Family dentistry in Hammersmith, without the lecture

If you have not been here before, we send you a short video tour of the practice by WhatsApp the week before, so the front door is not the first thing you see on the day. When you arrive we go through your medical history and anything you have had done before, then Dr Sepideh takes a proper look at your teeth, gums and bite. You may need an X-ray if something is hiding below the surface. Whatever we find, you get it in plain language, on screen where it helps, along with the options and the costs before anything is booked in.

It depends on your mouth. National guidance allows anywhere between three months and two years, so rather than putting everyone on the same six-month cycle, we agree an interval with you. A healthy mouth with no history of decay can safely go longer. Gum disease, a lot of existing fillings or smoking all shorten it. Kamila, our hygienist, can also see you between check-ups, and you can book her directly without seeing a dentist first.

Two minutes, twice a day, with a fluoride toothpaste, and spit rather than rinse afterwards so the fluoride stays where it is useful. Clean between your teeth once a day with floss or interdental brushes, because that is where most decay and gum trouble begins. With sugar, how often you have it matters more than how much. If you are not sure whether you are getting it right, ask us at your next visit and we will show you.

Ring us on 020 8222 8760 rather than waiting to see whether it settles. Pain that comes and goes still usually means something is wrong. We keep time aside for urgent problems and will see you the same day where we can, and an emergency appointment is £195. If you have facial swelling, or any difficulty swallowing or breathing, treat that as an emergency and get seen straight away, wherever is quickest.

The dose from a dental X-ray is very small, comparable to a few days of the background radiation you are exposed to anyway. We use digital sensors, which need less exposure than old film, and we have our own OPG scanner here at Hammersmith Grove, so you are not sent elsewhere for an image. We only take one when it will genuinely change what we do. For most adults that works out at every one to two years.

Tell us before you sit down, not after. We can talk everything through before we start, agree a signal for you to stop us at any point, book you a longer appointment so nothing feels rushed, or give you the first slot of the day so you are not sitting in the waiting room building up to it. The video tour we send beforehand helps too, so the practice is somewhere you have already seen by the time you walk in.

You get a written treatment plan with the costs on it before any work starts, so nothing arrives as a surprise. For a larger course of treatment we offer 0% interest-free finance over 12 months through Tabeo, subject to status, and we will go through what that looks like for your plan. Our full fee list is on the site if you would rather see the numbers before you come in.