Beware Of ‘Cost Cutting’ Cosmetic Dentistry

Cheaper is often not better and can easily lead to additional problems!

With the Covid-19 situation and with just 3 months to the post Brexit trading arrangements, it probably isn’t surprising that most papers are forecasting tougher times to come for a lot of us in the UK. This won’t come as a surprise to some people who may already be looking at ways of cutting the cost of their outgoings. This might apply to planned cosmetic dental treatments too.

In this earlier blog we discussed the risks involved in choosing cheap dental implants by going abroad for treatment.

Planning to have dental implants, whether here or abroad, often means quite a lot of deliberation and research. There are other treatments though, which may be decided upon a lot more quickly and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are also a number of companies moving into these markets offering ‘cheap’ products.

Teeth whitening

At Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic in Canterbury, we offer a fast acting teeth whitening treatment for £350. This is one of the most cost effective ways of improving the whiteness of your teeth but even so, some people might be tempted to look at other options.

As we have mentioned before, teeth whitening toothpastes will offer little, if any, significant benefit and over the counter products are not as effective as those that we offer due to the limits on the amount of whitening ingredient allowed in them.

There are newer ‘self whitening’ products now on the market which are often seen advertised on social media and aimed at the younger market, perhaps hoping that the influence of programmes such as ‘Love Island’ will encourage people to buy. Again though, the success of these will be limited by their legal obligations and you shouldn’t expect miracles.

Perhaps the biggest danger is that some may be tempted to use illegal teeth whitening outlets. Although teeth whitening now has to be supervised by a qualified dentist, there are still places offering this treatment. Some of these operate just about legally, using loopholes to get around the law, whilst others just take their chances. In both cases, the staff are likely to be only partially trained if at all, and there have been a number of cases of teeth being badly damaged through the incorrect use of the whitening ingredient. This can lead to very sensitive teeth and, in some cases, even tooth loss.

For a really effective improvement in the colour of your teeth, our trained clinicians are your best, and safest, option for a nicer, whiter smile.

Teeth straightening

We like to think that our Canterbury patients have the common sense not to attempt to straighten their teeth using the dangerous online tutorials that encourage you to do so using a series of elastic bands! It doesn’t take a great stretch of the imagination to see how badly wrong that could go!

Orthodontic treatment is a growing and lucrative market and some companies have attempted to take a large slice of it by offering cheaper braces that you use at home. These vary slightly in their methods but usually you are sent a kit that allows you to take impressions of your teeth. You then send these back and your aligners are then made and posted to you with instructions on their usage.

Whilst this may seem a pragmatic and cheaper way to straighten teeth, there are a number of problems with this approach. The main one being that there is no ‘in person’ professional dental oversight. Any problems or questions are addressed remotely, often by sending photographs of any issues that you might have. If you have ever tried taking a photograph of a rear or side tooth, you will know how difficult this is. In addition to this, it really takes a ‘hands on’ examination to detect most dental problems and you could find that opting for these cheaper methods creates unexpected problems which may cost you more to rectify in the long run.

It is worth remembering that our teeth are living things and not just a block of hard material. They contain blood vessels and nerves, something we may only think about when we have a toothache!  Dentists undergo extensive training both in restorative and cosmetic dentistry and you will be in good, and safe, hands if you have treatment at our Canterbury clinic.

We recognise that finances are a factor for many people and to help you have a more attractive smile with the ability to spread the payment over a period of time, we offer a selection of finance plans to help.

If you would like to discuss having cosmetic treatments to create a better smile, we will be pleased to arrange for you to have an initial consultation with one of our local team. Simply call Bradley and Partners Dental and Implant Clinic on 01227 463529 and we will arrange one at a suitable time for you.