You might recognise
- No check-up in several years
- Gums that bleed when you brush
- Sensitivity to hot or cold
- A filling that has come out
- Nothing wrong, just due a look
General Dentistry
The care that prevents the expensive care
Check-ups, scaling, fillings and extractions. This is the least interesting page on the site and the most important one. Almost every expensive dental problem we see started as a small, cheap one that nobody looked at.
Who this is for
Everyone, at least once or twice a year. But particularly anyone who has not seen a dentist in a long time and is quietly dreading what they will be told.
Also people with no pain at all who simply want to know where they stand, and people who want the price in front of them before agreeing to anything.
What we do
Everyday dentistry
Four things that between them account for most of what walks through our door.
Examination and X-rays
A full check of teeth, gums and bite. X-rays where we need to see between teeth or below the gum, because that is where decay starts long before you feel it.
Scaling and polishing
Removing hardened plaque above and below the gumline, which brushing cannot shift. This is what keeps gums from receding and teeth from loosening in your fifties.
Fillings
Tooth-coloured composite, shade-matched so they are hard to spot. We remove the decay, shape the filling and check your bite before you leave. Usually one visit.
Extractions
Simple and surgical, including wisdom teeth. We will always tell you first whether the tooth could be saved with root canal treatment instead, even when saving it is the more expensive path.
A check-up
What actually happens in twenty minutes
What is on your mind
We ask before we look. If something has been bothering you, or you have been avoiding chewing on one side, that tells us where to pay attention.
The examination
Every tooth, the gums around them, your bite, and a check of the soft tissues including the tongue and cheeks. That last part is a screening most people do not realise is happening.
X-rays, if needed
Not every visit. We take them when we cannot see between teeth or below a filling, or when something needs following up. We will tell you why before we take one.
What we found
In plain language, including the things that are fine. You should leave knowing the state of your own mouth, not just a list of work to be done.
A plan, if you need one
What needs doing now, what can wait, and what only needs watching. With costs. If it can be spread over a few months to make it manageable, we will say so.
Common questions
Check-ups and cleaning, answered
Every six months suits most people. If your gums are healthy and you have had no problems for years, once a year can be enough. If you smoke, have gum disease, or get cavities easily, more often. We tell you which group you are in rather than applying the same interval to everyone.
No. A lot of our patients are in exactly that position. Whatever the reason, it is in the past and it does not change what we do next. We look, we tell you what we find, and we work out a plan from where you are now.
Send us a WhatsApp and we will tell you the current fee. We do not publish a full price list because for most treatments the price depends on what we find. You always get a price before anything starts, and nothing begins until you have agreed to it.
No. Scaling removes hardened deposits, not tooth. Teeth can feel different afterwards because the deposit that was filling the gaps has gone, and gums that were inflamed settle back. That is the gum disease showing itself, not the cleaning causing it.
Common, but not normal. Bleeding gums usually mean inflammation from plaque sitting along the gumline. At the early stage it reverses completely with cleaning and better brushing. Left for years it becomes bone loss, which does not reverse.
No. We take them when there is a reason, such as checking between teeth where decay hides, looking under an old filling, or following up something we are watching. We will explain why before taking one.
First step
Book a check-up
Whether it has been six months or six years, the appointment is the same. Tell us what is bothering you and we will find you a time.