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All white for a man
You might not look your best during the procedure, but you sure look better after – and these days a growing number of men want their teeth whitened. We sample Clarendon Dental Spa, somewhere comfortingly non-clinical and unfeminine but reassuringly professional.
YOU'VE hit the shops, the gym, the sunbed and spent 40 on a haircut – but the modern makeover has left your teeth looking just a little, well, medieval.
Up to now most men have had one of two unappealing choices – the conventional dentist or the high street salon.
That was something twenty-something Leeds Dental Institute (LDI) graduates Dr Jay Patel and Dr Ahmed Alani were more than aware of when they last year set up Clarendon Dental Spa.
When the doors opened in November they unveiled a place which boasted the best, but ditched the worst, of both worlds.
Jay said: "It was very much created to our own tastes and I think you can see it has quite a few masculine touches here and there, but in the main it's intended to be neutral so as not to put people off – our main aim was not to create somewhere 'girly'. That was important to us because we aren't a salon or beauticians, we're a serious practice, but equally this is a modern, fashionable city and because we're private we wanted to offer something a little extra."
The two employ a team of six specialists , including two LDI consultants. They handle every-thing from teeth straightening, to children's treatment to cosmetic dentistry. Teeth whitening currently takes up around 10 to 15 per cent of their patient workload.
"What's interesting," said Dr Patel, "is that I treated virtually no men at the start and now I'd say it's only about 65 to 70 per cent women. What you tend to find is that men are still a bit reluctant, but when a woman has come here for treatment then gone home or gone back to the office the men around them see the results and then follow suit."
There are a couple of miscon-ceptions about whitening. The first is expense. Salons can charge on average 100 to 200 for one whitening treatment while many dentists will land you with a bill of 500 plus, but at Clarendon the most expensive single course is 299.
Another method of lightening teeth, is to use a laser alongside the bleaching agent. This is simply a light which speeds up the bleaching process. The key tool remains potent hydrogen peroxide.
I started my treatment with non-custom-made trays which fit round your teeth and are filled with 10 per cent strength of bleach. This costs around 100, though the more effective made-to-measure trays can be used which contain 18 per cent strength bleach at a more costly 249.
I also had the most expensive one-hour in-chair whitening using the LED light (i.e. the 'laser treatment'). And the results are indeed impressive, even though I stopped short of the glaring Hollywood-style finish.
And guys, if you want to measure your masculine metal this is a curious test. Having your teeth bleached can be uncomfortable. Dentists call it sensitivity, but when the 40 per cent hydrogen peroxide soaks in it can hurt.
Fortunately you're in very safe hands, which is comforting since I had a tiny speck of the bleach accidentally touch my lip resulting in a surprisingly intense sting. Dr Patel removed it very quickly and it passed. But I was pleased it wasn’t left to an amateur to apply.
What discomfort there is varies substantially depending on the patient’s individual sensitivity. It can from a couple of hours to a maximum of roughly three days. But with the pain comes gleaming gain, plus overall it wasn’t an unsettling ordeal.
l Clarendon Dental Spa, 9 Woodhouse Square, Clarendon Rd, Leeds. Call 0113 245 9004 or visit www.clarendondentalspa.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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