Rachel’s perfect smile for her big day makes a heartwarming hair and beauty PR story

A BRIDE with failing eyesight invested over £4000 on her teeth so she could have the perfect smile for her wedding day photographs before going blind.

Rachel Finlayson hadn’t smiled for years because she was too ashamed to show her teeth, which were crooked, overcrowded and badly stained from smoking.

The 31-year old, who is registered as blind and has no sight in one eye and only a fifth of normal vision in the other, was also petrified of going to the dentist.

But the mum of one was determined to overcome her fear to achieve an album full of smiling photographs to commit to memory before loosing her eyesight completely.

After scouring dental surgeries across the UK Rachel, who works for Ownership Options, a charitable organisation that advises disabled people on accommodation, finally discovered Lubiju, Scotland’s leading cosmetic dental practic

Rachel said: “When my boyfriend Stephen proposed to me I knew it was time to finally do something about my teeth. It was really important to me as I wanted to look my very best on my wedding day so that I could remember my pictures in my head forever

“I was born with congenital cataracts and when I was seven I got glaucoma and lost quite a bit of my sight. I am registered as being blind and I know that as time goes on there is a good chance that my sight will disappear completely. However, in the lead up to my wedding it wasn’t my sight I was worried about.

“I had no fear of tripping over my dress whilst walking up the aisle or stumbling into the cake. But I was worried about my horrible looking teeth in the photographs.

“I had always been really embarrassed about my teeth. I had a tooth coming over the top of another and they weren’t straight. They were also stained because I’m a smoker and I was too embarrassed to smile. If I did, I kept my mouth shut.

“My wedding was the push I needed to finally conquer my fear of going to the dentist. If I was going to get my teeth fixed, I wanted to be able to see the results and what better opportunity that my own wedding?”

Rachel added: “The search to find the perfect dentist was very hard. I kept making appointment and then cancelling, I just hated not being in control.

“I felt very lucky when I found Dr Biju Krishnan from the Lubiju cosemetic dental surgery in Edinburgh. He suggested I could be sedated for work that involved an extraction, veneers and whitening at a cost of roughly £4000.

“He told me I could have diazepam and be unconscious, which no one had ever suggested before. They would veneer my teeth and take out an eye tooth while I was knocked out, plus someone would stay with me throughout.”

Dr Krishnan is one of the founding partners of Lubiju, one of Scotland’s most advanced cosmetic dental surgery. Lubiju offers the latest techniques in dentistry to private patients and has a team of internationally renowned dental, maxillo-facial and implantology experts on hand at all times.

Dr Krishnan said: “Rachel’s case isn’t an isolated example. It always astounds me the number of people who allow their lives to be blighted by bad teeth but are too scared or don’t have access to the relevant information to do anything to improve them.

“Often it just takes for a dentist to explain treatment practices thoroughly to come up with a suitable treatment plan. At Lubiju we offer the services of one Scotland’s leading experts in cosmetic surgery and anaesthetic and a hypnotherapy specialist. These services can help to reassure nervous or frightened patients.

“Not being able to smile can also have deep-seated psychological and physical effect. Smiling sets off a whole range of chemical reactions in your head, producing serotonin. So when someone finally feels able to laugh it has physical effect on the entire body.

“That was certainly the case with Rachel. As soon as I fixed her smile she blossomed before my eyes. It was a pleasure being able to help Rachel fully enjoy her wedding day. Her pictures were glorious and it was a delight to see her beaming with a wide open smile.”

Rachel added: “Although technically I am blind, I have always lived my life as normally as possible. As my mother and father both have eye problems, I was brought up with the attitude that I am no different to anyone else and should just get on with it. I have very strong admirations for my parents. My mother, who is completely blind, works as a councillor and my partially blind father is a teacher. They met each other at a school for blind people.

“Unfortunately, my sight condition can be hereditary. My three-year-old daughter Lisa has congenital cataracts and could develop glaucoma. I am expected another baby in November and there is 50% chance that they will have the condition too.

“I know I may go completely blind at some point because that’s what glaucoma does, and that’s the main reason I finally had my teeth done – I wanted to look nice for my wedding and so I could have a set of photographs that I could picture in my head forever. And I’m glad I did – my wedding day was perfect. Some brides worry about their hair or make-up and I would have worried about my teeth, but instead I was completely relaxed. I could just be myself and smile.”

Rachel Finlayson Treatment Factfile

Zoom! Laser Whitening Treatment
The £595 treatment takes at least 1.5 hours and is performed by a dental professional.
It starts with the clinician carefully covering all the gums and lips.
Then the clinician applies the Zoom gel which is used in conjunction with the Zoom light. The light and gel work together to gently penetrate your teeth breaking up the stains and discolouration. During this time at the high-tech Lubiju practice, patients can watch a movie, listen to music, or just sit back and relax while the Zoom gets to work. About one hour later you go home with your whiter, brighter new smile.

Veneer treatment
Rachel had nine veneers applied at a cost of £3500.
Individual cost of a veneers is normally in the region of £750 as Lubiju use the top laboratory in the UK.
A veneer is a thin layer of porcelain made to fit over the front surface of a tooth, like a false fingernail fits over a nail. Sometimes a tooth coloured filling material is used instead of  porcelain.
Veneers are often used to change the colour, shape and position of teeth. A thin layer of porcelain is custom made in a laboratory and is used to cover the whole of the front of the tooth. Veneers can also be used to close small gaps, when orthodontics (braces) are not suitable. If one tooth is slightly out of position, a veneer can sometimes be fitted to bring it into line with the others.
The big advantage of using veneers is that the dentist usually only has to remove a small amount of tooth and sometimes can get away with little or even no tooth preparation at all.

Extraction
Rachel had a tooth removed from her upper gum with involved soft tissue surgery and re-contouring work at a cost of £250.
Technical description – Removal of labially crowded upper right canine involving soft tissue surgery and subsequent gingival re-contouring using a electro surgical unit.

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