At Tara Martin Dental Care we encourage you to be involved in and to understand all of your short term and long term treatment goals.  All of our staff are motivated, well informed and keen to answer any questions or be ready with advice where able.

Dentistry is quickly changing and, as such, the number of different products and services on offer are ever expanding.

Our policy is to remain a patient centred and quality driven practice.  Our aim is to build a relationship with our patients.  As such, we hope that we do not just treat a series of mouths as they come through our practice.

Routine Dental Services

Check Ups

We encourage a 6 monthly routine examination (check up) for most of our registered patients. Occasionally, the Dentist may suggest that 9 or 12 months is acceptable.  The check up includes a full assessment of your teeth and gums, x-rays when needed, oral cancer screening and jaw assessment.

It may also be recommended that you attend for regular hygiene visits with the Hygienist.  This will also be assessed at your check up appointment.

In our Dentists' experience, regular visits to the Hygienist can help to reduce cavities and potential necessary treatments.  Our Hygienist does offer more in depth treatments as well as routine hygiene appointments to help you keep on top of your cleaning and get into the places we all can often miss!  She will also give oral health advice and recommendations to help you to maintain your oral hygiene at home.

Hygienist/Therapist Services

Gum disease is swelling, soreness or infection of the tissues supporting the teeth. There are 2 main types - Gingivitis and Periodontitis.

Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums.  The gums around your teeth become red and swollen and will often bleed when brushed.

Long standing untreated gingivitis can turn into periodontitis. This affects the tissues supporting the teeth and, as the disease progresses, the bone anchoring the teeth is lost and teeth become loose.

All gum disease is caused by plaque. However, some individuals are more susceptible to destructive gum disease than others and, because the disease is usually painless, it can become very advanced without you even noticing.

Early detection of gum disease is very important.  It is our policy at your routine examinations to carry out screening for this.  If significant problems are found we then carry out a more detailed periodontal examination. X-rays are also important as they can show us the amount of bone that has been lost.

Treatment will involve a combination of professional cleaning appointments with the Dentist or Hygienist and a recommended treatment plan to be carried out by you at home.  Complexity of cleaning carried out at the surgery will depend on the extent to which your gum disease has progressed.  If gum disease has progressed significantly beneath the gumline, then a local anaesthetic will usually be used to enable us to be more thorough with your cleaning.

The importance of homecare cannot be over-emphasised.  You will be shown a range of ways that suit you to effectively clean all areas of your teeth and gums.  Although your gums will be monitored at regular intervals, it is your daily routine that will keep your gum disease under control.

For further information please contact us at the practice.  Leaflets can be supplied on request.

Routine Fillings

For over 150 years standard fillings have been made out of a silvery-grey material called 'amalgam'. This is still one of the strongest and longest lasting materials available for fillings, however, many people find it unattractive and some are concerned about possible health risks.

There are now alternatives to amalgam fillings. If a tooth needs filling or repairing, white fillings are now replacing many amalgam ones.  The new dental materials mean it is much easier to find a perfect match for your particular shade of tooth. In most cases, it is quite impossible to see that the tooth even has a filling.  At Tara Martin Dental Care, we always use white fillings as standard, unless it is not clinically possible for us to do so.

Root Canal Treatment.

The most common question asked about a root canal treatment is, “Will it hurt?”  and the answer is "No". There are many misconceptions that a Root Canal Treatment is a painful process when in reality it is simply a filling which goes into the roots of the teeth rather than just in the tooth itself.  It is a slightly lengthier procedure due to the nature of the work involved and is usually carried out over 2 visits, but as a local anaesthetic will be used, the process will feel no different to having a routine filling.  In recent years this is one particular area of dentistry that has made major advances.

Often, it may be recommended that a crown is subsequently placed on the tooth as the remaining tooth may not be strong enough.  This would protect the tooth from further damage and also helps to seal the root filling from any further contamination.

Occasionally a root canal treatment may be particularly difficult and it may be recommended that you see a specialist. Our preferred root canal specialist is Dr Sanjeev Bhanderi who operates in Cheadle in Cheshire. For further information about his clinic and services visit www.endo61.com

Root canal treatment is generally quoted as being around 90% successful in saving the tooth, dependant on factors such as historic infection.

Advice leaflets from the British Dental Health Foundation  or the British Dental Association can be posted to you on request. Or for further information, visit http://www.dentalhealth.org/

Fluoride Treatment

There are some of us who seem to be at higher risk of cavities.  If we seem to consistently need to carry out fillings on your teeth then we may suggest application of fluoride to your teeth.  This can be applied as part of your normal 6 monthly check up and, for those who are at higher risk of tooth decay, we may recommend applications on a 3 monthly basis.  If you feel you could benefit from this but we have not already recommended it to you, then please mention it at your next check up.

Fluoride Application - what happens ?

Your teeth will be dried and a sticky fluoride gel applied to the tooth surfaces. The whole process only takes a few minutes. After the application we advise that you don’t rinse out or eat or drink for one hour. For that night only do not brush your teeth. The next morning you should floss and brush as normal. 

How can fluoride help?

Fluoride is a salt found naturally in the water supply in some areas of the world. It is added to the water supply in some parts of the UK.  Unfortunately, Anglesey and North Wales is not one of those areas.  In fact it was removed from Gwynedd water over 20 years ago. As a result of this, dentists in the region have seen a marked increase in tooth decay.

Fluoride helps in 2 ways. Firstly, it toughens the tooth surface making it more resistant to decay.  Secondly, it helps to neutralise plaque bacteria that cause tooth decay.  It has been accepted for over 50 years that fluoride is a valuable method of reducing decay in teeth. 

Fluoride is especially helpful for certain groups of people: 

[1] Children, especially those who are not good at regular teeth cleaning

[2] People with high sugar diets

[3] People who suffer dry mouths. This is because saliva helps to protect the tooth surface and in people with dry mouths there is often a much higher decay rate as they are not producing as much saliva. 

[4] Older people with more root surface exposed which is not so resistant to acid attack.

Other Routine Dental Treatments 

Extractions (removal of teeth)

 These will only be carried out either when the Dentist knows that there is no option to save the tooth or, if after discussions about treatment, this is what you decide on.  Most extractions are fairly simple but, on occasion, the dentist may need to carry out some surgery to extract the tooth.  Don't worry though - you still won't feel a thing!

 Dentures  or Addition of Teeth to Existing Dentures

We can arrange for you to have new dentures or we can add teeth to your existing denture using a local technician.  With additions, most cases are completed within the day so you are not without your denture for any length of time.

New dentures do take longer but please let us know if you have a special occasion that you want them ready for and we will do our utmost to get them completed in time.

Sports Guards and Bite Guards

 Sports guards are recommended for patients who compete in contact sports where teeth may be damaged.

Bite guards are usually recomended for patients who grind or clench their teeth to help to reduce the amount of damage to the teeth and jaw.

Fissure Sealants

You may have heard of these through the clinics which are carried out at some local schools.  Fissure sealants are a protective barrier which cover all the dips and grooves in new adult teeth in children.  They help to prevent future cavities as it is in these grooves where dental decay can easily start.

These are just some of the key treatments which may be required to ensure and maintain dental health. 

 If you would like to discuss any potential treatment needs, then please call the practice and we will arrange an appointment for you.

Additional Services

We offer a comprehensive range of cosmetic dental services, ranging from simple Tooth Whitening to Crowns, Veneers, Dental Implants and Orthodontics. 

We also offer Facial Aesthetics in the forms of anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers.

For more information about any of our services or treatments then please either phone us on 01407 764599 or email us from the Contact Us page.

Emergency care

We do offer emergency appointments to both registered and non-registered patients.  However, should you have a dental emergency outside the normal practice hours please phone 01407 764599 which will put you in touch with the dentist on call. The out of hours service is only available to registered patients. During practice hours we will endeavour to see any patient who has a dental emergency.