Should I stay or should I go? Dental treatment abroad

There’s a trend amongst celebrities such as Katie Price, to travel overseas to get their cosmetic dentistry done. Often this is a quick fix and it

certainly sounds appealing. Why not combine a week’s holiday, relaxing and sunbathing, with having teeth that may be out of alignment and discoloured, transformed into perfect pearly whites?

Should I stay or should I go? Dental treatment abroad…

I’m increasingly asked for my views on this seemingly quick and straightforward solution to a beautiful smile. However the only way that such a quick result is possible is to veneer or crown teeth which involves drilling away a lot of sound tooth.

The answer is simply to proceed with extreme caution. Beautiful looking teeth are achievable for everyone but this requires careful assessment and planning. You also need to be able to contact and visit the dentist who carried out the treatment if something goes wrong which is not uncommon when a lot of tooth has been drilled away. Not easy if they are thousands of miles away.

Twenty years ago, I provided far more veneers for patients than I do now. In fact, the number of crowns (full cover of remaining tooth) and veneers (covering only the front of the tooth) that I now do is significantly less. There’s a good reason for this, as I will explain, as dentistry has evolved significantly over the years.

This is a good thing as crowns and veneers don’t last forever. They can break, come off or the teeth may subsequently die and need root canal treatment. The life of the tooth may be shortened meaning they may require extraction later in life.

So, in short, I only crown or veneer teeth that are excessively worn or already very heavily filled.

Modern dentistry is far more conservative and less destructive. I would rarely consider drilling a healthy tooth to improve the aesthetics. Nowadays we prefer to align teeth with orthodontic techniques, such as Invisalign, use safe teeth whitening methods and, if necessary, enhance the shape using resin bonding to achieve a fabulous smile without any tooth destruction.

These processes may take six months rather than only six days, and without the a sunny holiday spot, but the results will be longer lasting without unnecessary damage to teeth.

At SmilePlus Dental Care we offer both Invisalign (clear aligner) and Six Month Smiles teeth straightening treatments. We include a complimentary 30 minute session with our dental hygienist and are also currently offering free professional teeth whitening (value £300) if you undertake either of these treatments.

0% finance is available. All initial consultations are free and can be booked on our website.