NOW stands for National Orthodontic Week and the first NOW will be celebrated during the week of 22 - 28 March 2010. Orthodontics is a special kind of dentistry concerned with the growth of the teeth, jaws and face. 

Nearly one million people of all ages started having orthodontic treatment last year in the UK.  Orthodontic treatment is about making the best of your teeth; it’s about improving the harmony of your mouth and jaws. Once you can bite together correctly, you can eat more comfortably and care for your teeth and gums more easily.  Orthodontics is all about creating a natural, healthy smile.   

Braces work to create a stunning smile. They can improve dental health and function. Overcrowded or crooked teeth are harder to brush and floss, and improper cleaning can lead to tooth decay and gum problems. Orthodontic treatment can also correct bite problems. If left untreated, bite problems can cause teeth to wear down or cause difficulty in chewing.

During NOW, Sparkle Dental Boutique will be will be organising a series of events and special offers to celebrate orthodontics, so do check back on our website at www.sparkledental.co.uk for more details.

I promise to  

• Thoroughly brush my teeth twice daily.

• Use an antibacterial mouthwash to control plaque and prevent gum disease.

• Reduce the amount of sugary things I eat, particularly chocolate!

• Use floss once a day to remove plaque from between my teeth.

• Make an appointment at least once a year to see my dentist.

• Finally, get over my embarrassment about my teeth and make an appointment to get a perfect smile.

• Kick my smoking habit for good and then get my teeth whitened.

• Visit my hygienist twice a year so that she can help me look after my teeth and gums.

• Transform my very crooked teeth by wearing braces.  

• Eat more fruits and vegetables each day.

When a patient asks about options for improving their overall smile, particularly when their teeth are crooked, they have two options: the option of porcelain veneers or the option of orthodontics (braces).      

Sunita Verma, Principal of Sparkle Dental Boutique says, “Sometimes patients are reluctant to have orthodontic treatment assuming that they are too old for braces, or that orthodontics are only for children or that they will have to wear braces for a number of years. This is simply not true!”  

“We offer a new procedure offered at Sparkle Dental Boutique called short term orthodontics (STO). With STO, we can give our patients the smiles that they desire through simple orthodontic tooth movement. The simple treatment philosophy is that if teeth are in the wrong position, move them!”

Many types of tooth movement can be easily and safely accomplished in about six months, using orthodontic brackets and wires. 

STO overcomes the two main obstacles that prevent adults from accepting orthodontic treatment, that is treatment time (within the range of 4-9 months) and the appearance of the brackets and wires. STO also allow quick and more predictable tooth movements.  

Sunita says, “The case shown above was treated within 5 months using a functional brace and clear braces. Once we had corrected the tooth position, we then whitened the teeth and finally conservatively treated the tooth using a technique called cosmetic bonding, to give a very aesthetically pleasing result.”   

Source: Short Term Orthodontics: The Cosmetic Dilemma, Dr R Swain Dentistry 10 December 2009

and the thought of you under it that sets

my heart a glow.

Or it could be the thought of holding you

amidst the falling snow.

Holding hands and laughing like children,

tasting the candy cane on our lips.

Sweet as grandma’s pumpkin pie

it can get no better than this,

sharing our hearts in love

this holiday

lost in a christmas kiss.

Scott Allen Waters

Smile Quotes

• Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. - Mark Twain

• And through the tears, we’ll smile when we recall, we had it all for just a moment. - St. Elmo’s Fire

• No smile is as beautiful as the one that struggles through the tears. Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened. - Sarah Ackerman

• You should never frown. Even when you’re sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

• A smile is a light in the window of the soul, indicating that the heart is at home.

• Smile, it’s the second best thing one can do with one’s lips.

• Brighten the world with your smile.

• A smile costs nothing, but gives much.

• A smile is a little curve that sets a lot of things straight.

• Smiles are free: don’t save them.

• Smile, it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.

• What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. - Joseph Addison

• A smile can open a heart faster than a key can open a door.

• Smiling makes you feel better about yourself, even if you don’t feel like it. - Lauraine Snelling

• Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

MPs have voted to ban tobacco vending machines and retain the ban on tobacco displays at point of sale.

Tobacco is linked to three quarters of mouth cancer cases and also is a major cause of gum disease.  Mouth cancer kills about one person every five hours in the UK, with about 1,800 dying each year.

It is diagnosed annually in more than 5000 people, an overall rise of 40% in ten years. Mouth cancer usually affects people over 40, though more young people are developing it. People who smoke and drink are 30 times more likely to develop mouth cancer.

Research now suggests that (HPV) transmitted by oral sex could soon rival tobacco and alcohol as the main cause of mouth cancer  

Sunita Verma, Sparkle Dental Boutique says, ”Visually appealing point of sale tobacco displays are a temptation for impulse purchases. Now that there is a ban on tobacco vending machines, this should help keep tobacco out of children’s reach. This in turn will help reduce the number of people who take up smoking and therefore the number of patients with mouth cancer.“

 Source: Dental Tribune 9-15 Nov

White wine stains teeth in the same as red wine, say researchers from the New York University College of Dentistry.

Researchers carried out experiments with cow’s teeth, exposing them to white wine and tea.  They found that the teeth were significantly more stained than when they were exposed to a combination of tea and water. The researchers however, found that red wine still poses the greatest risk to staining of human teeth.  

Two sets of six cows’ teeth were soaked in white wine for an hour before being immersed in black tea. Although stains were deeper with white wine than with water, red wine still caused the darkest stains because of a “highly pigmented” substance called chromogen.  

Sunita Verma from Sparkle Dental Boutique says “For all those wine drinkers (including me!), giving up wine is not the answer. The best way to avoid yellow, stained teeth is through the daily use of a toothpaste which contains a teeth whitening ingredient and professional teeth whitening with a dentist.” 

Sunita Verma, Principal of Sparkle Dental Boutique has been invited by Vicki Treadell, Deputy High Commissioner in Mumbai to join a delegation of business women in Mumbai, the commercial and entertainment centre of India. The trip will consist of meeting with business leaders, visits to charities and NGO’s in Mumbai.  

Cherie Blair will be hosting the Cherie Blair Foundation Conference on Friday 11^th December aimed at the empowerment of women.  

Sunita says “It’s a great opportunity to meet some of the leading business leaders in India. I am looking forward to meeting Ms Chanda Kochar, the first woman to head ICICI bank. A visit to the House of Tata will also be a truly amazing experience.”

“Mumbai also houses India’s Hindi film and television industry known as Bollywood and the trip also includes a visit to Yash Raj Studio’s. Yash Chopra the “Godfather of Bollywood” will be hosting this segment of the tour and how amazing to meet the maker of India’s most successful films with stars like Amitabh Bachan and Shahrukh Khan. I am so excited about this element of the trip and am hoping to catch a glimpse of some  Bollywood’s stars at the studios whilst I am there!”

“Mumbai is such a melting pot and a city of 15 million living amongst skyscrapers and slums. With the success of Slumdog Millionaire, I am really keen to be exposed to Mumbai’s slums first hand and part of our delegation will include visits to a few NGO’s. I am sure that this will not only be emotionally challenging but also very rewarding”.  

For Sunita, the opportunity of taking part in events like this, widen her breadth of business experience and she enjoys the fact that the success of her dental practice is enabling her to say “yes” to this kind of opportunity. She is revelling in the opportunity to meet other inspirational people outside of clinical dentistry and see what she can bring back to Sparkle Dental Boutique. 

Winter is upon us and many of us stop smiling, or certainly smile less.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, is a mood disorder where people who normally feel fine throughout most of the year, experience symptoms similar to depression in the winter.

Dr Sunita Verma from Sparkle Dental Boutique, Hanwell says `Some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. When it comes to winter, they feel tired, have little energy and crave sweets and `comfort foods’. There are many different treatments for SAD, ranging from light therapies to anti depression medication’.

Sunita goes on to say `At Sparkle Dental Boutique, we have purposely introduced as much natural lighting into the practice as possible, from light and airy roof windows to floor to ceiling glass doors in the treatment rooms to allow as much brightness in. We also have special lighting throughout the practice to enhance our patients experience.’

Sparkle Dental Boutique also offers many services to keep you smiling through the winter months from professional teeth whitening, to restoring your teeth whether they are crooked, rotated, uneven, long, short or just generally worn.     

Your phone is wireless. Your computer too. So why aren’t your braces?  

Many teens as they grow are conscious about not only looking good but also feeling good too. Invisalign Teen™ is the ideal solution offering a clear alternative to conventional braces. It’s clear, comfortable and best of all its invisible, so no one will know you have them on!  

Unlike fixed braces, Invisalign Teen™ allows you to remove the aligners which means you can continue to enjoy your normal life. You can continue regular daily activities whether that’s  playing sport, musical instruments or even eating and drinking while still being able to brush and floss with ease.  Invisalign Teen™ is particularly suited for continued brushing and flossing and is gentle on your teeth and mouth. 

How does it work? 

At your appointment, we take photographs, digital x-rays and impressions of your teeth and make a treatment plan.

The records that have been taken are sent to Align Technology where they are turned into a 3d digital representation of your teeth. This allows us to show you your projected end results before starting treatment!  A series of aligners will then be custom manufactured for you. The aligners fit around your teeth only and will be changed every two weeks for a new one. Each aligner is slightly different from the previous one moving your teeth gently into the desired position and giving you a smile to be proud of.  

The length of treatment depends on the severity of your case and on average takes between 9-18 months.