As a child, I always had this image of Priscilla Queen of the Desert being a beautiful Queen with long, flowing, shiny, dark hair. A diamond encrusted tiara holding the wind swept locks in place. Her eyes were piercing blue - wide and innocent. Curves like a mermaid accentuated by a regal ball gown. Skin tanned and glowing. Her teeth could only have been pearly white, exuded by a smile of confidence. The mere mention of Priscilla’s name would make anyone’s heart skip a beat, man, woman or child. Priscilla’s beauty had the ability to leave anyone in her presence breathless. This Priscilla was but a figment of my imagination. How heart broken was I when I found out that Priscilla was a Bus! The disappointment I felt was on par with the heart wrenching sadness I felt when I found out Father Christmas was not real!

I had the pleasure of treating one of the lead actors from the Musical, currently showing at the Palace Theatre in the West End. He laughed when I related my childhood memory to him. He then kindly arranged some front row tickets for us to watch the show, and what an amazing and vibrant show it is. Ok, so Priscilla is only a Bus, but a very fine looking pink and glitzy bus with a very regal stage presence. I felt a pang of pride when I saw my patient, smiling away, showing off his lovely teeth on stage while dancing in his pink tutu and matching pink wig, singing ‘I will survive’. And to imagine, a week prior to this great performance, he had been an emergency patient at the Covent Garden Dental Spa. His front filling had fallen out during rehearsals – his manager called our emergency dental number for the appointment – the time was 17:25, the show was due to start at 19:30. He was desperate to see a dentist ASAP and quick, to say the least. Luckily, we were available to have the pleasure of treating him to repair his tooth before his stage performance that evening.

The emergency dental service is a service we offer at the Covent Garden Dental Spa. We are available to provide emergency dental treatment 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. All you need to do in the event of a dental emergency is call our emergency number 07526688485. For Members of the Dental Spa, all emergency appointments are free of charge, so they save on the £75 Emergency fee, and this is one of the major perks of becoming a Member of the Dental Spa.

Common Dental Emergencies: How would we treat a:

• Broken front tooth – we would repair this with a composite filling. A composite filling is a white/cosmetic/ tooth coloured dental restorative material used to replace the missing tooth structure. The correct shade for the filling material is chosen so that it blends in well with your remaining tooth structure.

• Lost Crown – we would assess the tooth structure which is supporting the crown, and if the tooth structure is healthy and decay-free, we would recement the crown for you using a dental adhesive. If the crown no longer fits well, we would discuss remaking the crown for you.

• Fractured filling – we would assess the tooth structure remaining. This would involve removing any remaining filling material and cleaning out the cavity till it is decay free. We would then fill the cavity with a composite filling material. If there is insufficient tooth structure to support a filling, we would need to discuss the possibility of providing you with a crown to restore function and fortify the tooth. A crown or a cap covers the whole tooth structure, is normally made of porcelain which is tooth coloured or sometime gold.

• Abscess and Swelling - a facial swelling normally means you have a developed an abscess, the source is normally a heavily decayed tooth. Close examination and radiographs (x-rays) would normally reveal the offending tooth. We would need to discuss your treatment options. If prognosis is poor, taking to the tooth out may be best. Saving the tooth may involve a root canal treatment – a treatment which involves cleaning bacteria from the pulp of the tooth. A course of antibiotics will help to clear the bacterial infection.

• Tooth ache:  close examination and radiographs (x-rays) would help establish the cause of the tooth ache. Once a diagnosis is made, treatment options can be discussed and this will vary from a restorative filling to root canal treatment to extraction. A course of antibiotics may also be required, this depends on the severity of the tooth ache.