A-B-C, as easy as 1-2-3 with Irelands Toothfairy!

A-B-C, as easy as 1-2-3

- with Irelands Toothfairy!

Dr Bronagh Keane is back on my guest blog series - one of Irelands top dentists & facial aesthetists experts - Irelands Toothfairy.

Let me introduce her, in her own words:

“I am a specialist, in cosmetic dentistry and facial aesthetics. I am a graduate of the prestigious world renowned Trinity College Dublin and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Irish Dental Association. Passionate about facial aesthetics I am enrolled in The City of London Dental School as a postgraduate student of Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetics to further my knowledge and master this field. I am expert in providing unique and natural smile makeovers to my patients. I am an Invisalign trained doctor that possesses an artistic touch, allowing me to bring you on a journey that involves minimally invasive dentistry. When combined with whitening and bonding, to achieve your ideal smile.“

This time Dr Bronagh has kindly agreed to give some advice on your teeth and getting the perfect smile!

A-B-C, as easy as 1-2-3

Is it that easy? It couldn’t be…. it is! Align (straighten), Bleach (teeth whitening) and

Composite bonding. The most popular bridal treatment as it is a conservative and

easy way to achieve your dream smile for your dream day! Do you ever look at social

media and think there is so much information out there yet not really anything at all.

I always find this when it comes to dental treatment and skincare. So what does the

A-B-C involve? I feel like I have heard of this bonding before, so will someone please

give us the tea?

A smile is the most beautiful curve on a bride!

After people enquire about enhancing their smile, it’s often quickly followed by a

modest ‘but I still want to look like me, just be more confident about my smile’. Of

course you do! You’re one of a kind and that’s what makes us all so special. We don’t

want to look like clones of someone else, we want to be a refreshed upgrade. This is

why in recent years there has been a movement away from the quick fix cosmetic

route of placing veneers, regardless of how crooked your teeth are. But now the aim

is to preserve your teeth and character by getting your teeth in an ideal position. I

always recommend patients to consider straightening and whitening if they aren't

happy with the position or color of their teeth prior to bonding or veneers so as to

minimize the upkeep in the future, rather than a temporary quick fix for your

wedding. Tell me more….

“Happiness and confidence are the the prettiest things you can wear on your

wedding day ”

A - So why do I say that? As mentioned we now aim for minimal intervention.

While braces may seem invasive they are a one stop shop, providing a once off

treatment that never has to be re-done (provided you wear your retainer, of course!).

In my experience there are few things in life that are a one off payment for a lifetime

subscription. There are many reasons why it is favorable to start here, regardless of

the rest of your smile journey plans. Crooked teeth can make one tooth appear dark

in photos, thus whitening won’t help, and straightening is required to get the light to

reflect equally. This is important for your wedding photos to have these equal

reflections for a uniformed smile. You also want to avoid your teeth being cut down

to those infamous stubs everyone is scared of from seeing them on social media.

Preparations for crowns, veneers and bonding should be minimal, and by placing

the teeth in their ideal position, to compliment each other perfectly, to minimize

grinding and chipping of the teeth, or bonding.

There are now many options for straightening teeth these days. My favorite being

traditional fixed ‘train track’ braces or Invisalign aligners. Traditional are available in

tooth coloured ceramic or metal. So when people ask me which is better, I say;

neither are invisible, both are discrete and you need to choose based on what suits

your lifestyle. Are you going to be taking out the aligners every time you meet your

friends and forget to put them back in? Do you have a tendency to lose your keys,

like I do, because then you’re probably going to lose the aligners! But then on the

other hand you might have a wedding or conference coming up that you want to be

able to take the aligners out for and not have fixed braces on for. There are so many

things that only you can decide.

B - professional at-home whitening lifts your teeth 3-4 shades and 85% of people

say that lasts 5 years. But is it safe? Professional whitening is safe and does not alter

the tooth structure, as it removes stains by breaking them down through a process

called oxidation. Any sensitivity is short term, unlike the in surgery lazer whitening

which causes long term sensitivity and I don’t recommend it. You should not use a

professional at home whitening the week of the wedding in case you have any

lingering short term sensitivity, you don’t want it niggling you on your big day. To

maintain the whitened shade you have achieved on your teeth it is recommended to

whiten one night every month. Another thing you want to be careful of is to not

wear whitening strips, firstly because they only stain remove and don’t actually

change the color of your teeth but more importantly for any brides reading this you

might forget to take them out in your getting ready photos and look back on your

photos to see ugly whitening strips in your mouth, instead of your beautiful smile!

It is also crucial to consider whitening before investing in any further smile

enhancements. Composite bonding, crowns and veneers do not whiten. They are

matched to the color of your teeth, whether that is your old natural color or new

whitened color.

C - The most trending word in the history of social media, composite bonding also

known as bonding. Bonding is essentially the addition of white filling material to

either the whole front surface of the tooth, this is a composite veneer or to the edges

of the teeth to make the teeth to give them a more finished and polished result

putting your smile into HD, this is edge bonding. When we talk about the A-B-C we

are talking about the edge bonding. Since this is the final step, the teeth are in their

correct position and complement each other, so there is no masking of crooked

teeth with large amounts of bonding making the teeth appear bulky side profile and

the risk of chipping has been reduced.These are two important factors for achieving

long term results with bonding.

When patients are preparing for their smile journey they always ask, and how many

teeth do you think I will need bonded? It is a step-by-step process, and often patients

are so delighted with their straight, white teeth (which requires basically no

maintenance) that they only want one tooth instead of 8 teeth bonded or just skip

bonding altogether! This is why even though the C is all the rage, it alone is a quick

fix requiring more maintenance. It’s important to consider the A and the B because

they’re the behind the scenes to achieve your optimal smile makeover.

But at the end of the day you’re the boss and you’ve got to love the smile you’re in!