Although the summer weather may not have arrived yet, the summer offers have landed at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge! Our first offer this year will help you save money while keeping on top of yours and your family’s dental health, with savings on dental check-ups with Dr Keenan, Dr Collins and Dr Kelly.
Free Child Dental Exam
Why not take advantage of the summer holidays to bring your kids in for a dental check-up? It’s difficult for parents to schedule all the necessary appointments for their children around classes, clubs and sports commitments, so make the most of the school break to bring them in to Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge, and get your own dental exam done at the same time.
From 17th June to 30th August 2019 our dentists at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge are offering a FREE child exam when booked together with an adult dental exam. To make an appointment, call 01 668 3242, email info@pembrokedentist.ie or use the contact form on our website.
Or how to prepare your smile for your wedding and minimise the stress.
Our Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge practice manager shares what she’s learned about planning your dental treatment before your wedding so that the preparations are spread out and completed in plenty of time for your big day, minimising the stress and hassle.
How many engagements were made on Valentine’s Day just gone? How many girls took the opportunity to propose to their other halves on 29th February? It seems everyone I know is getting married, so I’m learning lots about how to organise weddings! Here’s how my last Sunday just went:
Morning: chat on the phone with a school friend who’s getting married next month about accommodation at the venue so she can try to confirm numbers;
Rest of Morning: spent 3 hours making place settings for my cousin’s daughter’s wedding (‘volunteered’ by my mum, 50 down, 150 to go!);
Lunch: chat with a friend about how her sister’s boyfriend’s cousin was on ‘Don’t Tell The Bride’ the other week;
Evening: exchange frantic Facebook messages with another friend who lives in Spain but who’s trying to organise her July Dublin wedding from Barcelona (can anyone recommend a make-up artist?!).
Let’s face it: there are enough things to stress about when organising a wedding without adding the perfect smile to the list. Especially when a beautiful smile is totally achievable, no matter what your timeline, once you put in a little planning.
Kudos to One Fab Day for their very clever Wedding Beauty Timeline. They’ve even included teeth whitening at the four-months-to-go stage. But what if your dental treatment needs are a little more involved than whitening? Here’s my suggestion for what your wedding dental timeline should look like.
6 Months Before (at least!)
Both the bride-to-be and groom-to-be should attend the dentist for a full dental exam, x-ray (if one is due) and scale & polish (cleaning). The best way of ensuring a healthy smile is to maintain your dental health.
If your dentist recommends any treatment plan at this stage, whether it’s something as straightforward as fillings or a bit more involved like a root canal treatment or a crown, you have plenty of time to schedule this and get it completed before the big day.
You’ll have more than a few other expenses over the next few months, so it may be helpful to be able to spread out these costs in the quieter ones. Don’t forget, if you have dental insurance (Vhi Dental or DeCare Dental) we can submit your treatment plan to your insurer and you’ll find your costs are reduced further. Plus you can claim back tax relief on some of the bigger treatments.
This is also the best time to discuss with your dentist any cosmetic treatments that you might be considering for the big day. Tell your dentist what you don’t like about your smile and what you’d like to change, and he or she will give you a comprehensive treatment plan with costings so you can decide what you’d like to do. Two of the most common in-surgery cosmetic treatments we get asked about before weddings at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge are short-term orthodontics and veneers (or componeers).
Many patients dismiss orthodontics before their wedding as they think it will take a year or more to get a good outcome. However, it’s possible to achieve fantastic orthodontic results in as little as three or four months with adult braces. Read more about Inman Aligners, Six Month Smiles and Invisible Aligners on our website. And remember, payments can be spread over the course of the treatment with interest free finance, which can make them more manageable. Our recent blog post with before and after photos shows the fantastic results you can achieve in very little time with short-term braces.
BeforeAfter
Veneers are a very quick solution which result in a dramatically improved appearance in just one or two visits. Again, take a look at some of the before and after photos on our website which show just how dramatic the improvement can be with direct bonding, componeers and porcelain veneers. With the different options available there’s a solution to suit every budget.
4 Months Before
At this stage the stress levels may be rising and you find you don’t have a spare minute in the day. As a result, some of your habits may have changed. Have you been skipping brushing and flossing and just flopping into bed exhausted after a weekend of checking out bands and tasting menus? Have you been waking up with sore jaws, earaches or headaches? Are your gums bleeding more frequently than before? Have your grumbling wisdom teeth flared up into full-blown agony? Ah yes, STRESS!
Stress can lead to a number of changes in your mouth and even if you’re normally really good at keeping up with dental care at home and visiting your dentist regularly, it can play havoc! If any of the above symptoms sound familiar, then you should pop back to the dentist for a quick check-up. To minimise the stress, we have early morning, late evening and lunchtime appointments available at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge so you can pop in before or after work, or on your lunch break. If you live or work in Dublin 4 it couldn’t be handier.
Being run down and missing a few brushings and flossings can allow oral bacteria to multiply, putting you at risk of gingivitis (red, inflamed and sore gums – not a good look!), and infections. Visit our hygienist Lorraine Doyle for a professional cleaning. Get back on top of you dental health – and your glowing smile – with a scale & polish.
Stress may be causing you to clench and grind your teeth at night when you’re asleep. This can result in sore jaws, headaches and even broken teeth. A bite splint is a simple device that fits over your teeth to protect them while you sleep.
While now might not be the best time to consider wisdom tooth extraction, keeping an eye on them in the run-up to the wedding is a good idea and any infection or flare-up can be quickly controlled using antibiotics, so that they don’t ruin the big day.
Now is a good time to begin teeth whitening. It’s a very simple – and at just €295 very cost effective – treatment that can produce quite dramatic results. We don’t recommend leaving it until just before the wedding (as you’ll have enough on your plate at that stage!) but by doing it now, with perhaps a top-up treatment just before the big day, you’ll have a beautiful white smile to match your white dress (or your blushing bride’s white dress!) In one quick visit with the dentist we can prepare bespoke trays which are ready to collect the next day, which you use at home to get the result you want. Everyone is different, so the dentist will advise you on what you need to do to get the effect you desire.
Whitening is an essential treatment that we provide at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge before we undertake any cosmetic dental treatment. We can then match the new shade of your teeth to any new restoration that we provide whether that be composite direct bonding, porcelain veneers or componeers.
1 Month Before
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to come and see the dentist or dental hygienist at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge for that final scale & polish before the big day to remove any staining and have your teeth looking their best.
Any pre-wedding short-term adult orthodontics should be planned to finish up around now as well, so that any retainers needed can be fitted in time to let you get used to them before the main event.
If it’s needed, a whitening top-up should be done around now as well so that you’re not trying to remember to do it in the hectic few days before the wedding.
So, you can see with a little pre-planning it’s easy to have the perfect smile on your wedding day with Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge. Call 01 668 3242 or email info@pembrokedentist.ie today to schedule a check-up and treatment planning appointment with Dr Keenan to see what can be achieved before your special day.
Attending the dentist and taking care of your teeth can sometimes seem expensive, but there are many ways of reducing the costs involved. Here are our five top tips at Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge for reducing the cost of your dental care.
Prevention is better than cure.
New Year’s resolutions often include taking better care of ourselves: lose some weight, exercise more, eat more healthily. We might start off the year with great intentions but our enthusiasm for wet morning jogs or yet another salad wanes and life gets in the way! On top of that, money is tight and January is the longest month of the year. Then by February our good intentions are forgotten.
Well that’s ok, you can visit the dentist in February or any other month too, and it’s never too late to start a good habit!
When it comes to your teeth, the old saying is true: prevention is better than cure. Keeping up with regular check-ups with your dentist and visits to the dental hygienist will help you avoid problems that may necessitate bigger dental work in the future. If you haven’t seen Dr Keenan or Lorraine Doyle in a while, make an appointment to see them soon. It’s cheaper in the long run.
Do your homework.
While having regular check-ups is important, the effort you put in yourself at home is just as important. Follow the advice of your dentist and hygienist: brush thoroughly at least twice a day, floss daily, use your special toothpaste or inter-dental brushes if you’ve been advised to, wear your retainer, mouth-guard or bite splint as instructed, avoid food and drinks that cause staining if you’re prone to this. It might seem like a lot of hassle at first, but good dental home care quickly becomes a habit and part of your routine. And who can argue that five minutes morning and evening is too much time to invest in protecting our pearly-whites for the long term and avoiding more extensive – and expensive – dental treatments?!
Know your tax entitlements.
Did you know that many of us are entitled to a free dental exam every year? And who doesn’t like getting something for free! Under the Treatment Benefit Scheme, depending on the PRSI you have paid (or certain other conditions) you might be able to come in to see Dr Keenan for a check-up free of charge. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for this or not, please contact the office by email or phone 01 6883242 and we’ll be happy to check this for you.
You can also claim tax relief on certain non-routine dental treatments going back four years. You may already be familiar with the Med 1 form for medical expenses, but a Med 2 form also exists for certain dental treatments, including braces, root canal treatment and veneers. If you’ve been putting off having your wisdom teeth extracted or getting a crown due to the cost, remember that you can claim tax relief at the standard rate of 20-. If you’re unsure what you can claim for, or you would like us to do a Med 2 form for you, again please contact the office.
Consider dental insurance.
Vhi Dental and DeCare Dental are specialist dental insurance providers. At Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge we have a direct pay arrangement with these insurers which means that all you have to do is advise them that you’ve made an appointment and certain visits like straight-forward dental exams or a visit to the dental hygienist won’t cost you anything on the day – and we look after the paperwork! If you need more involved treatment, we can submit a treatment plan to your insurer and find out, depending on your level of cover, what portion of your fees would be covered by your insurer and what you will have to pay on the day. And at each subsequent visit for treatment we look after the paperwork for you, keeping the hassle to a minimum.
If you have medical insurance with Vhi, Aviva, Laya or another provider, you should also check with them if you can claim something back for a dental visit under the terms and conditions of your policy.
If you don’t yet have insurance, but you’ve been thinking about signing up, check with your HR Department at work. May companies offer corporate schemes, the cost of which can often be cheaper than the advertised commercial policies.
Get money off.
There are three easy ways of saving money if you are a patient of Pembroke Dental Ballsbridge. We offer a 10- corporate discount to employees of local companies on general dental care. We also offer interest-free finance plans for orthodontics over the course of your treatment. And we love referrals! If you pick up a referral card at our office and refer a friend to us, you can both avail of a €20 discount.
And don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled when doing your weekly shop or visiting the pharmacy! Toothpastes, toothbrushes and floss are often on special offer (buy one get one free, money off, etc.), so stock up when you can. During the sales, reductions on prices of electric toothbrushes and water flossers can save you a few euros too!
Do you have any other money-saving tips relating to dental care? Visit us on Facebook or tweet us @pembrokedent to share your ideas!
We live in very demanding times, and more and more people being diagnosed with stress with recent figures suggesting it affects up to 10- of the population. Whilst there is a general awareness of the majority of symptoms of stress many people do not realise the oral health implications.
In fact there are a high number of people I see who don’t realise the extent of their teeth clenching and grinding (bruxism). Headaches can be an immediate side effect of this grinding while permanent tooth damage can be a long term one. The majority of sufferers are aged between mid-twenties to mid-forties.
Although bruxism may be the most common stress related complaint, others include;
Mouth sores and cold sores
Poor oral hygiene/unhealthy eating routines
Periodontal disease
Prolonged grinding can lead to TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) problems
What can you do?
If you are clenching or grinding we may recommend the use of a night guard which you pop in while you sleep and which will help to minimise the effects of the grinding. Underlying stress or anxiety may be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy.
If you are concerned that you have stress related bruxism, visit us for a dental health check which will include an inspection of your mouth and jaw. Please contact us in our Dublin dentist practice today at 01 668 3242.
The International Diabetes Federation have predicted that the number of people living with the condition in Ireland will rise to over 278,000 people by 2030. This will mark a staggering rise of almost 50- on current levels of just over 190,000 people.
So, many of you will be wondering why a dentist is quoting these staggering figures to you and why I am positioned to comment on them? What you perhaps don’t realise is that a majority of gum disease sufferers were found to be at high risk of developing diabetes in a recent report.
However, like the old adage ‘which came first the chicken or the egg’, it’s not entirely clear which way around the diabetes and gum disease link works. Researchers studied a representative sample of 9,000 people who didn’t have diabetes, although 817 of them went on to develop the disease. The researchers found that individuals with elevated levels of periodontal disease were nearly twice as likely to become diabetic within 20 years, even after adjusting for age, smoking, obesity and diet.
Diabetic patients with poor blood sugar level control are likely to have gum disease more frequently and also in a much more severe manner.
The importance of good oral hygiene cannot be overemphasised for patients with diabetes as gingivitis (the early stage of gum disease) can be treated and reversed. However if left untreated, periodontitis (the advanced stage) can occur which in turn may lead to bone loss.
Risks like impaired vision and limb loss are well known to diabetics, however gum disease is rapidly being referred to as the sixth major risk.
What can you do?
Diabetic patients need to pay much more attention to their oral health and ensure a visit to your dentist every six months for a full dental health check and a thorough cleaning of your teeth. You should also inform your dentist if you have recently been diagnosed with diabetes and ask for advice on keeping your mouth healthy.
If you are experiencing any difficulties please contact us in our Dublin dentist practice today at 01 668 3242.
