Hear from more nervous patients that we have helped…
Author Archives: Smile Essential
National Smile Month 2017
National Smile Month started back in 1977, aimed to address an increasingly critical problem of how to get people to look after their teeth in a time when only one in three people had their natural teeth! It began as a week-long campaign called Smile 77 project which focussed on the concept of preventative dentistry.
Over the years more and more health and dental organisations have supported the campaign and it transformed into a month-long campaign, now reaching thousands of people in the UK and overseas.
National Smile Month runs this year from May 15th until June 15th and is one of the UK’s largest oral health campaigns. Together, with other dentists, thousands of individuals, organisations and hopefully our patients too. We will be able to promote 3 key messages, all of which go a long way in helping us develop and maintain a healthy mouth:
Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste
Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks
Visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recommend
It is particularly important for the people of Leicester to promote this message for the children in the county. According to an NHS report, over 50% of children in Leicester have dental decay compared to the national average of 27%. A shocking statistic, I’m sure you’ll agree.
This year we will be holding a week children’s week to help educate engage children and parents to better oral health. We will have an interactive zone where children can see just how much sugar is hidden in some of their favourite drinks.
Dr Niket Patel commented “we’re delighted to get involved in National Smile Month and try to promote good oral hygiene habits to children and parents. Good oral health should be important to everyone and we are always looking for ways to help improve the dental health of our patients.”
My teeth are amazing…
Highly recommendable dentist. I joined the practice in May, I was looking around for a dentist who could do cosmetic work for a while.
This place is nice and clean and staff were always friendly, I really felt taken care of.
I knew I wanted veneers, I thought I needed them on all my teeth but I have just had the top front 4 done.
Before I had them the dentist had some models made up to check that veneers would work for me and so I could see what they looked like. Fortunately, I loved them! And love them even more now their in and I’m smiling from ear to ear. I had my teeth bleached first and then the dentist got the lab man in to do a specialist colour match and my veneers look amazing and so natural.
They have a membership plan which I joined as I saved 15% on my treatment and I spread the cost over all the appointments.
I can’t recommend these guys enough. Thank you!!!
I am actually looking forward to my dental treatment…
This dentist was recommended by a friend. I have been sceptical in the past with dentists doing unnecessary treatment but Meera made me feel comfortable and listened to my needs. I have another appointment next week and I am actually looking forward to my treatment. I’m sure she will do a fantastic job.
Miss D.G, Leicester
Get in touch with us to arrange an appointment today…
Is it time to overcome your dental phobia?
Dental phobia can affect a person in varying degrees, slight nerves are fine and perhaps sometimes to be expected. However, a severe phobia of the dentist is a much more serious condition. People suffering from dental phobia usually only show up at the dentist when forced by excruciating pain.
One in four people in the UK suffers from a phobia of the dentist. It’s something that we help many people with at or clinic.
If you’re brave enough to reach out and take the first step by getting in touch; then we see it as our personal mission to help you continue your journey to becoming dentally fit (and hopefully a lot less scared!).
Various factors can keep someone from the dental chair, including a bad experience in the past, fear of injections, and feelings of helplessness. Our dentists are a friendly bunch and have set certain standards of care especially for nervous patients. We are proud that our efforts have culminated in achieving Dental Phobia Certification.
At Smile Essential dental practice, we take your anxiety seriously. As dentists, we understand you may feel embarrassed about your problems, but you need not worry, we are here to help. We are confident that by working together, we can help you to overcome your fears and give you a smile that beams with pride.
All our dentists and dental assistants have ongoing training in pain management and the treatment of anxious patients. We also have a STOP signal, so that if at any time during treatment you feel pain or are uncomfortable, we will stop the treatment and do all we can to help. As the patient, you are always in control.
Fear of pain is a common dental issue especially surrounding dental injections. We routinely use a topical gel or spray to numb the area for all patients to help prevent any discomfort. Patients that have an extreme dislike of needles should consider ‘The Wand’. The Wand is a digital method of delivering anaesthetic which prevents the pain associated with traditional injections. It ensures anaesthesia is delivered in a pain-free manner.
If you’re ready to take the next step speak to one of our friendly team for guidance and support 0116 2891317
Changing my life…
I was so nervous before my first appointment, but Meera and Alice put me at ease from the very beginning. I became so trusting of their work and compassion. Now as I am coming to the end of this stage of my treatment I would just like to thank Meera, Alice, and the rest of the staff at Smile Essential. You are really changing my life.
Mr B.A, Leicester.
Find out more about joining our practice…
Celebrating our teams hard work…
We are celebrating the news that we have retained our Investors in People (IIP) status and achieved an additional recognition by securing a Silver Award, placing our practice in a small minority of organisations in the country to achieve this feat.
Investors in People is a nationally recognised standard awarded to organisations that show excellent people management leading to improved business performance.
The Silver status was awarded to us after a day of intense assessment involving a random sample of staff within the practice and covering things such as communications, learning and development, and continuous improvement.
To enable us to achieve this level of accreditation we were assessed against the Investors in People profile framework of good practice. This framework provides further challenges for Smile Essential by looking beyond the standard Investors In People framework. This gives us an indication of how good we are in certain areas and what areas we need to focus on to improve our People Management.
Niket Patel said, “I’d like to thank everyone within Smile Essential for helping us achieve this positive accolade. It’s an excellent acknowledgement of our developing ‘people first’ culture and our ongoing commitment to learning and continuous improvement.
Get enlightened about tooth whitening…
Enlighten tooth whitening has been our preferred system at Smile Essential dental practice for several years. Enlighten offers superior results compared to other tooth whitening treatments. It combines at home and in surgery tooth whitening to create outstanding whitening results. We actually guarantee you will achieve the lightest natural tooth shade B1.
How do you whiten my teeth?
We create custom made tooth whitening trays which you apply a gel into every night and sleep with them in. The trays are very comfortable to wear and won’t interfere with you sleeping.
How long will it take to whiten my teeth?
Enlighten takes 14 nights at home followed by the in surgery whitening on day 15. If your teeth are particularly dark it may take a few extra nights after.
Will my teeth be sensitive?
During tooth whitening, transient sensitivity can be a problem. However, with Enlighten patients rarely report sensitivity issues. If sensitivity does occur it can usually be resolved with the specially designed sensitive tooth serum – contained as part of your package.
How long will the whitening last?
Whitening results will last indefinitely with regular tooth whitening top ups.
Will my teeth become too white?
The beauty of whitening at home is it’s a gradual process. If you are happy with the shade of your teeth at any point during the process you can simply stop.
My teeth are really dark will it work for me?
Yes at Smile Essential dental practice we guarantee you will achieve the B1 shade no matter what colour your teeth were to start with.
Do I have to be a Patient of Smile Essential?
No, we carry out free tooth whitening consultations for everyone. Smile Essential has achieved the Gold standard from the British Bleaching Dental Society and we are the only Practice in Leicester to have been awarded this, so you’re in safe hands having your teeth whitened with us.
How many appointments will I need?
You will be required to book three appointments
Appointment one: a free consultation to have a chat about your tooth whitening goals and that you are suitable. If you’re happy then we can take the impressions at this stage to make your uniquely designed tooth whitening trays.
Appointment two: is when the uniquely designed tooth whitening trays are fitted and then you start to whiten your teeth from home each evening for the next 2 weeks.
Appointment three: in-surgery laser tooth whitening whilst you can relax and watch a DVD and then we will reveal your new Enlightened Smile.
Tooth whitening is the simplest most effective way to cosmetically improve your smile
How to choose and use a sensitive toothpaste…
Whether you’re new to sensitive types of toothpaste or have tried a few only to discover sometimes they work for you and other times not, this handy guide is here to help you avoid common mistakes people make when selecting a desensitising toothpaste.
When using a sensitive toothpaste it’s important to stick with it. Some promise to work in just 2 uses but many people report it actually takes around a month to work, so hang in there!
Don’t switch! If you find a toothpaste that works for you then stick with it if you want to continue to see the benefits. Often our patients report successful results and when it runs out they buy another brand or type of toothpaste. Each desensitising toothpaste uses a different active ingredient to treat tooth sensitivity.
The 2 most popular kinds of toothpaste we recommend at Smile Essential are Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief and Sensodyne Repair and Protect. These products have a good track record with relieving sensitivity
Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief
Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ Toothpaste with Pro-Argin®. It works by forming a calcium-rich layer on the tooth and in the dentine tubules, which is resistant to acids found in common food and drinks.
It locks in calcium and phosphate occluding exposed dentine tubules and preventing external stimuli from reaching dentine tubule fluid and causing sensitivity.
Sensodyne Repair and Protect
Sensodyne Repair & Protect contains patented NovaMin® technology, which seeks out and forms a tooth-like layer over vulnerable areas of the tooth where dentine is exposed.
Whichever toothpaste you choose it’s important to not rinse out after brushing. In order for the toothpaste to be effective, it needs to be left on to work its magic.
Everything you need to know about cosmetic braces…
How many times have you looked at your smile in the mirror when brushing your teeth and wished your teeth were straighter? How many times do you look at a photo and hate your smile or worse of all don’t smile at all! It’s incredible how many people we see at Smile Essential Dental Practice that don’t actually smile because they feel ashamed and embarrassed about their teeth and dislike smiling.
You could spend years hating your teeth and being scared of the dentist when actually dental practices like Smile Essential in Leicester can give you a really wow customer experience and offer you a solution to treat your crooked, wonky or misaligned teeth quickly and effectively.
How does it work?
Cosmetic braces such as ClearSmile still use fixed brackets on the teeth but they are much more cosmetically pleasing as everything is tooth coloured. They also work in the same way as traditional braces – exerting gentle pressure to move your teeth. They act much more quickly than traditional braces because they focus on only moving the teeth visible in your smile line.
How long does it take?
Treatment takes anywhere from 4 to 9 months, but most people complete treatment in just 6 months. With conventional braces the average treatment is between 18 months and 2 years, this is what makes cosmetic braces systems such as ClearSmile and Six Month Smiles such a popular choice for adults. Once you have been in for your consultation the dentist will be able to give you an idea of how long they expect the treatment to take.
How much does it cost and what’s included?
We provide a complete cosmetic brace package this means no surprise costs at a later date! Included with your cosmetic brace package is our dual retention system – without this, your teeth are likely to move back! We also provide FREE tooth whitening to finish your new look.
The investment for straight teeth is 2,700. Many patients choose to take advantage of our flexible finance options.
We offer a range of finance options so you can spread the cost of treatment for peace of mind. Our most popular finance option is our 12 months 0% interest offer. If you would like to repay over a longer amount of time we also offer finance at a competitive 9.9APR from 24 up to 60 months. You can calculate what to borrow and the monthly costs on our handy finance calculator.
Interested in taking the next step at our Leicester dental clinic?
The next step we recommend is for you to come and see us for a complimentary dental consultation. It’s FREE and is just to have a chat with the dentist to discuss your concerns and check the treatment is suitable for you. If you and the dentist are both happy then the next step is to book in for a full orthodontic assessment appointment to start your journey to a healthy, straight and confident smile.
Ready to take the next step? Click here to arrange your FREE no obligation consultation or give us a call on 0116 2891317