If you took a survey of why people put off dental treatment, we’re fairly certain some would cite wanting to avoid wearing glinting metal train track braces to straighten out their teeth, while others might mention equally unattractive metal fillings to sort out teeth ruined by decay. Thankfully today, these reasons don’t hold any water, as dentistry has moved on.

At Smilecraft, your dentist in Stevenage, we provide modern dental care that doesn’t just take care of your oral health but also looks out for the aesthetics of your smile during and after treatment.

Bye-bye metal braces

If you want to finally sort out those crooked front teeth, which just weren’t crooked enough to qualify you for treatment on the NHS as a child, then we’ve got the solution for you: Six Month Smiles. Our dentist in Stevenage is accredited to provide this discreet, fixed braces treatment. Using clear brackets and tooth-coloured wires, your braces won’t dominate your teeth. Focusing on just the front teeth means your treatment will be speedy too, taking, on average, just 6 months.

Auf wiedersehen amalgam fillings

If you’ve experienced tooth decay, then you’ve probably had a filling or 2 in your time. If those amalgam fillings have left you hesitant to smile for fear of everyone seeing just how much work your teeth have had, there is a solution at your Stevenage dentist. White composite fillings are tooth-coloured and so blend in with your teeth. They are just as strong as amalgam fillings and come with the added bonus of bonding to the surface of your teeth. Amalgam fillings don’t do this, which means there is a tiny slither of space into which bacteria can creep. So, whether you have old amalgam fillings you want replaced, or are in need of new fillings, why not go with white composite?

Sayonara stains

It’s all well and good having dental treatments that blend in with the colour of your teeth, but if your teeth are stained and discoloured, that may not be a colour you want to stick with. Get the natural gleam to your teeth back by asking our dentist in Stevenage for teeth whitening to remove those surface stains.

By now you probably know what to expect from a trip to the dentist in Stevenage. We will thoroughly assess your teeth, gums, cheeks and tongue to check you are in good oral health and advise on any treatment that may be necessary.

It’s also a chance for you to talk about any dental problems you have had since your last visit and receive top tips on how to make sure you are cleaning your teeth efficiently.

What you might not know, or be less aware of, is that these check-ups are very important not to miss, as we can spot early signs of serious diseases, such as gum disease and oral cancer.

Your oral health can also be a sign of problems with your general health. Even if you look after your teeth well and feel perfectly okay, these signs aren’t always obvious. When noticed early, these problems are easier to tackle.

Time for treatment?

If you need treatment, we’ll arrange a follow up appointment and aim to see you as soon as we can to get your teeth back on the straight and narrow. Here at Smilecraft, we provide many treatments to solve your dental problems. Whether you need to restore your smile after tooth loss with dental implants or are simply looking to brighten up your smile with teeth whitening, we have the solution for you.

Restoring teeth

The state of your teeth can have a significant impact on your day-to-day life. Your teeth have an effect on how you eat and digest your food, your speech, and how you look. If you find yourself with unsightly gaps in your teeth, we offer solutions such as dental implants, bridges, dentures, and denture stabilisation.

Boosting confidence

As well as restoring the function of your teeth, a trip to the dentist in Stevenage can boost your self-esteem. Your teeth affect how you look, and if you feel insecure about your smile that can negatively affect your interactions with others.

We provide treatments such as crowns, white fillings, teeth whitening, inlays and onlays and veneers to help you feel more confident in your smile. We also provide Six Month Smiles for those looking to speedily straighten out their teeth.

Has anyone ever asked you what you want from a visit to the dentist in Stevenage? It’s a funny question, we know, but it’s one worth asking yourself. If you answer that you want good dental care, then you have to ask yourself some more questions.

What does good dental care look like to you?

For us at Smilecraft, we have to ask ourselves and you as our patients these questions so that we can make sure that we are the kind of dentist in Stevenage that you want to come to and that we can feel proud of being.

Good dentistry is about so many things, here are some of them:

Knowledge

You want your dentist in Stevenage to know what they are doing, of course, but, how do you know that we are keeping up to date with knowledge in a profession that has made so many advances in the last couple of decades? The answer is that each of our dental staff at Smilecraft attends continuing professional development training to keep up to date with the latest techniques, materials and equipment.

Can you trust us?

If we know what we are doing in terms of treatments, then how we administer those treatments is the next big area of interest. About 13% of the UK population has a dental phobia, which is much more than mere nervousness. Maybe you are one of them. You will want to know that when you come to us we will be treating you with kindness, compassion and understanding, that we are very happy to talk you through everything we do, that you will be able to relax when you are with us. We do all of this, as many of our long-term patients can attest. If you can’t relax at the dentist in Stevenage, then it’s time to find a new one.

What about treatments?

We offer all the treatments that you expect to find from a general dentist and we also offer cosmetic treatments, such as veneers, cosmetic braces and teeth whitening. Older patients, as well as those who have lost teeth, will be glad to know that we have a long partnership with a good dental implant surgeon too.

Are you looking for a dentist in Stevenage who can handle your dental needs with professionalism and confidence? Where you can feel relaxed the moment you walk through the front door? Would you like the option of a wide variety of treatments, whether it be from a general check-up to more cosmetic purposes? Do you expect only the highest standard of infection control measures? If you are looking for a dental practice that ticks all these boxes then you have come to the right place.

At Smilecraft, we invite you to step into our relaxed atmosphere. Our reception team will make you feel comfortable from the time you walk in. For every new patient we make an initial hour long booking to ensure we can address your requirements and concerns. During this initial consultation, we will carry out a complete examination of your mouth and teeth; this includes a mouth cancer check. We will take any x-rays, if necessary, and then from this we can discuss which treatments will be most suited to you.

The range of treatments our dentist in Stevenage can offer you

Whatever your dental wishes may be, our dentist in Stevenage will endeavour to meet your desired outcome. Our treatments range from preventive and general dentistry to cosmetic dentistry.

It is well known that smoking contributes to the decline of healthy teeth and gums, so at Smilecraft we are happy to offer a smoking cessation treatment.

Is snoring keeping you awake at night? If you or your partner suffer from breathing difficulties during sleep, we can offer treatments that may be able to alleviate these problems. Our dentist in Stevenage can discuss with you the treatments possible.

We believe that early age dentistry is very important and children should be introduced to the practice from a young age, not only to make them used to attending dentists but to spot any early signs of misalignment that may require treatment.

Our stringent infection control measures

At Smilecraft, we are serious about decontamination. All our members are fully trained to carry out infection control measures and our clinical staff regularly attend infection control training to ensure safety not only for our patients, but for ourselves also.

If one of the reasons you don’t go to the dentist in Stevenage as often as you should is because you are afraid of the pain, then please don’t be afraid anymore. Come to us at Smilecraft as your dentist in Stevenage and let us show you how having dental treatment can be a comfortable, perhaps even an enjoyable experience.

When you avoid your check-ups

Check-ups are meant to happen at least twice a year so that we can spot problems early on, and fix them with as little invasion as possible. A little bit of decay is much less painful to fill than a great big cavity. The beginnings of gum disease can often be fixed with better oral hygiene. Advanced gum disease is a whole different ball game involving planning back the bones under your gums. If you want to avoid pain, come to your check-ups.

When you need treatment

We understand that lying back in a chair with your mouth open while we poke around in it with noisy instruments can be very frightening. We also understand that being offered local anaesthetic is often not much of a better option. Needles are involved and the actual administration of the anaesthetic can be painful, even if the face numbs up and you don’t actually feel the treatment. The pain comes from a burst of liquid anaesthetic being forced into the tissue so that it has to expand.

Now at Smilecraft, your dentist in Stevenage, we use The Wand. With The Wand, the anaesthetic dosage is controlled by a computer. It goes in in tiny amounts at a time so that you don’t get that pain as your tissue is forced to expand. It also means you don’t end up with half your face all numb for the next couple of hours. Another big plus with The Wand is that it does not look like a traditional syringe. It looks more like a pen.

Sedation

If you get really anxious when you visit the dentist in Stevenage, don’t forget that you can ask to have sedation. Sedation will calm your nervous system so that you can float through your treatment instead of white-knuckling through it.

There are two things that, more than anything else, deter people from visiting their dentist: the pain and the cost. Ironically, putting off visiting the dentist in Stevenage will only augment both of these.

At Smilecraft, your dentist in Stevenage, we warmly welcome new patients, no matter what their age, to our practice where we focus strongly on preventive dentistry.

Keeping costs down

We would be lying if we said that dentistry is cheap. It isn’t. But please don’t let the cost of a check-up put you off following the general recommendation to get a check-up twice a year. This may need to be more frequent if you suffer from gum disease, or are pregnant or a smoker. Conversely, if you are brilliant at keeping your oral health in excellent form, we may say that you can have less frequent check-ups. However often we suggest you visit us for check-ups, remember that, as far as oral health is concerned, prevention is always less expensive than cure.

What does prevention look like?

At the dentist in Stevenage, prevention is all about catching problems early on, and sorting them out with treatments that are quick, simple and cost-effective. It is also about putting practices in places so that problems don’t arise in the first place.

The two leading causes of tooth loss are gum disease and tooth decay. Neither will let you know it has started until it is pretty well advanced. Pain only kicks in when they are already well under way. However, at the dentist in Stevenage we have advanced techniques to spot these issues long before you will be wondering if something is wrong.

Decay tends to affect children more than adults because they are not yet very good at brushing their teeth, and they consume more sugary things. In adulthood, gum disease is more of an issue, not least because it is linked to several general health conditions.

Both issues can result in tooth loss. You need all your teeth to eat a healthy diet, and to feel really good about yourself too.

Have we got you worried? Book that check-up at your dentist in Stevenage today and rest easy again.

The price of tobacco has gone through the roof in the past couple of decades. A packet of cigarettes now costs around £9.60, and according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), tariffs on tobacco after Brexit could add another £3 to the price of tobacco.

At Smilecraft, your dentist in Stevenage, we hate what smoking does to your gums and other soft tissues in the mouth. We’d rather you spent your hard-earned cash on something that does not harm your mouth so badly, and cost you even more in dental treatments than you would be spending if you were a non-smoker.

That’s why we offer smoking cessation help here at your dentist in Stevenage. We don’t want you to have to spend an extra £600 a year extra on smoking after Brexit, or any money on something that offers little and takes so much away in terms of health.

Let’s take a look at what smoking does to your mouth:

Tooth discolouration

Smoking leaves yellow/brown tarry deposits on your teeth. Tooth enamel may look solid but it is in fact porous. We can remove some surface stains with a scale and polish, but any staining that gets down into the enamel will need teeth whitening with the dentist in Stevenage to remove it. That costs at least £332.50.

Gum disease

Smoking constricts the blood vessels and the blood carries vital oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and organs in your body. When you smoke, you reduce the supply of these to your gums, which need to be strong, firm and healthy to grip your teeth firmly and stop bacterial plaque from getting underneath to attack the bone and tooth roots. Put simply, smoking increases gum disease and the chances of losing your teeth.

Mouth cancer

Smoking is the main cause of mouth cancer, which kills about 4,000 people a year in the UK.

Dental implants

If you are a smoker, you won’t be able to have dental implants fitted. Firstly, the smoke may have contributed to the loss of bone material vital for holding your teeth in place. Secondly, smoking hinders healing, which means the dental implants won’t integrate with your jawbone.

When you join a dentist in Stevenage, your new home town, you want to know you will have access to a full range of services. At Smilecraft, we can take of your needs and that of your family, offering treatments for all ages.

Treatments for children

Children need special help from the dentist in Stevenage with preventing decay. Kids eat more sugary snacks than adults and aren’t yet very good at brushing their teeth well enough to get rid of decay-causing plaque. So, here at Smilecraft, we help make it easier for them, not only with toothbrushing lessons from our hygienists, but with special treatments to prevent decay. Fluoride treatments help make the enamel more resistant to decay. Painting back teeth with fissure sealants puts a barrier between them and the acids that erode tooth enamel. We can also keep an eye out for signs that your child is going to need treatment to get their teeth to come through straight.

Treatments for adults

In early and mid-adulthood, on top of regular check-ups and any maintenance work, a lot of our work as a dentist in Stevenage is about making sure you have the lovely smile you deserve. We make smiles look wonderful with adult braces, teeth whitening, white fillings, crowns and veneers. There’s no need to go through life not quite happy about the way your smile looks with so many cosmetic dental treatments right on hand here at Smilecraft.

Treatments for seniors

As we get older, dentistry becomes more and more about getting teeth to last as long as possible, extending the life of teeth with crowns and replacing lost teeth with fixed bridgework, dentures and dental implants, which are fast becoming everyone’s first choice for tooth replacement.

Appointments everyone needs

Of course, everyone needs to come to the dentist in Stevenage at least twice a year for a check-up. This is so that we can spot problems early on and deal with them while treatment is still simple and inexpensive.

We also recommend a twice-yearly appointment with the dental hygienist. This is to remove plaque, which is the cause of many dental problems and builds up, no matter how well you clean your teeth.

Some women experience unique dental problems because their bodies change all the time. At Smilecraft, our team are on hand to talk through and address any of the issues discussed below when you visit the dentist in Stevenage.

Hormones influence everything in the body. Two of the major hormonal changes that affect women’s teeth are detailed below. Menopause and birth control pills also commonly affect dental health.

Menstruation

The surge of hormones that a woman gets during certain stages of her menstrual cycle can have an affect on her dental health. Not only that, the hormone levels and the effects can change at different stages of life so, at some point, she may begin to experience issues that she has never seen before. Often the problem is with the gums. She may experience swelling, bleeding or irritation for a few days a month. This can be addressed with regular brushing and the dentist in Stevenage may be able to offer further advice. However, if the issues appear and then go away again each month in time with her cycle, she does not need to visit the dentist each time.

Pregnancy

Perhaps one of the biggest hormonal changes a woman can experience is pregnancy. During this time, she can experience the gum issues addressed above as well as sensitivity, oral dryness and an increased risk of tooth decay. Some studies have also shown that some oral conditions can affect the health of their baby. Some dental treatments are not advisable for pregnant women unless it is an absolute emergency. For these reasons, it is therefore vital that women have a diligent dental routine during pregnancy.

Cosmetic work

There is a lot of pressure on women to pay attention to the way that they look. While some cosmetic treatments and practices need to be topped up and taken care of at regular intervals, there are some cosmetic dental treatments on offer at the dentist in Stevenage that only need to be performed once or at intervals that stretch into months or years under the right circumstances. This is why so many people are turning to cosmetic dentistry as a time-efficient way to take care of their appearance.

There are plenty of similarities between men and women when it comes to teeth. However, not everything is the same and it’s worth noting the differences, so you know where you need to focus a little more.

At Smilecraft, we are here to support you as an individual and help you get the most out of our practice. This means offering you routine care, preventive work, cosmetic treatments and restorations when necessary. We prefer to prevent rather than treat, as this gives you the best chance of having a healthy smile for longer, but we can step in at any stage.

Oral hygiene

Statistics show that men are less likely to visit their dentist and take care of their teeth. This puts them at greater risk of tooth decay and gum disease. The dentist is a vital player when it comes to spotting and treating these issues. They can spot issues in the early stages, before they get too bad. This means that visiting the dentist in Stevenage is a practical way to prevent long-term problems that might cost time and money.

Medications

It’s a stressful life sometimes for men and women. However, men remain at greater risk for medical issues like diabetes and heart disease. Both of these, and other conditions, can have an effect on oral health. This might be as a direct result of the condition or using medication which cause dry mouth, bad breath and other side effects. If you begin using new medication, or you are diagnosed with a new condition, it is important that you let your dentist in Stevenage, at Smilecraft, know as soon as possible.

Cosmetic work

More and more men are realising that they, too, can take care of the appearance of their smile with cosmetic dental procedures. Rather than joining other beauty treatments and being consigned to the ‘women-only’ pile, cosmetic dentistry has a lot to offer guys as well. Imagine going to that next meeting or presentation with a brighter look. Imagine standing next to your partner on your wedding day having polished up the smile you are going to give them. All these things, and more, are possible at the dentist in Stevenage.