Going to the dentist is not like going to the doctor. Most people only go to the doctor when they are unwell; most people who visit their dentist are well and have no symptoms. As a result, a visit to the dentist is often low on the list of priorities. Anxiety and fear about going to the dentist can also put people off making the appointment.

On the other hand, regular checkups are vital to avoid problems later on. And of course toothaches and other problems can require emergency visits.

These days most dentists can also offer cosmetic treatments, typically designed to improve the quality of a smile for instance by adjusting the colour or the layout of the teeth.

Abu Dhabi has a very wide selection of dentists, and selecting one is frequently a matter of luck or recommendation. Most health insurance will only cover dental emergencies, and regular check-ups and cosmetic treatments can become very expensive; it is important to have maximum confidence in your choice.

How to choose your dentist

Get recommendations:
Referral is by far the best way to get started. A friend, a co-worker, or perhaps your doctor can offer some suggestions; often the medical clinic you use will have dental treatment facilities too. But the best recommendations are from people who have been going to their dentist for at least five years – it takes that long to know if crowns and fillings are any good. Similar goals, You want your dentist to want the same things you do for your teeth. Not someone who's going to try and push you into something you don't want. Figure out what you want from basic maintenance to a full smile overhaul.

A clean well-lit surgery:
You should feel good about the place you're going. The dental office environment can often say a lot about the quality of care you'll be receiving. Up-to-date technology They don't have to have the latest gadgets, but it's nice when they show some interest in developing technology. In the end, newer technology usually means less pain, more comfort, and better information about the current state of your teeth.

Friendly staff:
Dentistry is a service business. You should feel confident that the staff is taking good care of you.

Up-to-date magazines:
When choosing a dentist, check whether the magazines in the waiting room are current. That shows attention to detail.

Cosmetic dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry involves a variety of dental procedures designed to improve aesthetics rather than dental health – which is why you’ll come across phrases like “a smile makeover", or “Hollywood " or "wedding” smile. A beautiful smile can have numerous effects on an individual’s self-confidence, self-esteem and personal relationships.

Common cosmetic dental procedures include teeth whitening, veneers, crowns, white fillings, single-visit Cerec restorations, orthodontics, gum reshaping and dental bridges. Many cosmetic dental practices now offer facial rejuvenation in the form of a non-surgical facelift, using a combination of Botox and dermal fillers such as restylane.

If you are considering cosmetic dentistry to enhance your smile, you should seek the advice of a cosmetic dentist, and it’s always advisable to check their credentials.

Be warned – cosmetic dentistry works only on a healthy mouth. But some dentists will do cosmetic work without treating any gum disease first.

Teeth whitening

Teeth whitening is probably the commonest technique offered in cosmetic dentistry. It is the process of removing stains and discolouration from teeth and improving their colour through a bleaching process to make them look whiter. If you're thinking about whiter teeth, ask your dentist about the different methods available today – there are many.

Most cosmetic dental practices offer a combination of immediate in-surgery teeth whitening and professional-grade take-home kits with custom-made trays. Both procedures are based on a bleaching process that uses a peroxide-based compound of varying strength; the higher the concentration of peroxide, the more powerful the bleaching compound. The trade-off is that the most effective teeth whitening also has greater potential to cause damage to the surrounding gum tissue and your lips.

It is very important that your dentist isolates your gums and lips with a protective material in order to avoid any potential damage or burning of your soft tissue. Home whitening kits usually have a low concentration of peroxide so that there is less chance of any damage occurring.

Some people will experience a degree of sensitivity either during or after the initial treatment, often sporadic shooting pains coming from their teeth. This should settle down after approximately 48 hours, and in any case the dentist can give you a special gel or mousse to apply to your teeth to help with the sensitivity. Some people give up on tooth whitening because the gel irritates their teeth and gums. Just use a ?uoride rinse or gel before and after—it’ll make your teeth much less sensitive.

Veneers

If you're bothered by the colour of one particular tooth, talk to your dentist about veneers. Dental veneers are wafer-thin laminates or shells of tooth-coloured material (which can be either porcelain, ceramic or composite bonding material). They are “cemented” to the front surface of the teeth.

Badly stained teeth that cannot be improved by teeth whitening or prophyflex treatments can be greatly improved by dental veneers, which work by covering existing stains. Teeth that have become badly worn through excessive grinding or by carbonated drinks, as well as those that have been chipped or broken, can also benefit from veneers; and a small chip on a tooth can quickly be repaired with “composite” veneers. A single damaged tooth can easily be repaired with a porcelain veneer that has the same characteristics and colour as you natural teeth.

Spaces or gaps between the teeth can easily be closed using dental veneers, giving you a more uniform-looking smile.

Porcelain veneers will typically last between five and ten years, while composite veneers last a year or two at most. The bottom line is that your veneers will eventually need to be replaced.

Usually, porcelain veneers are placed over a minimum of two visits to the surgery. A few cosmetic dentists have invested in CAM/CAD in-house ceramic studios (Cerec), which can custom-produce high-quality ceramic veneers on-site in as little as six minutes; this enables the practice to offer single-visit, same-day ceramic veneers which are fitted within an hour.

Lumineers are similar to standard porcelain veneers, but are fabricated made from a patented porcelain that is extremely thin (about the thickness of a contact lens) and very strong. With Lumineers, the tooth surface does not need to be trimmed, so the procedure is quicker and totally painless. Not all cosmetic dentists offer Lumineer veneers, as they need to be registered with the company that manufactures them.

Gum contouring

Gum contouring, also known as gum reshaping, is used primarily when the individual has what is commonly known as ‘gummy smile’ – the gums cover too much of the teeth (usually the front teeth) and leaving the appearance of teeth that are too short, which can affect a person’s general desire to smile. This is commonly caused by genetic factors, but it can also be due to certain health conditions or as a side-effect to some high blood pressure medication.

Gum contouring is a quick and often painless treatment. It can be done with anaesthetic and a scalpel, but technological advances have seen special laser alternatives (the laser is quicker and has the added bonus of being able to seal blood vessels during the procedure).

Crowns

Dental crowns are restorations that protect damaged, cracked or broken down teeth. A crown strengthens your existing, damaged tooth so as to preserve its functionality. Crowns are also sometimes known as caps (because a crown sits over your existing tooth, covering the entire outer surface).

Crowns should not be the first choice just to improve the aesthetics of your teeth, because a dentist needs to grind a significant portion of the original tooth away. Less invasive alternatives include veneers or dental bonding. Crowns are required when the strength of the tooth supporting the restoration is compromised, since veneers and dental bonding restorations are only as strong as the supporting tooth.

Crowns might be recommended if a tooth has undergone significant decay and there is not enough tooth structure remaining to support a filling or an inlay and maintain functionality. Crowns might also be the solution if a large portion of the tooth has broken off and it cannot be built up using traditional composite bonding techniques, or if additional protection is needed over a large filling or an inlay.

Following root canal treatment, a crown is often needed to strengthen the tooth. Additionally you might opt for all-porcelain cosmetic crowns simply for cosmetic reasons, to improve the aesthetics of your smile.

Some crowns are made from full gold, but more common is an alloy of metals fused to a porcelain outer shell. After time, however, crowns made from this combination can begin to show dark gum lines that are not aesthetically attractive. All-porcelain or all-ceramic crowns are the best choice for a natural cosmetic look.

Cosmetic bonding

Dental bonding is a single-visit technique that has been used in cosmetic dentistry for many years. The process involves the skilful use of the correct amount and colour of "dental composite", a mouldable material made from acrylic resins and a variety of inert fillers.

Bonding is used for a variety of cosmetic dental procedures, including filling cavities ("white fillings") and replacing metal or amalgam fillings; repairing broken and chipped teeth; closing gaps between teeth (diastamas); and even reshaping teeth. They can also be used for veneers, though porcelain is the better option.

In particular, composite bonding is a popular choice for fillings because the material can match the shade, translucency and even the texture of your own natural teeth. It usually provides a much better result than old amalgam/silver fillings, which can be unsightly when you smile. Cosmetic dentists often replace old metal fillings with tooth-coloured composite.

Bonding is ideal for small fillings that are not exposed to great forces, but is not suitable if you have large cavities as the material does not have a strong structure over large areas. The main drawbacks of bonding are that it doesn’t have the strength of other restorative materials such as ceramic or porcelain, and it has a greater tendency to stain than your surrounding natural teeth or porcelain.

Any dentist can carry out bonding, but it does require a degree of artistic skill – and not all dentists are equally skilled in the technique. Ask your dentist what experience they have in this area and if you can see photos of their previous work.

Dental implants

People lose teeth all the time, either when teeth are knocked out or as a result of gum decay, gum disease or old age. The most common treatments for missing teeth are either a denture or a fixed bridge; but dental implants are becoming popular, as they provide a longer-term solution, slow down bone loss and preserve nearby healthy tooth tissue.

A dental implant is an artificial replacement for the root portion of a natural tooth. It is anchored into a pre-drilled socket in your jawbone to support a crown or bridge (or sometimes to secure a denture firmly in place). Implants are made from titanium, a material that is well tolerated by bone and integrates easily with bone tissue.

Once dental implants are fully integrated into your jaw, they function just as well as your own natural teeth: you can eat the foods you want and speak with complete confidence. With dentures, eating hard foods such as an apple can be a problem: either the dentures come loose or patients cannot withstand the hard biting forces as they cause pain in the gums. Irritation and inflammation of the gums is a common problem amongst denture patients. Dentures can be supported by implants or mini-implants, which will greatly improve function, enabling patients to eat the foods they want with complete confidence and not having to worry about bone loss and loose dentures falling out.

Unlike bridges and dentures, which require special cleaning instructions and extra attention, dental implants are just like natural teeth and need only regular brushing, flossing and dental hygiene. If done correctly, a dental implant should be indistinguishable from your surrounding natural teeth. Dentures can come loose and look unnatural if they do not blend with your gums, and some bridges and dentures have unsightly metal clasps to hold them in place. Dental implants provide a much better cosmetic and functional end result.

Tips for healthy teeth

• Brush and floss. It doesn't get any simpler than that – and you do need to do both. Brushing doesn’t go deep enough into the gums to reach the plaque that causes bad breath and tooth decay; you need to ?oss every day.
• Visit your dentist at least twice a year for a good cleaning and checkup – and the twice-a-year recommendation applies only if you have healthy gums: most people don’t, so you might need to go more often.
• Try to avoid sticky candy and a lot of soft drinks.
• If your gums bleed when you floss, you need to talk to your hygienist about periodontal care.
• Proper oral hygiene requires as much as ten minutes of brushing and ?ossing every day. The average adult spends two or three minutes total, and children do even worse. A good-quality electric toothbrush can improve the efficiency of brushing and can speed things up too.