Episode 3 - Smile Makeovers

Pete and Jodie are joined by David Fuentes and patient Derek to explore the world of smile makeovers.

From veneers and composite bonding to confidence and first impressions, they discuss what smile makeover treatment actually involves, who it might be suitable for, and why it's often about much more than appearance.

Derek shares his own experience of treatment, including what prompted him to take the first step and the impact it's had on his confidence, while David explains how modern cosmetic dentistry is focused on achieving natural-looking results that help patients feel like the best version of themselves.

Plus, in Tooth Be Told, we hear some of the lighter moments from life in the practice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to More Than a Smile. From Andrew Scott Dental Care.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

The podcast where we have honest, relaxed conversations about your oral health.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

And we help you feel more confident about your smile.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Hello and welcome back to More Than a Smile from Andrew Scott Dental Care. I'm Pete, and I'll be asking the questions that we're all thinking, but we don't always ask.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

And I'm Jodie, and I'm here to guide us through it all.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

And Jodie, I know I say this every time. I'm just so glad you're here because at least someone knows what they're doing in this podcast. Right, today's episode is one I think a lot of people will be very curious about smile makeovers. And I think when people hear that phrase, they probably imagine something massive, expensive, dramatic, maybe even a bit intimidating. But I've realized there's actually loads of different things that fall under that umbrella, right, Jody?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

I think so. We'll be talking confidence, veneers, composite bonding, smile makeovers, and what these treatments are actually like in real life. So joining us today, we've got David and one of his patients, Derek, who's kindly agreed to share their experience with us as well. David is one of the dentists at Andrew Scott Dental Care, and before dentistry, he actually worked in a dental laboratory, which gives them a really interesting perspective when it comes to cosmetic work, crowns and veneers. Welcome David.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Hey, thank you. And welcome, Derek, as well. Hello. Looking forward to hearing a little bit more about Derek, your story, but just briefly, just very, very quickly, tell us a little bit about how your journey with Andrew Scott Dental started.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Okay, so that had a uh unfortunate incident happened when I was on my 30th birthday uh in town, which led to me needing to get some changes to my smile because it was a bit damaged.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Right. We're gonna leave that right there because I think that is a brilliant reason to keep listening because we need to get this full story about your 30th. A little bit nervous about that. Uh right, so David, I'm also told that you're one of those people who actually enjoys root canal treatment. Is that right?

SPEAKER_03 2:05

I actually do. I used to hate it. Uh I I promised myself I would I will not do a root canal treatment. But something clicked. I started to understand them and I persevered, and I actually love them.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Wow. I mean I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, David. Uh but right, okay. Luke, let's start with your background because working in a dental lab before becoming a dentist feels like a pretty unique route into dentistry. How did how did that shape the way you work now?

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Well, quite quite a lot to be honest. I I made my the whole journey started when I was around 21. That was 2009, and I started being a dental hygienist. Okay. Then a dentist technician, then I did dentistry in Spain, couldn't finish it there, came back here, started all over again, and then after 15 years I managed to become a dentist.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

And here you are. What did that working in the lab, did that teach you much about smiles and and detail having that kind of background? Yeah, yeah, quite a lot.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

So actually knowing how the shape of a tooth is is what makes things look natural. So when uh you have to kind of like guess how things will have to look like, it doesn't help. So for a tooth to look natural, there is a lot of like kind of like shapes that makes light reflection making the tooth look natural, and that is the most important, is called morphology. Okay. And most people hate morphology, and I love morphology. I've done it so much over the years, and so yeah, I think that helps the most.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Are you a bit of an artist? Because I'm sensing that there's maybe a little bit of artistry involved in this.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

You have to. I I I I wouldn't say I'm an artist, but I like I love working with my hands. Yeah. That's why I'm I I am a dentist. And it's a lot of like carving. So I've done a lot of like carving in wood and like um soap bars as well, just to be able to practice quite a lot in wax. We use a lot of wax at the dental lab, and yeah, you just need to do it. Just practice, practice, and then just get it.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

So they go through a lot of candles in the dentist lab, or you guys practicing. Is there part of a smile makeover? Is there part of the work that you enjoy the most?

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Obviously, uh the change, the the patient's reaction. I do get very, very stressed when I do uh one of these because it's the is the only treatment in in the dental practice that the patient will stand up, look at you, look in the mirror, and judge.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

So you have that moment where you're showing your patient the results exactly they have to be happy with that.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Exactly. And it's what for me looks natural might not be the same for you. Some people want the look of like very fake and very white, but for people that want to look natural, it can't be that white or that like fake.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

So some people might not agree with what you think is the right look, and that is very, very stressful because it's right there. Like you do a rook and actually men, it doesn't hurt, you're the best entist.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

That's so true.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Do you know but so true. Like but with veneers, the mirror is there, people are they have got very high expectations because Instagram, TikTok, and so on, so it's quite difficult to meet those expectations. You have to set and manage those expectations very well. Yes. And sometimes what they ask, we just can not achieve. So that that's a difficult one.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Okay. I know from working with you and knowing you that you put your heart and soul into what you do. And uh I love I love hearing all about David's cases because you're so so passionate. Um so it's a joy to work with you. You can definitely tell that you're very detail-focused uh when it comes to cosmetic cases for sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

I'm interested to hear the crossover between hygienist, Jody, and uh David, the work that you do. Let's start quite simply then. When people hear smile makeover, what does that mean? What kind of treatments fall into that category, David?

SPEAKER_03 6:16

Th there are loads. Uh I personally I am very conservative. So many people come to ask me for composite veneers or composite bonding and I push it back. Uh doing nothing is the best treatment, in my opinion. And so if we can do uh tooth whitening, that will be good. Yeah. If we do invasion line, that will be good as well. Then if we start doing composite bonding, then we're being a little more invasive. Then and ceramic veneers, even more invasive. So there are many things that we can do, but we always start with a very good hygiene from the best hygienist. There we go, Jodie. That's you he's talking about.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

And then uh we usually do tooth whitening. And in my opinion, we see if the patient is happy because for me that is is the best, not doing anything. Then we can always do invasion line to reorganize teeth, if that makes sense, that will give you the best health for your teeth.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

So it sounds like you s almost start quite small, so it's maybe not always a huge transformation?

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Uh no, I personally do like the transformation, but I don't like to be invasive. So uh uh it's the the easy maintenance is the best for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

And what would you say the most common things are that people might want to change? Uh composite bonding, that is what people ask for. What is that? From someone that doesn't know what it is.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

What is it? What's a composite bonding? Talk us through it. So we all know fillings. Uh fillings is composite bonding is a ra a resin-based material, so it's just some like acrylic material if that makes it. And these are usually white, tooth coloured, and we just add and we sculpt into the tooth and we give it that the the shape of the tooth, or the one that we want to achieve. We don't have to remove any of the tooth, and that's why it's so attractive. And um it's a very good solution. Sometimes patients think that is the easy way, but there's always some maintenance and and obviously you're gonna have something in your teeth that were not there before.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

So and ha Jody and David, how do you work together? Who comes first? Is it the hygienist first, or is it go and see David, get your teeth sorted, go over and see Jody. What how does that how do you how does your role fit into this, Jody?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So David places a lot of importance, and as do I, on h the health of gums. Right. So when you're doing a big sort of restorative case where you're changing somebody's smile, it's really important to start with very healthy gums first. So often prior to any treatment commences, d David will see a patient for a consultation, a checkup, um, if there are any gum issues, um, then you would send them the patient to me. We'll resolve that, we'll get the oral hygiene, spic and span. Right. Um so educating the patient to care for their mouths very, very well forever more. Um and then that actually, when you've got healthy gums that aren't bleeding, it actually makes David's work a lot easier because um bleeding gums is really makes things tricky for you, doesn't it, David?

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Yeah, exactly. I will not treat a patient for composite bonding if there is any bleeding gums. Uh Derek did uh an amazing change on his hygiene flossing and it was easy to treat just because there was no blood involved and it I I will I will send patient back to the hygienist again if the patient is bleeding.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Oh, this is where Jodie comes back with those little interdental brushes again. We've spoken about these before. Uh what I think is really interesting is that this is probably not so much about vanity for everyone, it's also about confidence, isn't it? How much do you see of that kind of emotional side of things, would you say?

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Quite a lot to be honest. I see people that they will speak to you, they smile, and they use their tongue maybe to cover the smile, or they will use their hands, or they will like tighten their t their lips. So you see that people don't feel confident. Uh so helping those people like teeth is huge for like social status, for social confidence. So helping people to increase that confidence uh is just massive.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

And Derek, we're gonna come back to you because we still want to hear your story. But just before we kind of started recording the podcast, you told me that confidence was quite a big thing for you in terms of how your smile changed.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Yeah, I was like suppressing my smile for years and years. Yeah. I was just always hated my smile, so I would do the things that I would say. I wouldn't cover my mouth with my hand, but I would just, you know, kind of cover up my mouth, not smile. Then ever since I got the thing, I was it, I just smile more than ever.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

I mean that's huge because not only are you suppressing your smile, that is part of your whole personality, right? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

It's your expression, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

What's the reaction that you love to see, David, after after someone sees their treatment?

SPEAKER_03 11:17

I think Derek's reaction was the best one, to be honest. And I think that's that's why he's here.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

And I can just say that you did show us uh uh Derek's reaction video earlier. We would play it, but there's just too much swearing. More like more around disbelief of how good your smile looked at the end. So that's great to know.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

It was good. It was good.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

I feel like social media has made people much more aware of treatments like veneers, composite bonding that we've already spoken about, uh, but probably also maybe a little bit confused. I wonder if you could break down what some of these treatments actually are. For example, what about veneers? You've you've explained composite bonding to me already. What about veneers? What what how what does that involve?

SPEAKER_03 12:00

So actually veneers, composite veneers, composite bonding is the same. Veneer is a treatment where uh the labor, what we call like like close to lip, just like the surface that you see is uh covered by a material being composite or ceramic porcelain, those are veneers, all of them. Com uh people know uh composite veneer as composite bonding, but it is the same. And then you have the porcelain or ceramic veneers, and the the main difference is uh is the material that we use and also the treatment that we have to give to the tooth. So composite bonding we don't prepare the tooth, we don't have to trim the tooth. But on the composite veneer, we need a space to replace. So we need to trim or file down the tooth slightly, it's quite slightly, uh, but it will be damaged.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

Sounds like there is a lot of options out there. How do you decide what is right for your patients?

SPEAKER_03 13:04

That is depending on uh what they want to achieve. For I again I'm very conservative, so v ceramic veneers will last you longer uh because they are on a stronger material. They are more than double the cost. And when you break one of these veneers, the replacement of the veneer will cause you as well, double. And uh it's very easy to uh repair composite veneers or composite bonding, but you have to replace the entire veneer when you break a porcelain veneer. And if uh I think that is for life, composite bonding you can take it off. Very challenging, but you can take it off, and your natural teeth should be behind that work, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

On that point, let's move to that. Let's talk about keeping it natural, because that's that's an important part, right? I think one thing people worry about is maybe ending up with you know those really obvious turkey teeth. Right? How important is it to keep things natural?

SPEAKER_03 14:06

For me is the most important because it's my work, it's kind of like my signature, and I don't like things to look uh like fake. Uh so choosing the right colour, the right blending combination with the shades or colours, uh, the morphology, translucency that makes things look natural, and just again conservative, like um like volume of the tooth, and just that suits the patients, the phase. Um so there's a lot into it, and there's a lot of like polishing that is what we do. Okay. And that is what makes things look best. Right. Jodi, what's your thoughts on turkey teeth?

SPEAKER_00 14:46

So there's a lot of I saw you, you were dying this year.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Yeah, I'm like, Go on, go on.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Um, there's actually a lot of issues that I've come across um in practice, particularly with gum health being affected by um improper margins of restorative work and that's been completed. Um I'm not saying at all that you know there'll be brilliant dentists everywhere in the world. Of course. Um but definitely it's it's really worth um getting it done properly. And and in in terms of maintenance as well, you need to consider that factor. So as David's saying, all this work requires ongoing maintenance. So that's something that people should consider as well. Because if something breaks or something needs refurbish, then they should come and get it sorted out.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

And perhaps people are lured by the sun, the sea, the discounted treatment. Exactly. And I know look, we can't always promise the sun. I mean we can promise the sea.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

We can promise a sunny disposition in our practice.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

We've got big windows.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

We do. And we're always happy and smiling, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

You can obviously promise good, yes, reliable service. When we talk about a good smile makeover, then what what what what does that look like? Do people ever come to you, David, with a photo and say, that's what I want? Like they might do a hairstylist. Does that happen? Yeah, 100%. Does it?

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Yeah. That's how they do it. Okay. Obviously. Um and that is difficult to achieve uh because it's really high expectations. You need to have like a good like canvas to achieve where you want to go. That's why we always move teeth within vis and line, trying to get things where they should be before we do uh composite bonding. But yeah, it's it's difficult. Um yeah, that's the most difficult part.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Talk to us about how you do manage these expectations. What conversations do you have? Because you've the the the part that you that keep gives you sleepless nights is that reveal moment. And I'm sure you've had nightmares where you've shown someone a mirror and they've screamed, but that never happens. But you set their expectations. So do they do they kind of have a sense of what you're doing? So they kind of know what it might look like before you show them.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Yeah. Uh that is difficult to do. So because composite bonding, the th there are a few techniques. Uh the most um the one that will give you the the best seal around the margins, which is what Jody was talking about, which is the most important. Uh that is one that you you will do a free hand and you you can adapt better the composite. But doing free hand means that you cannot promise a final result. Okay. They need to trust your ability, your skills to give the result that you are planning. Have you ever drawn something that you think is gonna look amazing?

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Right, so I'm terrible at drawing and art. I'm very creative with audio. I do this kind of thing a lot, but drawing, yeah, I'm not great at drawing. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

So you just imagine you're trying to draw a car, just easy. Right, okay. And it uh and your head looks amazing. But somehow it's like, what is that? Yeah. That has happened. Okay. As we go through the the the process of of making the composite, then we start shaping and then we we get to where we want to go. But it could happen that if you don't have the skill, the ability, you might not deliver what's in your head.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

So uh the patient has to trust you and maybe seen cases that you have done before. Because even if you show him pictures of what it could look like, uh it's never true. Okay. Until you finish, until you polished, and then you show them that is the the final result. You can never show how things are gonna look like. You can show an idea, like a guidance, but it will never look exactly like you will have difficulties on the journey and you might not be able to achieve exactly what you want either. Yeah. Because the tooth aren't where they should be or or any other thing. So you just have to trust it then just with the composite bonding freehand.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

And and that's where you keep your patients informed as well. Jody, any final thoughts on this piece?

SPEAKER_00 18:51

I would say we've invested so much time and into postgraduate studying for this kind of work. Um I'm actually a dental hygiene therapist, so I've worked with composite myself. Okay. Um and it's really, really challenging to make it look nice, actually. Um, so just yeah, I think you're great at what you do. I love what you what you do. It's so nice to see.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Oh, I love this. I love the teamwork, uh, Andrew Scott Dental Care, I must say. Right, I think this is a great point to bring back in our uh patient today. Derek, thank you for joining us and uh being part of this episode. It's really good to kind of hear both sides of the story. So I guess, you know, tell us about what what was it that happened? You you said earlier something happened at your 30th, and you get got to a point in your life where you decided things had to change, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, so what happened was I was out for my 30th birthday, all friends, all family. For a meal and uh some drinks at a a pool hole in Aberdeen. And then one thing led to another with drunken people outside, ended up getting into a fight with a another guy.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Oh, okay. So th we're talking a bit of a drunken raucous, things got out of hand, and as a result, your teeth felt the impact.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Oh yeah, they were uh cracked places and so quite a mess.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

And what happened from there? What made you did you leave it a while or did you decide, right, I need to sort things out?

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Immediately, well, I had to go back to France to go back to work four days later, but instead my fiancee was with me at the time. So we had but we had a trip booked in like Fort William, so uh I had to leave. I left my face was swollen for like four days. Oh wow, okay. I never done anything about it. Went to hospital, they told me I'd left it too long, and because I what happened was I cracked my teeth, broke my orbital bone, broke my cheekbone. Um face was in a mess. Right just my teeth. Wow. Left it about four or five days, then went to the hospital, they told me how to get stuff sorted, and then about six weeks later I ended up getting in touch with David and then went through the journey of there.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

So you you did a bit of googling and up popped, Andrew Scott Dental Care.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yeah, I actually typed in best dentist in our days. Oh, look at that. We didn't even tell him to say that. Nah, it came up immediately. They were the very first one to come up. I just immediately phoned, uh, organised the appointment, didn't know what I was getting myself in for, and then uh yeah, ended up there.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Before this incident, let's just call it the incident, at your 30th, what were your teeth like prior to that? Negative. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Neglected. Right. So, you know, just the usual coffee. Coffee, smoker, alcohol. Okay. Just general bad hygiene. Like you would have given me a big troll. Yeah, Jody's getting angry.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

She's getting angry at this. So had you thought about getting things looked at, or was this the turning point?

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Yeah, I thought about many times. And like I put a bit of pressure on David as well, because my fiance's dad is a dentist and from a line of dentists in France. Okay. And the they take great pride in obviously dentistry, obviously. And uh for you. Years I wanted to go and get the turkey teeth. And many of my friends have gone and got turkey jobs. I'm talking like five or six have got turkey teeth. Okay. Send them all to Jody. Yeah. But the problem is I was never allowed to go. My missus dad was a big no. Okay. Get it done naturally, get it done properly, like he was totally against it.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So good advice. Tell us about your initial meetings with David and kind of what happened.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Well I met him and showed him my teeth, told him what I was wanting to happen. I just wanted normal teeth. Because they were awful. In my mind, they were awful. I didn't like them for years and years, especially with the cracks and whatnot, and then he came up with a plan to restore them and make them look how good they look now.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

And David, how long was that whole journey from that first consultation through to giving Derek this great smile that he now has?

SPEAKER_01 22:53

What was that? See, in my mind, it could be longer, shorter, but I thought it was like a six-month process.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Yeah, usually it takes that. Because I would never treat someone for composite bonding when there is something else we need to fix. Right. First is health. Right. Second, vanity.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Okay. You've kind of just jumped ahead to the next part. I wanted to talk about no, that's good. I wanted to talk about the process and and what that involves. But we've maybe touched on this. So first is health, so the so Jody. Yes. And then the vanity comes after that.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

But even uh it's not only uh like GAM's health, but uh like if you have got decay, if you've got broken teeth, or we need to make you stable first and and everything in a in a good condition, then we can focus on how things will look like. Because also if we know that you're not gonna look after your teeth and just floss every day and clean properly, I personally don't do anything. I wait until the patient is there.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

I feel like I'm hiding my teeth a lot when I'm speaking, you know. Do I floss enough? Do I? So it's quite a collaborative experience. And how accessible is this if there's people out there thinking I might need I'm curious about this, I think my smile, I think I could be more confident. How accessible is it to come and see you guys?

SPEAKER_03 24:13

Well, it's very accessible.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Absolutely. I think we've got really good appointment availability.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

Yeah. Okay. And you always book first for an assessment. And I really like a practice. It looks amazing. And it doesn't l give the vibes of a practice. I don't know if you agree, Derek.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Uh well, I was just about to say for like availability, I got phoned up, I was seen within a week. Okay. And when I got there, it's like this beautiful Yes, definitely doesn't give like dentist vibes normally.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Yeah, we spoke about that on the first episode about how the practice looks like some really nice barista that you're walking into. It's like it's like a got a really nice atmosphere. And Derek, I guess, just quickly, so how has your confidence changed from before to after?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Oh, dramatically, like 1000% increase. I never used to smell at all and or smell all the time now. I still see people on different days that I've not seen in like maybe a couple of years compared to living abroad. And they're like, when did that happen? You know, they're like, it just looks so different. It's crazy. Like David was saying, your teeth's like your first thing. But I was like hiding that, so that was nearly like a first thing for me. Yeah. And then I realized once they were done, and I was speaking to the people, they were like, How n almost made me feel bad actually, because I was kind of thinking, Well, they would have been looking at me in such a different way for so long, but how my teeth was, yeah, or how I feel about it anyway. Okay. And then the new teeth, it's like a total different vibe, you know.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Yeah. That's interesting. And hey, well, it's really good to hear that your experience has been so positive. I'm going to move away from the smile restoration piece, because I think we need to talk about root canal, because David, you're probably one of the few people that uh enjoys this. So I think we need to chat about it. Most people hear the words root canal and they instantly panic. Why has it got that reputation?

SPEAKER_03 26:06

Usually when you do a root canal treatment is because there is no other way to fix the tooth. Usually it goes beyond uh like so the tooth inside has got some like nerves and blood vessels and so on. We call it pulp. And when it gets very irritated, very inflamed, there's nothing else that you can do. Yeah. And then you have to do root cannot treatment. You just go through the center, usually, of the tooth, and you just go to kind of like the heart of the tooth. Okay. If the tooth is very angry, that usually that is when you get people through the door. It's really difficult to numb these teeth. And sometimes you have to reach the centre of the tooth with some pain because injections don't really work all the time. And then if you c if you can inject inside that nerve, then you are okay. You are okay to go. But maybe like a few of the actual treatment uh treatments that will give you some pain until we manage to do that injection inside. Yeah. And sometimes we're not able to numb properly, you know. So I think that's the bad reputation from the patient. Okay. And that's why they will say, No, no, no, just take the tooth out. I don't want to do a rookonat treatment. Now, from a dentist's perspe uh perspective, every single tooth is different. You don't see what you're doing, you have to feel it with the small files that we use. Sometimes you've got calcified canals, you can't go through. Sometimes everything is going great, and right at the end, last step, everything goes bad, a disaster, they fail. There's a lot going on. There's a lot.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

I've had a root canal before and I think I built it up to being so bad. But when I actually got it done, it was weird in the sense that I actually felt a little bit relaxed.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

When we got into it. Yeah, it's the only thing that you don't do anything for hours. Yeah. And it's all our job. And nurses hate it as well. Because they don't see what's going on. I don't see what's going on. I just feel it. Yeah. And it's hard to transfer. That's that filling to my nurse.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

It's so interesting assisting. I used to be a dental nurse.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Uh assisting a root canal treatment because you can see the cogs just turning in the dentist's mind, and you're just sat there like all you have to do is really suction and and um sort of handy things, but you're just like, what is he thinking right now? I've got no idea. They're so deep in thought. And it's it's true. It's like the the root canal files are like an extension of your own body almost. You're like you're feeling things, aren't you? And and thinking about things.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

It has to. Usually when you see someone engaging into the root canal treatment, you will see them looking at the wall.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

We don't see, we we just we try to feel it. Try to feel it. Wow. And then there's a moment of happiness. Yes. Okay. And it's like, oh, here we are. You look at the nurse trying to be so happy. Nurse is dead. This is such done.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

An insight into the world of dentistry. Fascinating. So I guess dentistry's moved on quite a bit in recent years in terms of treatments like root canals.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

Yeah, like uh you you might have new materials that will increase the success of the root canal treatment. You just need to to gain the experience and the knowledge how to navigate to those canals, different situations and like when they are like too narrow. So it's all experience. It didn't work for me at first. I hate it, but then just learn, just go through it, you just have to persevere a little bit. You have to sit down in front of the radiograph and just try to see what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Interesting. Look, I had to ask about root canal, just knowing your background. So let's get back to what we hear to talk about smiles. If someone is listening and they would like to improve their smile, but they're maybe nervous or unsure or they're maybe worried it's not for them, what would you say?

SPEAKER_03 29:50

What's the first step? Just come. Come and see us. That's easy. Yeah? Yeah, yeah. You just book online uh an assessment, and you come to see us, we'll take some photos, we'll listen to what they want to achieve, and we just share what we think uh you have to do just to get there.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

It's as simple as that. Just go and see them. Let's keep things moving then. Let's move into the next segment of the podcast. This is Tooth Be Told, and this is basically when we like to get a bit of a peek into what actually goes on day to day. So, David, we want to hear maybe a quirky story or something that you want to share that stands out from your dentistry career.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

What have you got to share with us today? There are so many, to be honest. Alright. But is this one that always comes to my mind? Uh I started everything when I was in Spain uh from the very bottom. So I was at reception and it's quite wild in Spain, I have to say. There is not so much regulation as here in the UK. Yeah. Uh but anyway, I I was at reception and there was this lady who just walked, and she had a piece of foil, and I just approached her just to see how I could help. Right. And then she unfolded. Yeah, well, she just started to unfold the foil, and then she took a crown and she just handed it to me, and I just put my hands because she was gonna drop it. If they break something like that, then you need to remake it. Okay. Even though that that's not your fault, so I have to take it. Right. So I had it in my hand and I looked at the patient and said, okay, so what happened? And the patient said, Ah, so I swallowed it. I was like, Oh no. Okay. So I started to look at the crown, patient, crown, patient, crown, and trying to think about the process of how I managed to get the crown in my hand. No. Um, but then she said that she cleaned it very well. Oh no. Uh she wanted to put it back, but I'll leave it there.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

I mean, I don't know what to say to that. I do not know. Did did Derek bring you any presents when he came in? No. Nothing like that. Well, there we go. That is today's Tooth Be Told. So I think the biggest takeaway for me today has been that smile makeovers aren't really about perfection, they're about confidence. And I think people imagine these treatments are much bigger and scarier than what they actually are. It's been really interesting today. If you've been listening and thinking about your own smile, or maybe there's something you've been considering for a while.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

The team at Andrew Scott Dental Care are always happy to have a conversation about the options available. No pressure, just honest advice and guidance. Visit andrew scottdental.co.uk.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

There we go. So, Luke, thank you again, David. Thank you, Derek, for sharing your experiences. Next time we'll be talking sports dentistry, Aberdeen FC, mouth guards, gum health, and why athletes can actually be at greater risk of dental problems than you might think. That is next time. We'll catch you then. Bye.

unknown 32:56

Bye.