21st Century Teeth

Following our report on the laser cavity scanner (11/11/06). We would like to share with you some more of the exciting developments in computerised dentistry. 'CEREC' or CEramic REConstruction is a CAD CAM system that allows the cerec dentist to manufacture beautiful ceramic/ porcelain restorations and fit them in one visit.
The cerec dentist can make anything from a crown to a veneer, or multiples of these in one visit. The benefits to the patient are great as they can avoid prolonged time off work, avoid impressions, multiple injections, poorly fitting temporary teeth.

This technology has been around for over 20 years in some form or another, but now the software that runs the system is a little more intuitive reducing the manufacturing time. Typically it may take 90 mins to make a crown. This breaks down to about 40 minutes in total for the patient sitting in the dental chair, and the rest is the dentist designing, milling and finally glazing the cerec tooth.

My Team - Tamara

This is Tamara, my dental nurse. Tamara joined us a year ago when Becky left to have her second child. Tamara has firmly taken the reigns and maintained the high standard set by Becky. She shares an interest with me in the artistry of cosmetic dentistry and frequently finishes, glazes and characterises the cerec crowns and veneers we make. Tamara is currently training in dental nursing and will take further exams in dental radiography, allowing her to take x-rays. We are planning to develop Tamara's role in the practice. In the near future new patients will have an inital meeting with Tamara where she will address any dental concerns and establish what the patient would like to do with their teeth.

My Team - Louise

This is Louise, an extremely talented practice coordinator. She has worked with me from the beginning and has helped me develop the practice at a rate of knots. Louise is a Guy's Hospital qualified dental nurse (but we won't hold that against her). Louise is usually the first contact at the practice. Having spent many years working in the dental industry, she is very adept at helping patients and considerate of their needs as she has a good understanding of the treatments they may require.
Louise says 'I am proud of the work we do at Warlingham Green, all our patients are fantastic and I enjoy the atmosphere. I firmly believe the practice ethos, 'we treat patients as we would treat our own families'. This means using the very latest in materials to deliver dentistry that will last. We make no apology on our prices, we are not delivering budget dentistry. Richard is extremely conscientious in delivering patient care. If he is ever in any doubt as to a treatment he will find expert help.'

Link to laser cavity scanner website

This is really a dentist product site but it has some very compelling research and a slightly techy video. I've also swiped a couple of useful pictures from the Kavo site showing the difference between using a dental probe and how the laser 'looks' into a tooth.

Give me a laser!

We've got a laser cavity scanner! And its great. It simply uses a laser light
to look into a tooth and it can tell if the structure of the tooth has changed, such as with tooth decay. The reason its great is because a simple dental probe can't see, it can only feel, so it cannot detect any problems below the surface of the tooth. Decay can often be detected way before anything shows up on x-ray, so problems can be treated early often without the need for anaesthetic! The laser cavity scanner can also give a reading so any suspicious areas can be monitored. It's a bit more scientific than a sharp metal pointy stick.

Results published by Dr. Lussi of Berne University (on the Kavo website) showed that dentists correctly diagnosed problem areas by visual inspection in only 57% of all cases. The same group achieved an impressive success rate of 90% with the Diagnodent (laser cavity scanner). Not bad eh! especially if it saves your tooth from the ravages of decay.

Warlingham Green Dental Clinic is 2 Years old!

Its taken this long to write a newsletter (not for the want of trying), but the idea is to let all our wonderful patients know who we are and what we do. We will also answer your dental questions and keep you aware of new products and services.

We were opened officially in 2005 by T.V. celebrity Dr David Bull who has hosted programmes such as WatchDog Health Check and Most Haunted Live. Note the bright smile of David(left) we did that! One hour of professional tooth whitening can do wonders to brighten a smile.
David was delighted and name dropped us on national t.v. the following morning.

Two years on and our patient list has grown steadily. This has been mainly by word of mouth for which we are eternally grateful.