Why I’m Smiling again Publisher Rebecca Cooksey on the day she got her smile back.

I have always been brought up with that little voice in my head constantly reminding me, ‘If you lose your teeth, you’ll be ugly.’ My mother’s wonderful words of advice at the tender age of 15 in the hope of deterring me from sharing bottles of drink with strangers on New Years Eve in Trafalgar Square. It worked.

To this day I have always been very conscious of my teeth to the point that I actually brushed a small amount of enamel away from my front tooth through overzealous cleaning. But it had never really been an issue - until last year.

Every year I would visit my dentist who would coat my front tooth with a solution that would prevent further damage. It was so simple that I’d be in and out of the chair within half an hour. When my dentist returned to the Lebanon, I made the drastic mistake of visiting someone new who tapped into my vanity (not that difficult) and convinced me that my routine had become ‘so yesterday’. Everyone today, he said, has veneers. He made it sound so easy and painless that I wanted them there and then. Two hours - and what felt like a complete violation of my mouth - later the measurements for my veneers had been done and now all I had to do was wait for them to be made up.

They arrived and what was to follow was so traumatic that I actually came close to punching the dentist! After another three hours of having my mouth poked and prodded, I was asked to smile and what I saw was mortifying. I definitely was not looking at my teeth and they most definitely didn’t look better. In a nutshell were the measurements were all wrong as the thickness and colour. It completely changed the shape of my mouth and the look of my smile.

He made it sound so easy and painless that I wanted them there and then. Two hours later - and what felt like a complete violation of my mouth

Thankfully, I didn’t allow this man to file my teeth otherwise my own teeth would have been destroyed. I left and never returned after the third attempt to sort them out.

It took a third dentist to restore my teeth back to their natural glory using a procedure that had become second nature to me. He didn’t boast, he didn’t tell me that I didn’t know what I was talking about nor did he make any promises that he was unable to keep. He was most definitely adamant, however, that I had never needed veneers in the first place.

I was not asked to write this testimonial. I have chosen to do so in case there are other people out there who are too self-conscious to smile. His clinic from the outside is not flash but from the moment you walk in there is a calmness that gives you the confidence that very few people - if any - have ever run out dissatisfied. His prices are so reasonable that out of embarrassment I won’t tell you what the second dentist charged me. I am so pleased that I have now recommended him to just about everyone I know - including my mother.

Rebecca got her smile back at Dr ALI’S practice at the Al Juffairy Dental Clinic, located in Salmaniya

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The Look Younger Clinic!

Remove the stains:-

If cigarettes, coffee, red wine or even an addiction to blueberry pie has dulled your pearly white’s so they’re not as white as they should be - not to worry! There are now several forms of teeth bleaching available on the island to regain your sizzling smile. The quickest, most effective solution is applied in the dentist chair, where 30 to 50 per cent hydrogen peroxide is applied to the teeth and activated by a high-intensity light or laser. While each person achieves different results because of natural tooth colour, the process will definitely brighten up a less-than-stellar smile and knock off a few years from your age too!

For more information contact the dentist departments at the AMH tel.1724 8115, the BSH, tel. 1781 2200 or the Ibn Al-Nafees Hospital tel. 1782 8282.

Please don't forget to tell them that you found their details on Newarabia.net. Your comments really do make a difference.

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Like most breakthroughs in history, this new dental technology, "The Implant", remains an alien concept to many... here is therefore a brief description of this dental phenomena.

For so many years and before the 1950's, all the studies were converged to find a solution to one of the worst dental problems losing teeth and having to consequently settle for a movable, artificial adaptation.

But in this Brave New World dentists turned their eyes to the concept of fixed teeth, and playing the role of creators they were searching for a natural solution. Pr. Brainmark got lucky and coincidentally found a precious metal, titanium; it later prevailed as the only metal that could have a hard attachment with the bone.

Companies could now ravish the opportunity to use this precious material to create a clone so accurate and so close to the original roof that it would settle into the mouth like it was right at home!

Do you know that today the implantlogy procedure can restore all your teeth? Miraculously saving us from having to use, what has turned into cliché indicator of old age, movable teeth that so commonly unravel new problems such as loose fitting as well as disabled chewing - a juicy burger wouldn't be as luscious or delicious to eat!

How are these teeth planted? People are often confused, even

alarmed, about the kind of surgery required and its prognosis. There is one reassuring and central point to make, due to the new techniques in the field of implants, experts in dentistry can do surgery without any prior or postoperative complications and in a short time using local anaesthesia. In short it is not a complex or tiring procedure.

The surgery itself is done in two phases. Phase one is surgical, and aims to fix the implant in the jaw bone, the second is non-surgical and aims at fixing the crown of the tooth. This 'operation' takes place after a detailed and careful examination of the patient's mouth and general health is held.

If done between experienced hands of a specialized oral surgeon and proshodontist then there is absolutely no worry because in no time at all what was lost will be resurrected as something healthier, stronger and you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference.

Just remember.. You haven't lost your teeth yet.