The first official orthodontic case I did. As in on an actual patient rather than just forcing it upon family members.
Now it has taken a while, mainly because we used an inappropriate appliance at the start really. This patient was really against the idea of a fixed appliance. I was unsure and urged her to consider it to be on the safe side but she really didn’t want to go down that route. So we started with a removable appliance. And it did get things moving, but only so far.
After a while of persevering it became apparent that the teeth weren’t going to fully straighten, or if they did it was going to take forever! At this point the patient was happy to give the fixed appliance a whirl. As we had already achieved some movement we were able to skip the initial wire and once the fixed appliance was on things came into line a treat.
But a lovely result in the end and a lesson learnt for me of just how important appliance choice is!
We have a new product available to remove unsightly enamel defects without expensive or destructive restorative procedures!
The product is a slurry contacting chemicals and silicon micro particles to provide chemical stain removal along with gentle mechanical abrasion to remove unsightly enamel defects that are less that 0.2mm in depth. The process itself feels much like just having a polish, just a bit longer, so totally pain free.
High strength fluoride varnish is then applied to the teeth afterwards to help strengthen the enamel and reduce and post operative sensitivity.
Especially when used alongside tooth whitening it can make a real difference!!
Another lovely result with short term orthodontics and the Quick Straight Teeth system’s ceramic fixed appliances.
The lower front teeth are the best bit for me in this case!
Just a little white filling at the front where one tooth is a little shorter after the patient has done their post-operative bleaching and we’re all set!
Studies have been done using some very clever equipment which have been able to plot out where we look to first when we see a picture of someone’s face and they have backed up what has been believed give true for a while now; that being that we tend to look at someone’s eyes and then their mouth.
If someone doesn’t like their smile it can really be quite debilitating. It can really lower a person’s confidence, make them never want to smile, then get paranoid everyone thinks they are a misery guts as that’s how they can come across but it’s not the real them. If someone falls into this category, fixing whatever the problem was with their smile can really change their lives; boost confidence which can then help people with jobs, relationships, all sorts. I am in a very lucky position that I sometimes get to do this for people and I can’t tell you how nice it is.
Obviously no two cases are the same. Not only that but certain imperfections may not bother one person but then keep someone else up at night. All I can do hear is run through the sort of things that can be done these days to help improve your smile if you don’t like it.
So there are two elements, the dental side of it and then the soft tissues around it so we’ll break it down that way.
Dental aspect
Treatments include:
Stain removal
Tooth whitening
Tooth straightening
Contouring of incisal edges
Restorative treatments – such as white fillings, crowns, bridges veneers etc
Gingival veneers – direct or in direct to replace where the gum line has shrunk back
Soft tissues
First thing that comes tomorrow people’s minds is having filler in the lips:
Obviously this can make a big difference – extra volume, even out asymmetry, extra definition etc – but there is so much more that can be done….
Intra orally filler can be used to remove the dark triangles that can develope between teeth when the gums have shrunk back. This creates false pocketing of the gums though so oral hygiene must be amazing and it’s not to be entered lightly!!
Corners of the mouth can be raised with botox and/or filler if you feel you have a droopy smile.
If you feel you have a gummy smile then the upper lip can be lowered down with just a couple of botox injections.
Any lines around the lips can be smoothed and softened.
Botox injections can also plump up the top lip, done alone or in combination with filler.
So you see there’s all sorts of things that can be done these days. Just one or a combination of things can really transform people’s smiles.
Nefertiti, one of the most famous queens of ancient Egypt and whose name means “the beautiful one has come”. And if this bust of her is accurate then there’s no arguing with that. Wife of Akenhaten, the radical who made Egyptians worship one God the Aten (didn’t last long) and king Tut’s dad, she was renowned as the beauty of the times. The most striking feature, other than the huge headpiece obviously, is that killer jaw line. And so it is easy to see how she became the “Nerfertiti lift” namesake.
What is the “Nefertiti lift”
It is the use of botulinum toxin injections to essentially give a non-surgical neck lift. A handful of small injections into the platysmal bands of the neck and at certain points on the jaw line to define the jawline and smooth out any “Turkey neck” business.
As with any botulinum treatment it will take a couple of weeks or so to be at full effect and will last 3-4 months.
As none of us have exactly the same anatomy and due to the function of the muscles close by to where we would be injecting for this, you may at first get a slight twist and downturn of the corner of the mouth rather than complete uplift, but a some additonal injections at the two week review date would soon sort this out.
This sounds amazing!!! Everything you want in the morning rolled into one!! Have a read…..
Teoxane Cosmeceuticals has announced the launch of their new Advanced Perfecting Shield SPF30.
The SPF works on four levels to hydrate, offer advanced protection, revitalise and restructure in one, leaving skin protected.
The product contains Teoxane Cosmeceuticals’ core formula ensuring skin retains optimal hydration levels using Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA), Dermo-Restructuring Complex and NovHyal.
Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) is a patented cross-linked hyaluronic acid, which offers greater benefits applied topically than basic HA. It provides optimal hydration to visibly smooth and plump whilst strengthening the skin’s barrier.Dermo-Restructuring Complex includes three antioxidants, eight amino acids, two minerals and vitamin B6, with additional glutathione and alpha lipoic acid revitalises and protects from oxidative stress. NovHyal restructures by stimulating HA production.
The formula also incorporates solar filters including TINOSORB® M and Ethyl Hexylmethoxicinnamate), antioxidants, carcinine, Matrixyl 3000, liquorice extract and potentiated HA + Sodium PCA to provide next level protection which inhibits hyaluronidase reaction and has an anti-glycation effect.
SPF30 Daily Sun Protection from UVA/UVB rays Advanced Perfecting Shield also contains tinted, light reflecting pigments to correct and unify the skin giving a healthy appearance whilst creating a perfect make-up base.
Update April 2016
Ok, so I’ve been using it a little while and I do really like this product. My skin looks clearer and feels a lot smoother, it’s a great base under makeup yet at the same time has a little pigment in there so even if you’re giving your skin a break or off to the gym etc gives a little coverage on its own and best of all, what would previously take me three separate creams every morning is now replaced by this one which makes it so much easier to keep up an excellent skin care regime!
So Ellanse is a filler with a difference. That difference being that it stimulates the skin to produce its own collagen in the areas that need it. This gives a very natural and subtle effect, plumping up the skin in the right area, softening folds where we don’t want them.
The other difference is that it can last a lot longer. There are different products that can last 1,2,3 or 4 years. This is changed by different components of the filler particles being larger and so therefore taking longer to be broken down by the body. For facial volumisation generally the 1 or 2 year products are used as the face changes over time more readily in these areas. The 3 and 4 year products are recommended for used such as nose augmentation, features which do not change much.
It isn’t made up of the hyaluronic acid that most fillers are made of. Instead it is made of a carboxymethycellulose gel carrier which gives the product its initial filling effect and polycaprolactone which is the bit that stimulates the body to make collagen. The products are just as safe as hyaluronic acid, being broken down by the body’s metabolism into water and carbon dioxide and is completely resorbed and excreted by the body.
The process
So, the product is injected into the areas in which you want more volume. The gel element gives an immediate filling effect. This will then go down over the next couple of months but don’t panic!! That’s when the body kicks in and starts to create the collagen to provide more natural volume. Because of this reaction you only inject to a point of under correction at the treatment, ie you place product until there’s still room for improvement as the collagen production will probably take it further. This also means that 1ml of ellanse will go further than 1ml of regular filler.
And we are all different as to exactly how much our bodies will respond to the product so go easy at first, see how things go and you can always place more down the line. Better that than put too much in at the start!!
It works very well in conjunction with Silhouette Soft thread lifts. It can either give further definition after the lift has worked its magic or there can be some cases where there is not enough skin volume to safely perform a thread lift but once ellanse has stimulated collagen production then it may be possible to place the threads.
Another big advantage is that this product can give a nice natural plumping and smoothing effect in the sub malar region (that being below the cheek line) which is not really achievable with regular filler or botox.
As with any product that promotes collagen synthesis there is an overall antiageing long term effect as it’s always a great thing for skin to stimulate collagen production to replace some of what has been lost! So if you were to have it on just one side of your face, ten years down the line after you stopped that half of your face would look better than the other half. But obviously no one is EVER going to do that. Ever. It would just be weird.
We all do it. The old New Years resolution. A new year can bring with it a more positive outlook, a fresh start. A chance to put that last year to bed and start again, especially if the past year was a crummy one. You’ll be a better version of yourself and so this year will be better.
It does help you feel a bit rejuvenated, once the New Years hangover has gone of course. My particular focus is on losing weight and getting fit, the classic.
Whatever yours is, why not choose some of the following too to make sure that a part of it is to just look after yourself a little more? We all need looking after.
Drink more water, instead of and sugary/fizzy drinks
Try and actually reach that two minute mark when brushing!!
Floss and interdental brushing every day
Wear sunscreen every day
Stick to your daily skin care routine every day, especially at night when you just want to flomp into bed!
And the biggie……stop smoking!!
That one has to be the most popular resolution of all! But you never know, this year could be the year!!!
A lady presented with an old porcelain over metal conventional bridge. She was very unhappy with its appearance as the dark margins were now visible where the gum line had moved over time and it was very opaque. The bridge was still clinically sound so no gaps or decay.
Replacing the bridge with a new ceramic bridge meant we were able to close the gap at the front, adjust the margins and use materials with a much more translucent and natural appearance. The patient was thrilled with the result!
This is not a replacement for full conventional orthodontics, but not is it just some quick fix. The reason that it is short term refers to how you gets you results over more of a 4-6 month period because it just deals with straightening the anterior teeth. Major discrepancies or problems with alignment of the back teeth have to be dealt with by an orthodontist or accepted as a compromise. I have had a fair few people ask about it at a check up but assume that they’re not appropriate for it because they’re not a teenager anymore, but we grown ups are who these systems have in mind!! It’s an ideal option for those who had braces when they were younger but there has been some relapse, for those who should have had braces when they were younger but never went through with it and now wish they had or for those who have some alignment but it was not severe enough to be treated on the NHS, a proportion of the population which is getting larger and larger these days I’m afraid.
There are various systems out there; Invisalign, Six month smiles etc. All have their own ways of doing it but ultimately the goal is the same. Nice straight teeth at the front for you to do some top quality smiling with!!
In some instances the straightening may not be the end of it to create your perfect smile and some restorative work may then still be required. But in these cases, if further restorative work is required it will be considerably simpler and involve much less tooth destruction that if it hadn’t been done. So why not just jump straight to a load of crowns to make things look straighter? In some cases to prepare the teeth when they are very crowded would render them weak and the preparation would be very destructive. And if you don’t need much/any restorative work afterwards then your new smile will last as long as you look after your teeth, whereas no crowns last forever.
The system we use is Quick Straight Teeth. Dr. Macdonald chose this system as it has a wide range of appliances to offer:
clear aligners
patented clear and discreet removable appliances
Or
All designed by their orthodontic specialists and made by a specialist orthodontic laboratory.
Whichever system you may use, you must ensure that your oral hygiene is to notch, especially if you have a fixed appliance. Be aware that it can be sore at the start but it soon settles and eating may be difficult for a while but having a softer diet and bite sized food etc will help.
And if you want the result to last then you need a bonded retainer on and keep it on!! If you stop wearing your retainer, then some relapse is inevitable.
From more minor adjustments….
To more extensive realignments allowing you to avoid extensive destructive restorative work and just need some minimal intervention adjustments once the alignment and bleaching are complete…..
….a few short months can give you a smile to last a lifetime!!
the manchester face clinic 