If you are new to the area, or perhaps have been seeing the same dentist for a long time out of habit, you may feel that now is the right time to change to a new dentist.
Once upon a time, this choice was relatively straightforward, with most practices offering a smallish range of treatments. These days though, the treatments that are on offer are both wide-ranging and diverse.
One way to choose a new dentist is to search for it on the internet, or perhaps use a paper directory and use a pin to randomly select. Others will use locality to choose, often opting for the one that is closest to home, or to work. Whilst this is understandable, it often isn’t the best way to choose a dentist that is most suited to your needs. Unless you are very unlucky, you will probably only need to visit the dentist two or three times a year, so a little extra effort in travelling is worth it, to find the best services and treatments for you.
Before setting up your first appointment, it might be a good idea to check out the dentist’s practice. Does their practice look clean and organized?
If you’re willing, talk to the staff there just to see if they are polite, courteous, and willing to answer your questions.
First appearances are important and might tell a bigger story than any online review or recommendation from a friend or family member.
Recommendations are a common way of choosing a dentist, and a very valid one in as much as discovering what the team at the practice are like. Rude dentists or receptionists are likely to put people off, however good they actually are at their job. This is something that we are very aware of, and even on a challenging day, we make sure that we greet and treat patients in a friendly and welcoming manner when they come to our Ipswich dental clinic.
Thankfully, in the UK there are strict regulations regarding health and safety for patients and members of staff. At the Lighthouse Dental Practice, we have a dedicated room where our equipment is sterilised. This, combined with the wearing of masks and gloves during treatment, and the general cleanliness of our dental clinic, means that the risk of cross-infection is kept to an absolute minimum.
When a child visits a dentist for the first time, it can be a frightening experience. An unpleasant trip, for a child, can result in a build-up of dental anxiety that can stay with them for the rest of their lives. This often means that once they reach an age where they can make decisions of their own, there is every chance that they will only see a dentist when the damage has already been done.
You can be sure that, when you bring your child to see us at the Lighthouse Dental Practice, we will do all that we can to make their visit a calm and relaxed one, leaving them feeling happier and confident about going to see the dentist in the future.
Everybody needs regular dental care. With good home cleaning, we may rarely need treatment, but when we do, we need to know that it is available for us. As you would expect, we provide all aspects of routine dentistry at our practice, including fillings (also available as white fillings), crowns, extractions etc. More complex restorative treatments are also available such as root canal surgery. This is an important procedure when the soft tissue of the tooth is infected and can save a tooth that would otherwise have to be extracted.
Dental anxiety is relatively common, with some people being very afraid of having treatment. For those patients, or those undergoing longer procedures such as implant placement, we are able to offer dental sedation which will enable you to have the treatment in a completely relaxed manner.
It could be argued that all dental practices offer fillings and extractions, etc., but not all practices offer a wide choice of cosmetic dental procedures too. You may feel that you have no desire for these at this point in your life, but that may change. People are increasingly looking to procedures such as teeth whitening or veneers to restore their teeth to a more attractive state. As you get older, you may find that you feel this way too.
When you do reach this stage, it is surely better to be able to have the treatment with a dentist that you trust and are familiar with. You can be sure that our dentists will offer advice that is unbiased and honest and will not direct you towards treatments that you don’t need or want. In addition to teeth whitening, we are also pleased to offer porcelain veneers for those with badly stained teeth or worn enamel which may be causing sensitivity. For those who have lost teeth, we provide dental implants which are rapidly gaining in popularity due to their longevity and natural look and feel.
In addition to our routine and cosmetic treatments, we also offer facial aesthetic treatments for those who wish to have smoother and younger-looking skin.
With the friendliness and experience of our staff and the extensive range of treatments on offer, we firmly believe that it makes sense to consider the Lighthouse Dental Practice as your regular Ipswich dentist. If you would like to find out more about us or to arrange an initial appointment, why not give our receptionists a call on 01473 257379.
We’ll be pleased to get you booked in!
We are here to help you.
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.