General Dentistry Belfast Dentists

Routine dental appointments help us spot issues before they affect you— while they’re still easy to treat. To get the best standard of preventative dentistry, we recommend making an appointment every six months.

During your routine checkup, we’ll assess your teeth and gums. We look for signs of tooth decay and gum disease. The early indicators are often thinning enamel. With regular appointments, we can often see the signs of cavities forming before you experience any discomfort. A routine dental checkup is also an opportunity for us to detect the early signs of oral cancer.

Tooth decay occurs when bacteria break down the surface of your teeth, As enamel erodes, cavities form. A dark area may appear on your teeth, however, these are typically difficult to see as they are often on the biting surfaces. As tooth decay progresses, you will experience sensitivity to hot and cold foods. This gradually evolves into dental pain.

The best ways to prevent tooth decay are to minimise your sugar intake and brush your teeth every morning and night. Bacteria feed on sugars and starches and create acid in the process. This acid wears your teeth down. Maintaining a high standard of dental hygiene removes plaque buildup and reduces the risk of tooth decay. Regular checkups and hygiene appointments are also an essential part of preventative dentistry.

We use fillings to repair cavities. When tooth decay damages the surface of your teeth, it can leave small holes. If you have cavities, bacteria can enter your tooth and it could lead to infection.

We use white composite fillings. These are safe and discreet— blending in with the surface of your teeth.

With proper care, a filling should last for around ten years. In some cases, a filling will last longer. If your existing fillings have become worn, we can replace them.

Gum disease is caused by bacteria in your mouth. As tartar forms around the base of your teeth, it irritates your gums. This leads to inflammation. Gum disease is often hard to spot in the early stages. You may notice small spots of blood when brushing your teeth or biting into food. This is often coupled with red and inflamed gums.

Periodontitis is an advanced form of gum disease. As gum disease worsens, it causes bad breath. Pockets form around the roots of your teeth. This causes teeth to loosen and fall out. This form of gum disease can also harm your jaw.

Gum disease is easily avoided by practising good dental hygiene and visiting us regularly. Brushing twice daily helps remove plaque from your mouth, reducing its impact on your gums.

There are many signs of mouth cancer, many of which are easily overlooked. Some of the most common include pains in your mouth, white or red patches in your mouth, ulcers that won’t go away, difficulty swallowing, lumps in your throat, bad breath, and unexplained weight loss.

A dental infection typically comes with pain and swelling around the affected tooth, spreading to the nearby gums and cheeks. The tooth can look darker than normal. You may also have bad breath and pus around the bottom of the tooth. Dental infections don’t pass on their own and will only worsen without treatment. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, book an appointment as soon as possible.

A root canal treatment removes bacteria and the infected cells that cause you discomfort. This routine procedure is performed under local anaesthetic.

Many people assume a root canal treatment will be painful, but the truth is it causes no more discomfort than having a filling. In fact, the treatment actually relieves pain and discomfort. We’ll give you an anaesthetic before we start the procedure.

During your hygiene appointment, we’ll provide a deep, professional cleaning treatment that removes built-up staining and tartar. Our hygienist can also give you advice on maintaining your at-home cleaning routine and provide advice on brushing techniques, dental products, and lifestyle adjustments that could benefit the health of your smile.

During a checkup or before a procedure, we may take an X-ray of your teeth. X-rays and other scans give us a clear picture of the health of your jaws, tooth roots, and other facial bones. Using X-rays, we can also spot irregularities and issues like decay, cysts, tumours, and impacted teeth.

No. The X-ray equipment we use emits a very low dose of radiation which is well within safe levels. Even if we need to take several images, this won’t pose any health risks.

Early dental appointments are important for any child. Their first dental visits are an opportunity for us to monitor the development of their growing smile while starting a lifetime of positive visits to the dentist. Even at just a few months old, your child is susceptible to tooth decay, and the first few formative months and years impact their dental health for life. We recommend bringing your baby for their first appointment soon after their first teeth start to erupt. This is usually around six months of age.

While you are probably well aware of the risks smoking poses to your lungs and heart, it also severely impacts your oral health. Not only does smoking dry your mouth out and cause staining and bad breath, but it also restricts the blood flow to your gums, increasing the potential for gum disease. Smoking is also a risk factor associated with oral cancer.

Various factors can cause bad breath, including having a dry mouth, smoking, poor dental hygiene, eating pungent foods, tooth decay, gum disease, infections, and gastric issues.

Understanding the cause of your bad breath will help determine the best preventative action to take. We can help identify the root cause of your bad breath during a dental checkup. Possible solutions to bad breath include sipping small amounts of water frequently, changing your toothbrush, improving brushing techniques, cleaning your teeth every morning and night, using mouthwash, and cleaning bacteria from your mouth using a tongue scraper.

We only remove teeth when it’s absolutely necessary. If a tooth is severely infected and cannot be saved, we will extract it. An impacted tooth could cause damage to your jaw or neighbouring teeth. This is a problem many experience when their wisdom teeth erupt.

Wisdom teeth are a third set of molars that generally emerge in your early 20s. Often, these erupt without issue. In some cases, there may not be sufficient space along your jaw to accommodate the extra teeth. When there isn’t enough room, the tooth may only partially erupt or grow at an angle. Depending on which way they grow, your wisdom teeth may put pressure on the neighbouring tooth, your gums, or your jaw. This leads to severe discomfort and may cause damage and infection. We will often extract an impacted wisdom tooth.