The term “dental spa” is not new. It is thought its use came into fashion in Bath during the 18^th century when people travelled to that city to bathe in the spa waters.

Interestingly at that time a woman dentist – Ms Curris – offered beauty treatments to local women along with dental treatment.

Since then dentists have been offering other treatments besides extractions and fillings. As such, there are an increasing number of treatments available, some of which are listed below.

Cosmetic dentistry

This covers a number of treatments, all of which help improve the appearance of the teeth. They include veneers, tooth whitening, bridgework implants, tooth straightening gum re-shaping, tooth re-shaping and cosmetic bonding. The latter is a treatment for restoring the surface of teeth by applying an enamel-like material. It is generally used when teeth are worn or chipped or to fill small gaps in between teeth.

Minor medical procedures

While traditionally this sort of thing was carried out by plastic surgeons, dentists can now offer simple cosmetic treatments. The commonest is Botox and filler therapies, but there are other treatments now available such as laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal, lip augmentation and skin rejuvenation.

Other minor medical procedures include treating a variety of skin complaints such as sun damaged skin, skin tag, mole, wart and verruca removal, and microdermabrasion.

Microdermabrasion

Microdermabrasion is something that was at one time carried out specifically by plastic surgeons, but cosmetic dentists are now able to offer this type of procedure as well.

The technique is basically a skin rejuvenation procedure that is designed to restore the youthful appearance of the face. Treatments could include removing fine lines and wrinkles, improving oily, dry, and patchy or acne prone skin, removing blackheads, whiteheads, superficial age spots and hyper pigmentation