Smile Solutions

Composite Removal 🪚👀

Can composite veneers be removed before aligners?

Yesish.

Composite can be removed.
But removing composite without removing any enamel is a completely different level of dentistry.

That takes time. Magnification. Dehydration. Careful polishing. And a dentist who is willing to go painfully slowly.

Most of the time, some enamel will be touched or some composite will be left behind. That is the uncomfortable truth.

So before you have composite veneers, ask the better question.

Are my teeth already in the right position?

Because if orthodontics is likely later, do that first.

The best dentistry is not just about what can be done. It is about doing things in the right order, so you do not pay twice, treat twice, and panic when we have to go backwards.

Composite bonding can be a beautiful trial smile before ceramics. But it should never be used casually when the teeth actually needed moving first.

Wanting composite removed is one thing.
Removing only composite is another.

GBT EMS🦷💦 🧽 🦷

The hygiene appointment has changed
If you have not heard of GBT EMS yet, it may be time to ask why.

This is not the old scrape, polish and hope for the best style of cleaning. Guided Biofilm Therapy uses disclosing dye to show where the biofilm is actually sitting, then removes it with warm water, air and fine erythritol powder before any targeted scaling is needed.

Think of it like the move from amalgam fillings to modern white fillings. Once better technology becomes available, dentistry has a duty to move with it.

For many patients, the difference is comfort. Less scraping. Less sensitivity. A warmer, gentler feeling. For us as clinicians, the difference is precision. We can see the biofilm, remove it more accurately, protect the enamel and support the gums and microbiome in a much more intelligent way.

This is prevention done properly.

If your hygiene appointments still feel like something you have to survive, it might be time to experience what modern dentistry can actually feel like.

Book your GBT EMS hygiene appointment at Smile Solutions London.

Chapped lips 💋 😩

One of the most common questions we hear is, “How do I fix my chapped lips?”

And one of the first questions we ask back is, “How often are you licking them?”

Because very often, that is the cycle. The lips feel dry, so you lick them. The saliva evaporates, the lips become drier, and then you lick them again. Before you know it, the lips are sore, cracked and irritated.

The first step is boring but important. Stop licking them.

Then go back to basics. A simple thick layer of Vaseline or plain petroleum jelly, applied regularly throughout the day, especially before bed. Not a fancy £38 miracle pot with a French name and a perfume department attached to it.

Just boring consistency.

Once the lips are healthy again, you can go back to your favourite lip products if they suit you. But when your lips are cracked and sore, this is not the time for glamour. This is repair work.

If the cracking keeps coming back, bleeds, burns, or sits at the corners of the mouth, get it checked properly. Sometimes it is not just “dry lips.”

Wait or extract 🚨🦷

Early intervention orthodontics is probably one of the most important things we can consider for a growing child. Because children’s orthodontics should never be JUST about straight teeth.

When children are still growing, we have something incredibly valuable on our side. Growth itself.

If we recognise problems early enough, we may be able to guide the way the jaws develop, widen a narrow arch, create more room for the adult teeth and help the child keep more of their own teeth.

But there is another reason this matters. Breathing and tongue space.

The mouth, nose and airway are all connected. If the upper jaw is very narrow, there can be less room for the tongue and, in some children, less space for comfortable nasal breathing. Widening a narrow upper jaw in the right child can create more room for the teeth and tongue and may also help improve nasal breathing.

And good breathing matters.

Children who struggle with breathing while they sleep may sleep poorly, snore, wake frequently or feel tired during the day. Poor sleep can also affect concentration, behaviour and learning.

This doesn’t mean orthodontics treats these problems. It means that when we assess a growing child, we should be looking at far more than whether their teeth are straight.

This is why children’s orthodontics can sometimes happen in two stages.

The first stage is about growth. Creating space, developing the arches and giving the jaws, teeth and tongue the best environment we can while the child is still growing.

The second stage is about straightening. Once the adult teeth have erupted, we can concentrate on aligning them beautifully within the space we have created.

And what about extracting teeth?

Sometimes extraction is absolutely the right treatment. But removing healthy teeth should be a carefully considered decision, not simply the automatic answer to crowding.

The aim should never be just straight teeth.

We want a wide, natural smile. Good function. Enough room for the tongue. Healthy breathing. And wherever possible, a full set of healthy natural teeth.

Because with children, sometimes waiting means losing an opportunity that growth could have given us.

Rome…. 🇮🇹🦷

When we are building an entire city inside the mouth, we call it Rome.
Rome was not built in a day. And neither is complex dentistry.

Before the beautiful architecture comes the planning. The foundations must be secure. The pillars must be positioned correctly. Every tooth must have the right proportion, strength and relationship with the teeth around it.

Nothing can be considered in isolation.

The bite must work. The gums must remain healthy. The materials must be carefully selected. The dentist and ceramist must understand exactly what they are trying to build together.

What you see here is not simply a row of ceramic teeth. It is the structure beneath the final smile. Every component has a purpose. Every millimetre matters.

Great dentistry is rarely created by rushing straight towards the finished result. It is created through diagnosis, planning, engineering, artistry and the patience to get each stage right.

Rome was not built in a day. It was structured to stand the test of time.
And that is exactly how complex dentistry should be built.

Cheap Dentistry 💷🦷

I often see people asking on social media, “Can anyone recommend an inexpensive dentist?” And it always intrigues me. What exactly do we mean by inexpensive dentistry?

Are we looking for the lowest price today, or the lowest cost over the lifetime of that tooth?

Because those are two very different things.

Dentistry has costs attached to doing things properly. Time. Experience. Good materials. Skilled technicians. Proper diagnosis. Photography. Radiographs. Planning. Isolation. Attention to aesthetics, function and longevity.

Of course, expensive dentistry does not automatically mean good dentistry. And inexpensive dentistry does not automatically mean bad dentistry. But continually choosing treatment primarily on price can come with compromises that you may not see on the day it is fitted.

The real cost often appears years later.

A restoration fails. It gets replaced. More tooth is removed. It fails again. The tooth fractures. Then perhaps comes root canal treatment, a crown, an extraction, an implant. Suddenly the inexpensive option has become incredibly expensive.

That is what people sometimes forget about dentistry. We are not repairing something disposable. We are working on biological tissue that you cannot simply keep replacing indefinitely.

So when it comes to your mouth, perhaps the better question is not, “Who is the cheapest dentist?”

It is, “Who is going to give this tooth the best chance of still being here in 10, 20 or 30 years?”

Sometimes spending a little more today is actually the cheapest dentistry you will ever buy.