Summer is smile season – packed with holidays, parties and social gatherings – so you want your teeth to look their best. Having a radiant smile boosts your confidence and leaves a lasting impression on others. When the cameras come out at a summer wedding or event, your pearly whites need to be perfect.
Luckily, there are several ways to improve your smile for summer with cosmetic dentistry at our dental clinic in Leeds. Hopefully you’re already on top of your daily dental hygiene routine and maintaining regular check-ups with your dentist. In this post, we share some of the extra tricks in our dental toolbox to help your smile truly sparkle.
1. Book a hygienist appointment with AirFlow polishing treatment
The first port of call if you want to freshen up your smile is an appointment with the hygienist. Our hygienists are trained in prevention of gum disease and dental decay, but will also remove the stains and discolouration that build up on your teeth. Common problems are brown stains on teeth, cause by coffee, tea, red wine and soft drinks, and build-up of plaque. At Indigo Dental in Leeds, we offer a high-tech teeth polishing treatment called AirFlow. This uses a powerful blend of water, compressed air and fine powder particles to deliver an unparalleled clean and polish.
Thanks to its ground-breaking technique, AirFlow dental cleaning offers superior cleaning and comfort compared to a traditional scale and polish. When you receive AirFlow in our West Leeds clinic, you can expect improved removal of plaque, surface staining and biofilm. The treatment is effective on natural teeth, restorations and implants. Regular professional cleaning and polishing, combined with looking after your teeth and gums at home, will keep your oral health in check. That means fresh breath as well as a sparkling smile!
2. Try our Boutique teeth whitening system
If your teeth are discoloured and not as white as they used to be, teeth whitening is the simplest solution. For good reason, it remains the most popular cosmetic dentistry procedure at our dental clinic in Wortley. Years of built-up staining from food and drink can let your smile down, but a bright white smile gives you a healthy, confident appearance. Your teeth whitening treatment will begin with a consultation, at which your dentist will prescribe a customised whitening programme. This will be based on the level of discolouration, as well as factors such as teeth sensitivity.
We use a system called Boutique Whitening. This popular teeth whitening procedure uses custom-made trays and the best teeth whitening gel on the market, for the brightest results. The water-integrated formula reduces dehydration and is more viscous than other brands.This eliminates washout from saliva – increasing its strength. Choose from a daytime formula which you wear for an hour a day, or a night-time formula worn for four hours or overnight. The process is completely safe, and a very efficient way to whiten your teeth. You’ll get visible results in under a week, restoring the natural beauty of your teeth in time for summer smiling!
3. Regain your confidence with dental implants
If you have a missing tooth or teeth, dental implants could improve your confidence (particularly where you may be caught on camera). We offer dental implants from one of the world’s bestselling suppliers. They provide a secure and reliable replacement solution that are the nearest thing to having your natural teeth back again.
Unlike dentures, which have to be removed and are often ill-fitting or uncomfortable, dental implants are completely fixed. They function just like normal teeth i.e. without moving. This means you can eat your favourite foods without pain or discomfort, and with complete confidence. We secure the ‘root’ of the implant into the jawbone, adding a dental crown on top to match the surrounding teeth. Not only does this improve the appearance of your smile, but also helps maintain bone structure after tooth loss. A well-established and completely safe treatment, dental implants are a long-term solution, usually lasting upwards of 25 years.
4. Repair or reshape your teeth with cosmetic bonding
Composite bonding is a popular cosmetic dentistry procedure where we apply a special tooth-coloured resin to the surface of your tooth. This can cover the entire tooth or only part of it, including the edges. The technique can be used to repair chips or worn edges to the tooth, to change the shape of the tooth, or to completely resurface a tooth (sometimes known as veneers). We don’t normally have to drill the tooth prior to composite bonding, but if there is decay or an old filling that needs replacing, this will be removed first.
The process begins with the application of a gel to the teeth, which prepares the surface for bonding. We wash this off before applying a bonding agent, setting it with a blue light. We then apply the composite resin and sculpt it onto the tooth. Your dentist will skilfully achieve the effect your desire. Finally, we set the composite with blue light and polish it to perfection for a new, improved smile.
5. Reveal more of your teeth with laser gum contouring
If you have a ‘gummy smile’, where too much of your gums are seen when you smile, laser gum contouring could improve your confidence. It’s a simple and pain-free cosmetic dentistry procedure which offers instant results with no downtime, offered by the expert dentists at our dental clinic in Leeds.
Using state-of-the-art lasers specifically designed for dental use with soft tissue, the treatment reshapes the gums to reveal more of the tooth. There is no need for sutures or incisions. The lasers provide pain-free treatment and encourage fast healing. We numb your gums at the beginning of the treatment, so you will feel little to no discomfort. There is no bleeding and the gums will heal within a week to ten days. The process is much cheaper than alternatives such as crown lengthening, with fewer downsides.
6. Don’t delay orthodontic treatment – try clear aligners like ClearCorrect or Invisalign
There’s no need to hold off starting orthodontic treatment to straighten your smile just because it’s summer! The new generation of clear aligners mean you can smile without anyone knowing you’re wearing invisible braces.
ClearCorrect and Invisalign are both excellent choices for discreet orthodontics. Both offer clear, customised, removable teeth aligners to help you achieve a beautiful smile, without the discomfort of ‘train track’ metal braces. They also both offer an effective solution if you don’t want braces that look obvious. Confused as to which to choose? You can read more about the pros and cons of ClearCorrect v Invisalign invisible aligners in our blog post here. If you want to know more, book a free no obligation consultation for Invisalign or ClearCorrect at our dental clinic and online at our website.
No matter what your plans this summer, there’s still time to make improvements to your smile and the look of your teeth. Our dental clinic is conveniently located between Leeds and Bradford in Wortley, near Armley in West Leeds. Our experienced dental team offer a range treatments and techniques to improve your confidence and are always happy to discuss the options with you. Get in touch now or book an appointment online with one of our dental team and smile with confidence this summer!