FAQs

We pride ourselves on treating nervous patients here at The Dental Wave. The whole team will do their best to make your experience as positive as possible and reassure you at every step.

We offer 0% finance to help you spread the cost for up to 2 years, providing your treatment plan is at least £500. We can spread the cost over a maximum of 5 years, at 9.9% APR. To find out more information, ask one of our dental reception members for a finance quote, which will give you a breakdown of what to expect to pay spread over the duration of the chosen timeframe.  Once the finance has been applied for and approved you can start your dental journey with us.

Dental treatment shouldn’t be painful; however, it can be uncomfortable.  If you require numbing then there will be an initial pinch from the injection site. You may also experience soreness after dental treatment, especially if an extraction was required. The Dentist and Nurse will ensure that you are as comfortable as possible throughout your treatment and will manage your expectations as to what to expect after your treatment as well.

There is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for dental check-ups. Remember you are a unique individual, with a unique smile and unique needs when it comes to keeping your smile healthy. The average visit is once every 6 months but you may find you need to visit us more often or just once every couple of years. Your dentist will always advise you on how often you should come back.

Most of the time bad breath is caused by bacteria. You can keep bad breath at bay with regular cleaning, hygienist visits and most importantly flossing between your teeth! Sometimes bad breath can be a symptom of an underlying disease and can be exacerbated by a dry mouth. There is help available, your dentist can prescribe gels that can help with dry mouth and advise on the best course of action.

We recommend bringing your children with you to your dental examinations as soon as they have teeth just to get them used to the environment, we generally start checking teeth from around 2 years on. We want to show children that the dentist is nothing to be feared and can be a fun and educational experience.

Sometimes we are unable to treat patients due to complexity, or it is not within our speciality. Orthodontic referrals for children are common and once we have referred a patient the central referral system will decide whether strict criteria has been met and either accept or reject the referral. Treatments that have been referred to the hospital can have waiting times of several months just to be assessed. We don’t have access to these waiting lists. If the issue is causing new pain please contact us and we can assess and help manage the pain until you are seen.

It is recommended to visit the hygienist once every 6 months to keep everything sparkling. However, if you have been informed you have signs of gum disease it is recommended to visit every 3-4 months.

We always advise seeing the dentist regularly but understand that non-registered patients may want to just see our hygienist for a clean so we provide direct access to our hygienist. This means you can visit our hygienist for a scale and polish without the need to see one of our dentists.

You will firstly be greeted by our friendly front of house team who will ensure that your medical history has already been filled out online and if you need any help they can let the dentist know. During your visit, the dentist you will have x-rays taken and a full mouth check up including an oral cancer check which not only checks inside your mouth, but also the lymph nodes either side of you neck. If needed a treatment plan will be set up and the dentist will discuss your needs and what you want to achieve.

To have a course of whitening, you need to be dentally fit. This means being free of tooth decay and gum disease. This is to ensure the whitening won’t cause you any harm. Whitening your teeth also doesn’t change the colour of any existing fillings, crowns or implants so you may find that you want these replaced before going ahead with whitening.

No, you are never too old to have your teeth straightened! In fact, now you are older you may find you are better at keeping your teeth clean and have more success with teeth straightening than you would have when you were younger. We see a lot of patients who have relapsed from their teenage orthodontic work and we love helping them get the smile they want.

Dental implants are the gold standard of dentistry for replacing missing teeth. They are the closest thing to your real teeth and are anchored into your jaw bone. Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth. For the best results with dental implants, we will assess your needs and make sure you are free of any gum disease before starting on your dental implant journey with us.

You can fly the next day if you have had a single straight forward implant, and as implants are made from Titanium they won’t set off the metal detectors at the airport either! If you have had multiple implants and/or a sinus lift or a bone graft to accommodate the implant/s it is advised to wait 2 weeks before flying.

When a tooth is extracted, your natural bone starts to recede as it is no longer needed. If you want to replace the tooth in the future with an implant it is important to consider that a bone graft may be needed. There are a few different types of bone graft. The most common one we do here at The Dental Wave involves natural/synthetic bone graft that is placed in the area and becomes an artificial scaffold for your own bone to build back up. Depending on your individual circumstances our oral surgeon can assess and discuss which options would give the best outcome.

In terms of the filling being set, we light cure all our permanent fillings so they are fully set before you leave the surgery so you can eat on it straight away. However, if you have had an injection, you will most likely be numb for a few hours afterwards so we advise to avoid eating on that side and avoid any hot foods to minimise the risk of biting/burning your tongue/cheek/gums.

We only place white fillings here at The Dental Wave. White fillings are less destructive to the natural tooth and also, we think, look better. Although metal fillings were good for their time there are now better alternatives available.

We have 1 hour free on-street parking right outside the practice. There is also plenty of free on-street parking found on the adjacent roads. The adjacent roads do have permit only parking between the hours of 16:30-18:30 down Brompton road and 12-1pm/6-7pm for Exeter road, so please respect these for our neighbours during those times. We are also conveniently located near the number 2 bus stop at Highland cemetery so public transport is also available.

Yes. We have a removable ramp for the front door and we have a wheelchair accessible surgery, as well as an additional downstairs surgery. If you let our friendly front of house team that you require wheelchair access when booking your appointment, we will be more than happy to accommodate you and get it ready for your arrival.