When the Practice was founded, the name “ Northgate Dental Health “ was chosen to emphasise the core philosophy of the Principal, Dr Ray McNamara. Modern dentistry is directed at preserving a pain-free, functional dentition throughout a person’s life, thereby enhancing their quality of life.

Some treatments now available can provide cosmetic and functional benefits but all treatment decisions have to be made on the basis of overall, long term dental health.

Clinical Yield is defined as the balance between what we, as surgeons, have to do to a tooth or teeth in order to provide a given benefit to the patient. There may be some instances ( for example, some cosmetic procedures on perfectly healthy teeth ) where clinically possible treatments may be felt to be too destructive in relation to the benefit gained for the patient in question, especially with regard to longterm dental health.

Such a situation could potentially result in a poor clinical yield. Evaluating the benefits, both psychological ( in terms of boosting personal confidence, which could be valuable for career progression ) and functional ( eg bridgework which can close a space much more satisfactorily than a denture ) can be very difficult and depends on a high level of communication between patient and dentist.

A relaxed, friendly manner and plenty of time are vital to facilitate this level of communication and trust, and significant treatment-plans are never entered into without thorough discussion of pros and cons, patients aspiration/expectation, risks versus benefits and, of course, cost.

Modern dentistry can appear expensive, but the right approach, carried out to the highest standards, will always pay dividends in the long run. There are also often options and alternatives – some more simple and therefore cheaper – some more complex and therefore more costly in time and materials.