Services

General Dentistry

Dental Health Checks

Children’s Dentistry

Children can find a visit to the dentist a negative experience, which may prove stressful not only for the child but their families.

At Riverside Dental we ensure children are made to feel welcome and that they understand they are taking part in something routine and not something which is to be feared. We are highly experienced in treating nervous children and ensure the visit is always a happy one.

Dental Hygienist

Our hygienist provides a professional scale and polish service to effectively remove plaque and standard discolouration, which occurs over time. Advice will often be provided regarding diet and methods of preventing any further dental decay. This may include further assistance with how best to clean your teeth at home.

Regular visits to the hygienist will ensure your teeth and gums remain healthy and that progress is made with regard to personal dental routines.

Emergency Treatment

Restorative Dentistry

Crowns

A crown is a full-coverage restoration which is placed over your existing and remaining tooth.

Placing crowns may help remedy decayed, worn down or fractured teeth. As well as aesthetic benefits, placing a crown will strengthen damaged teeth so they can withstand the large biting forces we exert on them.

There are several material options available, designed to suit your individual needs. These options include metal and porcelain crowns.

In addition to crowns produced in a dental laboratory, we now have the technology available, in practice, to produce our own crowns. For further information please see the Cerec restorations section.

Bridges

Bridges are an option for replacing one or more missing teeth. A bridge is a fixed restoration which is cemented to the remaining natural teeth on either side of the gap, restoring the cosmetic value and function of the missing teeth.

In addition, the gap left by a missing tooth puts a greater strain on the remaining teeth, which in turn results in avoidable, possible fractures.

Over a period of time, the teeth on either side of the gap may start to lean into the space left by the missing tooth, altering the way your upper and lower teeth meet. The “bite” alteration caused by this may eventually lead to chewing difficulties and jaw pain.

There are several types of bridges:

• Conventional bridges: The bridge is anchored on neighbouring teeth and cannot be removed.
• Maryland bridges: Most suited to replacing a single tooth. It is an artificial tooth with wings which attach to the neighbouring teeth. More suited to quickly and semi-permanently close a single-tooth gap for young adults or children whose jaws have not yet fully developed.
• Implant-supported bridges: These bridges are fixed to man-made roots by either being screwed or cemented into place.

Inlays and Onlays

These are similar to fillings. Inlays and onlays are usually gold or porcelain restorations and are used to fill the cavity of a decayed or broken tooth, restoring it to its former function. The difference is that inlays are custom-made at a lab, or made in practice with the Cerec system, and placed in the cavity.

Inlays and onlays are used when your remaining tooth is insufficient to place a regular filling. The result is a much stronger and longer-lasting restoration. Porcelain is the ideal aesthetic option as it can be coloured to match your natural teeth, therefore, making it almost invisible.

These restorations are preferred over full-coverage crowns, if possible because the preparation is more conservative and therefore preserves more of your own natural tooth structure.

CEREC Restoration

The Cerec system is the latest in-house digital technology which enables the Dentist to manufacture custom-made ceramic crowns, small front-teeth bridges, veneers, inlays and onlays.

This system provides benefits including:

• No impression material is needed, so say goodbye to biting on messy impression material for several minutes. This is especially suitable for patients who find it difficult to tolerate impressions.
• No temporary prosthesis
• No follow-up appointment
• Possibility of same-day restorations

With the use of the intra-oral camera your full dentition can be captured and saved to the computer, which can result in more accurate and custom in-practice made restorations.

Custom, hand-painted staining is also an option to make the ceramic restoration blend in even more with your natural teeth. This may be desirable if the neighbouring teeth have white spots, translucent edges, some brown discolouration on the biting surfaces and if teeth get darker towards the gums compared to the body of the tooth.

When sending work to a laboratory, it usually takes two weeks for the restoration to be manufactured and returned to us meaning that a temporary restoration will need to be placed. With Cerec, the final restoration will be ready much faster, minimising the time a temporary is needed if at all. This reduces the risk of short-term/long-term sensitivity and any long-term complications.

There is also an option for one-day treatment and therefore no temporary, fewer injections and less discomfort.

Dentures

A denture is a removable replacement for missing teeth and surrounding tissues. They are excellent for replacing missing teeth and providing support for lips and cheeks which tend to sag once teeth and bone, where the teeth used to be, are lost.

In dentistry, there are two types of dentures available, namely complete and partial dentures. 

Complete dentures can be either “conventional” or “immediate”. A complete denture covers the full arch of an upper or lower jaw. A conventional denture is ready for placement in the mouth about eight to twelve weeks after the teeth have been removed.

Immediate dentures are a temporary solution until conventional dentures are made.

Partial dentures are used when one or more natural teeth remain in the upper or lower jaw. Not only does a partial denture fill in the spaces created by missing teeth, but it also prevents other teeth from changing position.

A precision partial denture is removable and has internal attachments rather than clasps that attach to the adjacent crowns. The cosmetic value of these is superior and they can be easily cleaned by sliding them comfortably in and out of the mouth.

Your dentist will fully explain all these options and the best way forward for your needs.

Dental Implants

If you have lost a tooth or several teeth, be it from decay, advanced gum disease or trauma, you may want to consider dental implants.

A dental implant is used to support one or more false teeth, composed of a titanium screw that can replace the root of a tooth. Just like the root of a tooth, it is placed into the jawbone.

Dental implants can be used to provide fixed restorations meaning that a basic denture popping out whilst talking or eating is a thing of the past!

If you look after your teeth and implants properly, they can last for the rest of your life.

The same Day Implants may be possible at the patient’s request. There is also Cerec options for some implant cases, speeding up the restoration process.

Root Canal Treatment

Root canal treatment may be necessary to save a badly damaged tooth or to remove an infection from within a tooth. Of course, the other option is to have the tooth removed which if not replaced allows causing teeth to drift, or move, leading to possible biting and jaw problems.

The steps are isolating the tooth from the rest of your mouth to prevent any saliva and thereby bacteria from getting to the tooth. The tooth is disinfected and shaped for filling and sealing and root canal treatments are usually completed over two visits.

We also have a dentist in this dental centre who has a special interest in root canal treatments to make sure we can accommodate patients requiring more difficult root canal treatments.

With the use of a microscope, better vision is provided via magnification and higher illumination, facilitating the intricate root canal treatment procedure.

Cosmetic Dentistry

Tooth Whitening

Teeth whitening involves bleaching your teeth to make them lighter. Teeth whitening can lighten the existing colour by several shades.

The dentist will take an impression of your teeth to make a mouthguard and will instruct you how to use it with a bleaching gel. Then, using your mouthguard at home, you regularly apply the gel for a specified period of time over two to four weeks.

Laser whitening is also available where a bleaching product is painted onto your teeth. A light/laser is then used to activate the whitening. Laser whitening takes about an hour.

Clear Braces

Clear Braces help straighten teeth using clear, removable aligners that are made specifically for you. As you replace each aligner every two weeks, your teeth will move very slightly, week by week, gradually moving towards the projected final position.

Clear Braces provide the smile you want while ensuring they are as unobtrusive as possible.

White Filings

White or tooth-coloured fillings provide a healthier, more natural alternative to traditional silver amalgam fillings. They also allow for a minimally invasive restoration, meaning more of your natural tooth can be preserved.

White fillings can be used in the front or the back of the mouth. They are the ideal, natural-looking way, to restore strength and function to damaged teeth. Your dentist can build up cracked or chipped teeth with a white filling to restore each tooth to its original look and feel or, it can be used to close gaps, reshape uneven or short teeth and fill cavities caused by tooth decay.

Dental Veneers

A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain made to fit over the front surface of a tooth like a false fingernail fits over a nail. Sometimes a natural-colour ‘composite’ material is used instead of porcelain.
Veneers make teeth look natural and healthy. Because they are very thin and are held in place by a special, strong adhesive, very little preparation of the tooth is needed. Some types of veneers don’t need any preparation at all.

We will discuss your expectations and your ideal smile during the first visit to ensure we get a result that both suits and pleases you. With a combination of photographs, x-rays, colour matching and moulds of your current teeth, this information will be used to create your ideal result.

With the Cerec system, porcelain veneers can also be designed and made in the practice which significantly reduces your laboratory waiting times.

Gum Contouring

Gum contouring is a quick and often painless treatment. Used together with crowns and veneers, gum contouring is a simple procedure that can easily remedy either a ‘gummy smile’ or uneven gum lines around your teeth. Gum contouring is a cosmetic treatment that can boost your confidence as the quality of your smile is improved.
As an alternative to conventional gum contouring, we now offer laser gum contouring as well. The great advantage of this is that there is no bleeding, making the procedure more comfortable.

Sinus Lift/Grafting

A sinus lift is a process where bone is added to your upper jaw in the area of your molars and premolars. Performed by a specialist, this procedure would be undertaken when there is not enough bone height to support the placement of dental implants.