We love our Trios 3 Shape scanner. We have had the scanner for over a year now and it has changed the way we practice dentistry more than any other piece of equipment within dentistry. Digital dentistry is here to stay. Not only can we take 3-D scans of the mouth, we are now able to show you how your teeth could look after orthodontic treatment within a couple of minutes. This latest innovation from 3 Shape is called Treatment Simulator. Once the scans are taken of your upper and lower teeth and bite, we can send the images to the simulator for processing. Here is a recent example:
 

We would like to wish you all a very happy new year. Christmas is over with the daily grind in full swing. New Year is typically a time for resolutions and a plan to improve ones health, fitness, diet or general approach to life. We have a few simple resolutions which you may want to consider for 2019:
 

1. Improving oral hygiene. Oral health is linked to overall health and is simple to improve. Visit our hygienist this month for a full clean and jet wash and advice on how to maintain your gums.
2. Whiten your smile. Everyone deserves white teeth and we can help. We have options that can lighten your smile and improve your self esteem from take home kits to LED and laser in chair whitening.
3. Straighten your teeth. We love to correct crooked teeth and are experts in the most discreet techniques available today. Treatments taken from as little as 3 months- so why wait, start now and have straight teeth for Easter!
4. General tooth MOT. If you have not been to see the dentist recently, now is the time. Early signs of decay can be reversed or removed with minimally invasive techniques which will prevent future problems.
5. Replace your missing teeth. Dental implants are the next best thing to your own teeth. With digital dentistry, replacing missing teeth has never been so predictable. Come in for a free consultation and we will show you what modern day dentistry can do for you.

We have appointments 6 days a week, early morning, late evening and Saturday. Contact us today!

Happy Christmas from us all at Progressive Dentistry! We hope you have had a relaxing and joyful day with family and friends. Just to remind you of our opening hours: Boxing Day Closed 27th Dec Reception only 28th December 1000-1300 emergency appointments 29th December Closed New Years Eve 1000-1300 emergency appointments New Years Day Closed 2nd January 2019 Normal opening hours resume Once again, Merry Christmas!

There are only 5 sleeps until Christmas! Exciting. Christmas is generally a time for celebrating and indulgence. Sadly this often means dental emergencies with most practices closed until the New Year. Here are the 5 most common dental emergencies and tips on how to handle them until you can visit your dentist:
 

Our case of the month for December 2018 involves one of our favourite techniques: ABC A is for alignment. Straightening teeth using a discreet treatment method, usually in a short space of time. B is for bleaching. Whitening teeth to brighten your smile. C is for cosmetic bonding. Enhancing the overall shape and symmetry of teeth by adding to teeth rather than cutting away healthy tooth enamel. Our case presented with quite severely crooked lower front teeth which bothering him a great deal. They were rotated, overlapping and worn down from years of tooth grinding. Initially, they front 4 teeth were straightened using the Social 6 lingual brace. Aligning the front teeth means that any future cosmetic dental procedure such as composite bonding or porcelain veneers requires minimal tooth preparation if any at all. After alignment, the teeth were whitened using a take home kit with Phillips ZOOM gel 6% hydrogen peroxide, which lifted the overall shade by 4-5 levels. Cosmetic bonding was then performed on the front 4 teeth to level the edges. Not only does this enhance the overall aesthetics but this will also improve the bite. Having even edges on the front teeth allows a smooth guidance when eating and chewing. In turn, this will protect the back teeth also. Before and after photos:
 

Mouth cancer causes more deaths per number of cases than breast cancer and cervical cancer however awareness of it is relatively low. New cases have increased by 49% in the last decade and 135% compared to twenty years ago. Last year, 2722 people in the UK died from mouth cancer. The key risk factors are: 


- Tobacco use including chewing betel nut 

- Excess alcohol (those who smoke and drink heavily are up to 30 times more likely to develop mouth cancer)

- Poor diet 

- HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) transmitted through oral sex.

Mouth cancer can develop in most parts of the mouth including the gums, lips, tongue, palate and even the throat. The most common symptoms are : 

- Persistent non healing ulcers Persistent lumps in the mouth or lymph glands 

- Pain when swallowing 

- Numbness or bleeding from the mouth 

- Changes in speech 

- Teeth that become loose for no obvious reason 

- Tooth extraction sockets not healing 

- Difficulty moving your jaw 

- Red or white patches or striations in the mouth 


Early detection is critical to a full recovery as well as life style changes. In general, if any of the symptoms have been present for more than two weeks, seek medical advice. At Progressive Dentistry, we routinely check for mouth cancer at every examination appointment with a thorough soft tissue analysis. This will involve a detailed history and a soft tissue check. During this part of the examination, we check the tongue, underneath the tongue, floor of the mouth, cheek surfaces, soft palate, hard palate and the entire gum line. 

If you have any concerns about mouth cancer or would like some general advice, please contact us.

Our case of the months for November is a simple yet effective teeth straightening case involving the lower front teeth. Straightening lower front teeth has a number of benefits which include:
 

1. Improved aesthetics
2. Improved access for cleaning
3. Improved anterior guidance (bite)
4. Reduces damaging forces on the edges and reducing tooth wear
5. Improved contact

For those of you who are not dentally trained, point 3 is how the lower teeth move up against the upper teeth forwards, right and left movements. The smoother the guidance the better. Teeth that are very crooked cannot, by nature, have smooth contacts with the upper and often one or two teeth take the force and are damaged as a result. A simple test is to stand in front of the mirror and bring your teeth edge to edge. Do they meet evenly? Does one tooth make most of the contact? Are your lower/ upper teeth worn and uneven? If so, it is worth considering treatment. Here are the before and after photos for our case:
 

Our case of the month for October 2018 is one which involves a fully customised crown. What is this, you may ask. Well, we mainly advise a fully customised crown for single front teeth where the aesthetics are incredibly important. Essentially, this technique is the very best we can offer in terms of aesthetic dentistry. The process involves:


1. Full planning and diagnostic wax up if required.

2. Initial shade testing at the laboratory to ensure the base shades are all correct

3. Preparation of the front tooth and records. We now use intra oral scanning which eliminates the need for messy dental impressions.

4. Placing a temporary crown made from a mixture of acrylic and a resin.

5. Trying in the crown prior to any final customisation to ensure that the fit, margins, emergence profile, embrasure spaces, contact points and bite is all fine.

6. Placing the temporary with a soft cement and then a journey to the laboratory straight after the try in.

7. Full customisation of the crown until you are 100% happy with the overall aesthetics.

8. Straight back to the practice for fitting.


Although this may seem a long winded approach for one single tooth, we can assure you it well worth the effort. After all, it is your front tooth! Here are some photos of a recent case: