It’s cliche, I know, but I always hated going to the dentist. As soon as I turned 18, I just stopped going, only to struggle getting back on the NHS books during the pandemic five years later, and being roped into quarterly check ups.
However, my fear of the dental clinic continued, as I frequently found a routine scale and polish extremely painful and would build up unbearable anxiety ahead of appointments.
That was before I made a visit to The Hygiene Centre, where I tried out a game changing dental hygiene treatment that sets out not just to remove build up from around the teeth, but also target and remove living bacteria in the mouth which can contribute to gum disease and tooth decay. And let me tell you – I’ve never had a more relaxing or enjoyable dental experience in my life.
The Hygiene Centre is a dedicated dental hygiene clinic in Stone, Staffordshire, and the first of its kind in the area. It’s part of Abbey House Dental, which also has an incredibly modern advanced centre and ever growing team of dental therapists, hygienists and nurses.
It’s also a certified Guided Biofilm Therapy centre, which was the treatment I was booked in for. The revolutionary gold-standard treatment was developed by Swiss company EMS, setting out to prevent and treat gum disease using airflow technology, meaning its much less invasive than your traditional hand scale.
I was booked in with dual qualified dental hygienist and dental therapist Lyndzi Seadon , who frequently works with nervous patients to help them to overcome barriers and access dental care, alongside head nurse Emma Meakin.
I hopped up into the chair and immediately felt more at ease than at previous NHS appointments. Private dental care isn’t something I’d ever considered previously, but the experience is much more personalised and tailored to each patient.
Eye protectors on and mouthguard in (tip: maybe don’t wear lipstick to your appointment), Lyndzi popped my seat back where there was a TV screen installed in the ceiling, playing a TV show about dogs. It may seem like such a small thing, but it made a massive difference to my overall enjoyment of the visit, and, as someone who struggles with sensory issues, helped to distract me when I began to get niggly.
Throughout the GBT treatment, Lyndzi talked me through what everything was, and exactly what she was doing every step of the way. She started off by assessing the health of my teeth and gums, and thankfully, due to regular appointments, they’re pretty good.
Lyndzi then used a purple disclosing dye to highlight the biofilm in the mouth – this is where all the potentially harmful living bacteria lives, which can cause gum disease and tooth decay. “Are you right handed?”, she asked. “I am!” – “I can tell,” she replied. The disclosing dye had shown I favour the left side of my mouth when brushing, indicating I’m right handed, which was interesting to know.
Then we got onto the removing the biofilm, stains and early calculus with a combination of warm water, pressurised air and fine Erythritol powder. It was really quite relaxing and felt very thorough without the need for actually touching my teeth at this point. I found GBT to be minimally invasive and gentle, which makes it suitable for so many more patients, particularly those with sensitive teeth and gums.
After going over each tooth, front and back with the airflow technology, Lyndzi carefully, precisely and gently removed remaining deposits with the EMS “No-Pain” Piezon scaler. She used practically featherweight pressure but was still extremely effective, and I could feel the results immediately.
Lyndzi did a final check of my teeth to ensure it was completely free of build up before removing my mouthguard, recommending continued oral care and showing me the finished results in a mirror.
I was blown away at how fresh and sparkling my teeth looked. I drink a lot of tea and I’m very pale, which contributes to yellower-looknig teeth, but they looked as though they’d been professionally whitened with a very natural finish. It gave me a real confidence boost, so it’s the ideal treatment for people who want to remove stains from the likes of coffee, tea, red wine and tobacco.
I was made to feel really comfortable at Abbey House – I think that there’s a misconception about private care that there’s an air of snobbery about it, but it’s really not the case. They’re just able to offer much more specialised and advanced care that can help put a sparkle back in your smile and leave you beaming from ear to ear.
You don’t have to be a private patient to book in for guided Biofilm Therapy, as people can book in direct access for £138. For patients registered at the practice, it’s currently £69, but there’s an offer on currently where new patients can get 50 per cent off examination and hygiene, making it £69 for both treatments.
For how much I’d typically pay annually for NHS services, I’d much rather save that money and go private at The Hygiene Centre, where specialist and personalised dental care is accessible and so much more relaxing, particularly for patience who are anxious about the visits to the dentist..
As an RDH looking into GBT for our office this article was helpful from a patient’s perspective.
Thank you Beff!