Optimising your dental health is easier said than done sometimes. Although we try to keep our teeth and gums free from decay and diseases, experiencing the odd cavity might be unavoidable for some people.

In this article, we’ll be discussing general dentistry and white fillings in Orpington at our clinic, Orpington Dental, why white fillings are preferred to amalgam or metal ones, and how to avoid costly cosmetic procedures by looking after your teeth.

What is decay?

When you eat or drink, the sugar from the food or beverage is converted into acid by the bacteria in your mouth called plaque.

The acid attacks the enamel and dentine of your teeth, which can be controlled by reducing sugary and unhealthy meals from your diet, and cleaning your teeth regularly.

However, uncontrolled acid attacks can result in progressive dental decay that might require dental restorations, such as fillings.

What are fillings?

Fillings are artificial materials that restore structure to fractured or decaying teeth. These come in different forms, with general dentistry and white fillings in Orpington being the preferred choice among our customers.

Why are white fillings best?

Metal or amalgam fillings appear as dark, unattractive spots in your mouth for which you might feel self-conscious. On the other hand, white fillings are tooth-coloured, look natural, and help to transform your smile.

White fillings don’t only look better but function to strengthen your teeth while metal fillings weaken your pearly whites, which means they’re more susceptible to breaking.

For the long term, white fillings are durable and the more affordable of the two forms of tooth restoration, considering the high cost of replacing broken or decaying teeth.

If you’re tired of having tooth sensitivity resulting from your filling, you’re in luck. With white fillings, you won’t suffer the consequences of exposing your new tooth piece to hot or cold food and beverages.

How can you prevent dental decay entirely?

Like other dentists, we believe that prevention is the best cure for decay. Unfortunately, we find that many of our clients don’t know how to improve their oral health or don’t dedicate enough time to brushing their teeth.

Knowledge is power, and it’s our mission to highlight preventative measures to keep you healthy to save you from having to pay for expensive cosmetic procedures in the long run.

Look after your teeth in the following ways to prevent teeth decay:

Control your acid attacks by consuming sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes only if at all. Overall, you should follow a moderate diet and limit your intake of unhealthy food. Meals rich in calcium and protein strengthen the dentine of your teeth, try to incorporate more of these into your diet.

Use fluoridated toothpaste to clean your teeth, and brush those pearly whites twice a day for two to three minutes every time.

Fluoride preparations for children help prevent tooth decay by strengthening enamel. Chat to our expert team for more information!

The technique you use to brush your teeth matters. Ask us for a demonstration if you’re not sure which method to implement.

Our experienced dental team all understand that choosing a dental clinic can be extremely difficult, especially with such a wide range of options within the field of modern dentistry. Patients may choose our dentist to receive their general dentistry and white fillings in Orpington for a wide array of reasons, one of which may be due to our positive and upbeat approach to all forms of dentistry. Our highly skilled dental team takes pride in delivering a gentle and kind approach to all of our new, and pre-existing patients. Our clinic within Orpington has been established for more than twenty years, our high standard of dentistry attracts local patients due to our positive reputation within the local area.

A second perspective

Patient reviews are undeniably important for potential patients who may be considering visiting our dental clinic, this is why we display a wide range of patient reviews on our website, all of whom are happy with the dental treatment they have received. One example of our happy patient reviews is an individual who has received treatment from our principal dentist, thanking our team for enhancing her smile, therefore increasing her self-confidence!

Meet the team

The whole team at our clinic within Orpington are undeniably skilled at delivering a wide array of dental treatments, however our principal dentist could be argued as a key member of our dental team. Our principal dentist is Helen Loubster, she is a highly skilled dental professional who has completed further postgraduate study in cosmetic dentistry at the Eastman Dental School. In addition to Helen, we have other dentists, hygienists, dental nurses, and anaesthetists, as well as an excellent team of dental support staff.

Catering to all of our patients’ needs

At our dental clinic we offer general dentistry and white fillings in Orpington, we strongly believe that dental care should be available for everyone, no matter what the severity of their dental case, or their financial situation. Despite offering all of our patients high quality private dental care, we also understand that some of our younger patients may lean more towards dentistry under the National Health Service.

The general dentistry and white fillings in Orpington we offer our patients

Our clinic understands that general dentistry is just as important as cosmetic dental treatments. The general dentistry we offer our patients consists of emergency dental care, root canal therapy, and tooth extractions just to name a few! Aside from our general dental treatments, we also offer more discreet dentistry such as white fillings.

What are white fillings?

White fillings are essentially a form of dentistry that aims to fill cavities in the teeth, whilst maintaining a natural appearance. White fillings have the advantage of being able to attach to the side of the teeth, as well as matching the shade of the natural surrounding teeth. White fillings have risen greatly in popularity within recent years, and are now often chosen over traditional metal fillings, this may be due to the lack of mercury within white fillings.

If you had a fair few fillings when you were a kid, and let’s face it, not many of us didn’t, then you can feel like your amalgam fillings never quite let you forget about all those sugary snacks and drinks you had, and all that toothbrushing you skipped.

Lugging around your amalgam fillings is like lugging around the evidence of a misspent youth that everyone gets to see every time you open your mouth to have a good yawn or a big loud laugh.

Thankfully, when it comes to advances in general dentistry, one of the most important, as far as patients are concerned, is the advent of white fillings. White fillings have been around for a quite a while now. When they first became available, the materials weren’t all that strong and it wasn’t uncommon for people to have to get them replaced every few years, especially if they ground their teeth at night.

Now, however, the white fillings we offer at Orpington Dental Practice in Orpington are much stronger and therefore last a lot longer.

White fillings are made of composite resin, which is a mixture of glass and plastic. They go in differently from amalgam fillings. We put the composite resin in in layers and after each layer, we use a UV light to harden, or cure, it. It can take several layers of composite resin to fill a cavity, and when we have, the filling will come level with the top of the tooth. What we do then is use tools to sculpt and shape the composite resin as we recreate the chewing surfaces of your teeth. Between each shaping attempt, we get you to bite down on a piece of blue marker paper so we can see where we need to remove a bit more resin.

Getting white fillings takes longer than getting amalgam fillings, but the end result is something that looks just like your tooth. Now when you laugh or yawn, no one will be able to look into your mouth and see that you were ever anything but a saint with the toothbrush and the sweets.

In the past couple of decades, there has been an explosion in cosmetic dentistry, thanks to all the advances in dental techniques, materials and equipment. More and more people are focussed on having the best smile possible.

And we love this. A good smile can make such a difference to your life. But even so, here at Orpington Dental Care, we are also firm believers in providing an excellent level of care in general dentistry in Orpington.

After all, there would be no point in letting you go ahead with spending your hard-earned money on treatments to provide beautifully white, straight teeth, if those teeth were housed in diseased gums, or on the verge of decay or infection.

That’s why we will only offer you cosmetic dentistry if your mouth is in really good shape, health-wise. Fortunately, it easy to stay on top of your oral health. You just need the discipline to clean your teeth twice a day and come for a check-up twice a year. Coming to us for check-ups allows us to spot any issues before they turn into a crisis. Decay and gum disease are sneaky and you probably won’t notice either in your mouth until they are already quite advanced. For example, you probably won’t realise you have decay in a back tooth, until it starts to give you toothache. And by the time that happens, it means the decay is into the pulp of your tooth, where the nerves are.

What things get to the pain stage, it means that treatment is going to take longer, cost more and be more stressful. It could even result in you having to have root canal therapy, or a tooth extraction. Losing a tooth brings you into a whole new level of dentistry seriousness. You need to start looking at tooth replacement, which could involve spending a great deal of money. There is a way out of this scenario: take great care when brushing and flossing and come to us every six months for a check-up, then you may not need to lose a tooth at all.

Dental hygiene is an extremely important aspect of general dentistry and is regarded as the ultimate preventive measure for keeping your oral health in top condition.

Most dentists will tell their patients that the most important dentistry work is done outside the practice. If you can maintain a good level of dental hygiene daily, then your trips to the dentist are far more likely to be trouble-free.

If you are not looking after your teeth, then this will lead to tooth decay. Tooth decay can cause toothache and most of us would do anything to avoid that.

Poor dental health can also cause a host of other problems. It can lead to halitosis, gum disease, teeth failure and gingivitis. There is also some clinical evidence to suggest that people with poor dental health may be more likely to suffer heart problems. Surely regular brushing and flossing is easily done if there’s a chance you can avoid heart disease. It is important to have a good general dentist, such as Orpington Dental, to help show you the way to excellent oral health.

Will having white fillings help my oral health?

White fillings tend to be known as a cosmetic dentistry procedure to provide a more pleasing and natural tooth-like appearance. But, white fillings have the potential advantage of not containing mercury or other metals that may contribute to sensitivity or toxicity, therefore could benefit your overall health.

Most dentists are skilled in traditional silver fillings, but their level of skill may vary. Selecting an appropriate dentist, such as those at Orpington Dental in Orpington, is an important factor in treating tooth decay or similar damage.

White fillings are made up of glass, quartz and other materials mixed with a resin compound. The flexible material means that the dentist at Orpington Dental can better shape and mould the filling to meet the restorative as well as aesthetic needs of the patient.

It can be adapted for different uses, such as a more rugged type to fill a molar tooth that has a higher chewing load or a less rugged version for front teeth. This means white fillings can not only look better, but also actually benefit your oral health.

Your teeth are important to you. Eating, chewing, smiling – these are just a few of the positive benefits we all gain from having a good state of oral health and taking care of our teeth. We understand and we pride ourselves on our wide range of services in general dentistry. Orpington Dental Care offers patients a great environment to address all their dental needs.

We want to make sure that you can smile with confidence all the time.

Services that come under general dentistry in Orpington Dental Care

The dentistry we offer is divided into four categories: preventive, general, cosmetic and cases where there are missing teeth.

Preventive dentistry

This includes our recommended six-monthly checkup. We check for healthy teeth and gums and address dental hygiene. This can also include advice on maintaining fresh breath. We pay special attention to and give tailored advice on sensitive teeth and children’s teeth. We can also offer support for smoking cessation and mouth cancer screening.

General dentistry

This can cover things such as root canal therapy, emergency dental care, jaw problems, snoring, extractions or oral surgery, facial aesthetics and our options for sedation. We can also see pregnant women and address their specific needs.

Cosmetic Dentistry

Our wide range of cosmetic services for you to choose from includes Six Month Smiles, Invisalign, Inman Aligner, white fillings, porcelain veneers, teeth whitening and inlays & onlays. We give you all the information you need to make the right choice for your look.

Missing Teeth

If you do have missing teeth there are plenty of options for you to consider such as crowns, bridges, dentures, denture stabilisation and dental implants. After an assessment, we can advise you on the options that are available to you and give you an idea of the advantages and challenges that come with each choice.

Why we want to be your choice for general dentistry in Orpington

We will build a relationship with you through your regular checkups and monitor you oral health to give you the right advice, the right treatments and a positive experience every time.

At Orpington Dental Care, we understand that patients need to be comfortable, well informed and supported to get the most out of their dental practice and we seek to meet those needs for everyone who comes to us.