What cosmetic dentistry can and cannot change

People ask us some version of this question fairly often, and usually they ask it carefully, as though it might be a daft thing to want to know. It is not a daft question. It deserves a straight answer, and the straight answer comes in two halves.

The first half: cosmetic dentistry can change how you feel about your appearance. People who have spent years disliking a specific thing about their teeth often feel differently about that specific thing once it has been dealt with. We are not going to pretend otherwise, because it would be false modesty and it is not what patients tell us.

The second half, which matters more: it is not a treatment for a mental health condition. It does not treat anxiety. It does not treat depression. It is not a fix for low self esteem. Anyone working in dentistry who suggests otherwise is selling you something, and we would rather be clear about it at the start than let a post like this drift.

The narrow thing it can do

Here is the most we can honestly claim, and we are deliberately keeping it small.

Some people are self conscious about one particular feature of their teeth. They know exactly which tooth it is. They have a practised way of smiling that keeps it out of view, and they do it without thinking. For those people, dealing with that one feature often removes that one habit.

It is a narrow claim. It is about a specific self consciousness, not about how you feel in general, and the two are not the same thing.

The thing it does not do

If you are unhappy for reasons that do not have much to do with your teeth, straightening or whitening them will not change that. This is the part the adverts leave out, and it is the part that matters most, because the people most likely to be disappointed by cosmetic treatment are the people hoping it will do more than it can.

A few things worth being honest about.

• Treatment does not usually change how much you think about your appearance. For some people it moves the attention somewhere else instead.
• Feeling better about your teeth is not the same as feeling better, and expecting the first to deliver the second is how people end up disappointed by technically good work.
• Nothing about your teeth causes a mental health condition, so changing them is not a treatment for one.

When treatment is not the answer

Sometimes the honest thing a dentist can say is that treatment is not what would help, and a good consultation has to leave room for that.

If thoughts about your appearance are taking up hours of your day, if they are distressing rather than simply annoying, if they focus on something other people say they cannot see, or if you find yourself expecting a treatment to change your life rather than your teeth, that is worth talking to your GP about before you book anything dental. In England you can also refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without going through your GP.

That is not us being discouraging or turning work away for the sake of it. It is that treatment carried out in those circumstances tends not to satisfy the person having it, however well it goes technically, and some of it cannot be undone afterwards.

Wanting to change something is not shallow

Having said all of that, we do not think there is anything wrong with wanting your teeth to look better, and we are not interested in making anyone feel silly for wanting it.

Plenty of people come to us clear eyed about the whole thing. They know a straighter set of front teeth is not going to change their life. They would just prefer straighter front teeth. That is a perfectly good reason and it does not need dressing up as a wellbeing journey to be legitimate.

There is a practical argument too, which we can make without hedging: teeth that are straighter are easier to clean properly, and teeth that are easier to clean tend to give you fewer problems over the years.

How the conversation goes here

A Smile Design consultation is free and happens away from the dental chair. You tell us what is actually bothering you and we tell you what can be done about it, what it would involve, what it would cost, how long it would last and what it will not achieve.

If there is a simpler or cheaper option than the one you came in asking for, you will hear about it. If we do not think treatment is the right call, you will hear that too.

The options most often discussed are Invisalign from £2,200, composite bonding from £300 per tooth and teeth whitening at £275, sometimes in combination. Everything we charge is on the fees page. If you would prefer a clinical assessment as well, a new patient examination is £35.

You can book at sale-dental-care.portal.dental or call 0161 969 7464.