Dental Hypnosis to Reduce Dental Anxiety or Phobia

Our dentist Bob is now offering dental hypnosis to help relax nervous patients before treatment.

What exactly is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a procedure which enables a health professional to suggest a trancelike state of relaxation, calmness, and well-being in order for a patient to experience changes in perceptions, thoughts or behaviour.  This procedure often includes instructions to imagine or think about pleasant experiences.

Patients who have experienced hypnosis often describe it as an altered state of consciousness (as opposed to being unconscious, or ‘asleep’), similar to daydreaming, or a normal state of focused attention, in which they feel very calm and relaxed. It can be likened to meditation at a yoga session. Everyone responds differently to hypnosis, but regardless of how and to what degree they respond, most people describe the experience as very pleasant. Contrary to popular belief, patients are still fully in control of their own behaviour under hypnosis and retain enough awareness to recall what happened to them under hypnosis.

Within dentistry, hypnosis can be used very effectively to help reduce anxiety over dental treatment, and can even help to reduce  severe gag reflexes to make treatment more comfortable. We are now offering hypnosis as an alternative option to sedation for certain treatments. In many ways it is preferable to sedation as there is no recovery time, fewer complications (especially for patients with complicated medical histories), and it is also more cost-effective for the patient. Please give us a call on 0161 941 2048 or email info@butterflydental.com if you would like to know more. 

Stars who got into character by getting in the dental chair

Some actors take their roles more seriously than others. Read on for examples of stars who opted for drastic dentistry to help them get into character:

To prepare for his role in Birdy, a film about a wounded Vietnam veteran, Nicolas Cage had two teeth extracted, allegedly without anaesthetic!

Brad Pitt had his veneers removed to expose chipped natural teeth for his role in Fight Club to ensure he looked the part. He had them replaced when filming finished to restore his movie star smile.

In The Hangover, Ed Helms plays a dentist who wakes up with a missing tooth. The gap in his smile wasn’t fake! He already had a dental implant as a teenager to replace a missing tooth. For this role he asked his dentist to remove the crown from the implant during filming.

Johnny Depp had gold crowns placed on a few of his teeth to get into character as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.

These are some pretty extreme examples, but the fact is your teeth will always be an important part of your character whether you’re a Hollywood star or not.  At Butterfly Dental we understand everyone’s character is different, and we tailor your dental treatment to fit you personally. Whether you’re looking for a full smile makeover or a new filling, we’ll run through all possible options to ensure you get the treatment that suits you. Dentistry isn’t one-size-fits-all and with smile makeovers especially, you have the chance to give your input on the shade, size and shape of your teeth to ensure they suit you perfectly. We have the people skills to chat and get to know you, and the technical skills to create a smile that allows your true character to shine through. 

Super Six Month Smiles!

Are you unhappy with the alignment of your teeth? Would you prefer a straighter, broader smile? Whilst veneers used to be the treatment of choice for improving your smile, there is a more conservative treatment – cosmetic braces!

At Butterfly Dental we offer a brace called Six Month Smiles. This brace is similar to traditional braces in that it is composed of brackets and wires, but the entire brace is tooth-coloured, which makes it very discreet. It will help to guide the teeth into a perfectly straight position in a short amount of time. Traditional braces can take two years or more to complete treatment, but with Six Month Smiles the clue’s in the name – most cases are finished within 6-9 months or sometimes even less, depending on the severity of your case.

This is a very gentle and conservative treatment, suitable for patients of any age.  An added bonus of this treatment is that we offer free tooth whitening once your teeth have been straightened to your satisfaction, meaning your pearly whites will gleam when you are ready to show off your new smile.

For more information or to book a consultation, give us a call on 0161 941 2048 to speak with a member of our team.