I have worked as a dental nurse in several dental clinics in the US and UK for the last 9 years. I have seen the fear and anxiety on the faces of people coming to the dentist not knowing who they are going to see, or being put in an assembly line with 10 minute emergency time scheduled and having treatment done without enough explanation simply because there isn’t enough time to do it. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

At Integrated Dentalcare, Edinburgh

Here at Integrated Dentalcare every patient is seen as an individual with his or her specific needs. Patients come to us knowing who they are going to see and there is always enough time to explain all the treatment options. Patients always have choices and there is no pressure on them to make the right decision.

Another aspect of the practice I really enjoy is the passion of work and the attention to detail in the work I see from working chair side. I see the high quality of dental treatment starting from simple fillings to complicated dental procedures.

The whole team takes pride in the work we provide. There is a lot of satisfaction and joy by being part of a great team!

Ania
Head Nurse, Integrated Dentalcare

For some people it can be so hard that they live in denial; with some even living in hope that there is some way to regrow teeth. When realization hits home, its usually with the belief that dentures are the only way. Dentures, aren’t they what your grandparents or even your parents wore? They didn’t even look real. You see it in the street all the time – people walking around with plastic teeth oblivious to the fact that people around them are aware that these are not their real teeth. In some cases dentures even fall down during eating as they loose suction.

What are the alternatives? Dentures do not have to look like false teeth if they are crafted artistically! Very few people have a perfect set of natural teeth. Mild to moderate discrepancies such as crowding; rotation of teeth and chipping looks very natural and believable. Of course if you want the perfect smile, there is nothing wrong with this either. After all, you are going to wear that smile for a longtime and so you need to be happy with what you see in the mirror.

That addresses the appearance, but what about the confidence of dentures not slipping when you talk, when you eat or when you sneeze? Or lets be honest, during those intimate occasions when you really wouldn’t want the other person to think that those teeth are not real.

In these situations implants are an ideal solutions! Now you must we wondering, “for a whole mouth or a jaw, won’t that be really expensive?”. It would be if you wanted to have an implant for each missing tooth or hand crafted ceramic teeth made from scratch. A fabulous solution if you have very deep pockets and are happy to go through about 3-15 months worth of treatment. If on the other hand you are like the majority of people who want an economic and fast solution with limited downtime and follow-up appointments, then a “fixed solution” is the answer.

With implants, after some discussion on your specific requirements and “smile design”, a mockup is created for your approval. This is modified until you are happy with the design. Once you have approved the mockup, the implant treatment is carried out over the duration of one day. We remove your damaged and infected teeth and decontaminate the tooth sockets using our Waterlase. This is an approach that very few clinics are able to offer at the moment but one which gives more predictability to the final outcome. It is necessary to destroy the bacteria that caused your teeth to become lose in the first place so the same thing won’t happen to your sterile, new implants.

If this is something that you are interested in, why not come in and talk to us or better yet, why not talk to some of people whom we have made this a reality for. We are happy to arrange a meeting for you.

During the treatment process, you have the comfort of having my personal telephone number should you have any concerns or questions. We ask that you take the next day off work to rest. After this you are ready to get on with your life.

A few months later when we unscrew the bridge to make sure that all the implants have fused to the bone, you are likely to have one of these emotional responses:

Preventive dentistry delivered on a regular basis greatly reduces the risk of dental disease and provides a platform for a lifetime of improved oral health.  With this in mind we designed our Payment Plan to reward loyal patients, keeping them dentally fit and reducing the need for future treatment.

Patients don’t have to be considered dentally fit to join the plan which covers regular dental health examinations and hygienist appointments each year, with the added benefit of the 10% discount on additional treatment. This will save patients a considerable amount of money in the future.

While we already had a loyal patient base, our dental plan also builds patient loyalty.  Having a payment plan makes patients feel that their interests are being looked after, and that they are being provided with a means of budgeting for their oral care which they can then access on a regular basis.

Dental implants are a great way of replacing one or more missing teeth. They are strong, long-lasting, and look and feel completely natural.

Patient Situation:

When this 48-year old woman was referred to us by her dentist, she was nervous about achieving a beautiful and lasting result. Her requirement was a reconstructed tooth imperceptible from her surrounding teeth. This particular case was classed as an advanced case because the tissues are very fine and aesthetic demands high – she has a broad smile.

The lost bone and thin skin had to be rebuilt using a four-stage intricate process and delicate surgical techniques using cutting edge products and technology. The implants themselves are tiny titanium metal rods which are gently placed into the jawbone. Over a few months the jawbone bonds with the rods to form, in effect, a false tooth root.

Each phase of the treatment was carefully planned and controlled to create the perfect result – one that merges into the surroundings, making it difficult for even a dentist to discern the difference: invisible dentistry!

She has regular hygiene to maintain her smile and no whitening has been done as she wanted natural teeth. The process to copy adjacent natural teeth than whitened teeth is more technically demanding, but through exacting techniques and skills our team were able to exceed this woman’s expectations!

Please visit our Dental Implants section for more information.

Water Laser Dentistry

A laser, as we know, is a concentrated beam of energy. Water Laser Dentistry then, is a very thin intense beam of water. Some of us might have friends that have had Lasik Eye Surgery done, and the results are amazing; no need to wear glasses anymore. The same goes for dentistry. In the hands of a skilled professional a laser cab be precisely used for gum disease treatments, root canals, removal of growths and other procedures that otherwise scare us silly.

Modern

Today’s modern dental have been revolutionized from that of even five years ago. Laser Dentistry is a new technology that offers work on gum tissue, cavity preps, and other procedures without the feeling of pressure, heat and vibration.

Precise

Tooth enamel, being one of the hardest materials in the human body, has been traditionally worked on with metal hand tools . Today Water laser dentistry is able to remove tooth enamel decay or gum tissue very precisely. This leaves other areas of the mouth unaffected.

Comfortable

Due to the laser’s ability to be gentle and its coagulating capabilities, gum procedures are left with little or no bleeding. Also, there is less a need for anaesthesia as laser dentistry can often perform without the need for it.

A DENTIST surgery in the Capital has launched what it calls the first pain-free treatment in Scotland. Integrated Dentalcare, based in the city centre, has brought in a technology used in Hollywood called water laser treatment.

It means the practice’s 1000-plus patients will be able to access the care, which completely numbs the tooth and the area around it, making it entirely painless.

Dental practitioner Neeraj Puri said: “We see water laser treatment as a fantastic way of taking the fear and discomfort out of going to the dentist. The treatment makes your tooth feel drowsy which allows us to work on it without any discomfort.

“We definitely believe it is worth the £60,000 investment we have made in it.”

Read No pain, just dental gains online article in the Scotsman.

Laser Dentistry has many advantages, not least the absence of pain writes Jake Harris

Laser Love like interest free credit or a barbecue summer, pain-free dentistry sounds too good to be true. The last thing I expected when I popped in to investigate Integrated Dentalcare’s optimistic cliam was to be put in the dreaded hotseat myself to test out this laser procedure, new to Scotland.

Being that special grade of wuss who winces at removing a plaster I had my reservations, but Dr Neeraj Puri tackled these by scoring a tiny circle on my palm to prove its benign magic. (For even bigger children he turns this into a smiley face).

Okay, so far so good, but we all know how sensitive our teeth and gums are, but Neeraj wasted no time in getting down to business with my small filling. No anaesthetic and subsequent awkward small talk while your mouth swiftly bloats to rubber dinghy proportions. In goes the water gob hoover, and out comes the laser, like a tiny red blowtorch, held steady for around 90 seconds. The fear factor of that whining drill is banished, replaced by a less dramatic rhythmic clicking like the sound of a gas hob lighter. And so the job was done with no blood, no rinsing, no numbness and very little evidence that I’d even been to the dentist.

Here comes the science bit: the dentistry combines laser energy and water to provide gentler, more precise treatment that conserves healthy tooth structure, minimising pain and discomfort.

The laser reacts with water molecules to create a serrated effect, while releasing endorphins which actually raise your pain barrier.

Water laser treatment eliminates the heat and vibration which causes the discomfort you get from drilling, but it also sterilises as it cuts, leaving less chance for bacterial contamination.

The laser’s pinpoint accuracy enables the dentist to leave as much healthy tooth structure in place as possible, allowing you to keep your own teeth longer. Because of the precision involved, procedures that once took several appointments to complete, such as multiple fillings, can now be finished in a single visit.