If I want to improve my smile, how would I go about it?

There are lots of ways to improve your smile.  Sometimes this can be very simple and inexpensive, requiring only white filling build-ups for example.  In other cases it can be more complex, involving a team of dental specialists including a prosthodontist, a periodontist and an orthodontist.  For challenging cases this team can achieve results that are far superior to any single dentist working on their own. This multi-disciplinary approach allows us to be very precise in addressing the fine detail that makes a smile natural and beautiful.  Whatever your needs, the first step is a thorough assessment to see what is required to get the very best outcome for your budget.

How do I know that it would work out well in the end?

Once we understand your needs, we can often do a simulation of the planned smile changes and show them to you on a model of your mouth before agreeing to start treatment.  In many cases, we can even transfer these proposed changes from the model to your mouth using a technique called an intra-oral mock up so you get to see what your smile would actually look like at the end.  This gives you an opportunity to have an input from the start and means that you’re much more likely to be happy with the end result.

Is smile work expensive?

We offer smile solutions to suit most budgets.  If you have a low budget we can often improve your smile using white filling material bondings, providing that the problems are not excessively complex.  We only use the highest quality filling materials and techniques so the results look very natural.  If you have more money to spend or more complex problems, we can provide porcelain veneers or crowns where clinically appropriate.  These often have a superior colour, finish and lifespan compared with white filling bondings.

For this type of work, we only deal with high quality dental laboratories, including some of the best dental technicians in the world for cases of high aesthetic demand.  This means that if you need crowns, veneers or implants, you know that the materials and techniques that are being used are of the highest quality and you are getting value for your money.

What is the difference between seeing the specialists at Riverpoint and going abroad for cosmetic work?

If you are getting a quote for dental work done abroad for a lower price than Riverpoint its probably for one of the following reasons:

• Far lower quality materials that don’t look natural or last as long
• Far less time is taken to ensure that the treatment is done well
• The restorations are made by very low quality dental technicians

Good quality cosmetic dentistry cannot be done well if it is rushed and especially not in a few days from start to finish.  The outcome of not taking the time required is often that the crowns are dead in colour, an unnatural shape, more prone to falling out or are shaped in a way that overhangs the gum.  This makes the crowns very hard to keep clean and can cause gum disease and potentially decay in the supporting teeth.

In low cost locations overseas, there is also a tendency to do lots of crowns for patients simply because they’re cheap.  These may not even be required and it is often not explained to patients that the crowns/veneers will need to be replaced every 10 years on average.  This can increase the future costs of dentistry hugely as you can end up having to replace a crown several times that you didn’t need in the first place.