explain everything you need to know about oral hygiene instruction to ensure that you are confident about preserving your smile.
At each dental check-up, as part of a complete dental health check, a thorough oral cancer screening is undertaken. This is supplemented with an analysis of the associated risk factors, advice will be given to reduce the risk of oral cancer if appropriate.
Cosmetic and Restorative Treatments
Some of the treatments we offer:
Tooth whitening
We offer a combination of in-surgery and at-home whitening systems that can transform your smile! These safe and effective treatments make use of whitening gel that is placed into custom-made “trays” that fit over your teeth. The gel releases oxygen in a form that breaks down discolouration. Significant and lasting whitening results can be seen immediately after the in surgery procedure.
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Tooth coloured fillings
Recent advances in filling material technology allow us to provide tooth coloured restorations that are more life-like and durable than ever before. These new fillings, called ‘bonded composites’, chemically attach to the tooth surface. This means that in most cases less tooth preparation (drilling) is required. Composite restorations are completely metal-free and are ideal for replacing the more traditional silver amalgam fillings.
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All-porcelain crowns
Crowns (caps) are used to strengthen and improve the appearance of heavily treated or broken-down teeth. The more common type of crown has an internal metal core, which gives the outer porcelain a dull and lifeless appearance. Sometimes these also show a dark line at gum level, where the metal core shows through. Beautiful all-porcelain crowns are now available that have all the strength of the metal based teeth and catch the light to give a completely natural appearance throughout.
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Porcelain veneers
Veneers are thin sections of porcelain that are individually fabricated and are bonded onto the surfaces of the teeth with a very strong resin. With veneers, your teeth can be made to look whiter and crooked teeth can be straightened. Gaps between teeth can be filled and short teeth can be made longer. One of the main advantages of veneers is that very little tooth surface needs to be removed to prepare the teeth – the procedure is very conservative of tooth structure.
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Bridges
We offer a full program of crown and bridge work to replace and disguise ugly, damaged or missing teeth. Bridges are especially effective to replace missing teeth. The technique utilizes teeth to one side or either side of a space to restore the gap with lifelike and strong porcelain teeth
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Dentures
A denture is an appliance which is worn to replace lost or missing teeth to enable you to enjoy a healthy diet and smile with confidence. A complete or full denture is one which replaces all of the natural teeth in either the upper or lower jaws. A partial denture fills in the spaces created by lost or missing teeth and is attached to your natural teeth with clasps or devices called precision attachments.
The base of a denture is called a plate and can be made of either acrylic (plastic) or metal. The teeth are normally made of acrylic and can be made to match your natural teeth. This is especially important in the case of partial dentures.
Dentures can be made to closely resemble your natural teeth so that little change in appearance will be noticeable. Modern dentures may even improve the look of your smile and help fill out the appearance of your face.
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