Services
Preventative and Gum Care
It is important to have a dental examination every 6 to 12 months to ensure problems are found early. Dental diseases can often be reversed with minimal intervention if found early enough.
A thorough dental examination includes assessment of your face, neck, jaw joints, lips, tongue, gums, floor of the mouth, soft and hard palate and teeth. We are assessing every time for oral cancer, mucosal diseases and conditions, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay (dental caries) and dental restoration (filling, crown) breakdown. In children we are also taking note of skeletal and dental development and growth.
We use state of the art digital sensors for both our intra oral (inside the mouth) x-rays and our full mouth x-rays. These x-rays are quick and easy to take, and we will have an instant image on our screen to discuss with you. As part of your examination your dentist may recommend dental radiographs (xrays). They allow us to assess areas that we cannot see like between teeth and under the gumline. They help to diagnose dental diseases if you have an ache or even before symptoms arise.
For our dental cleans we use AIRFLOW® Dental Spa – a new, innovative device that will make your teeth cleaning appointment feel like a spa treatment. Using a mixture of air, warm water and fine powder, AIRFLOW® offers a quicker, more gentle and effective teeth clean than ever before. Any calculus build up is then removed with our gentle PIEZON® scalers.
Fissure Seals are coatings that fill the grooves in your teeth and protect them from plaque and acids. They are applied to those grooves prone to decay and normally are placed in teeth as they first erupt. Not all teeth need fissure sealants and your dentist can advise whether these are right for you.
Some of us may develop gum disease which is the degradation and loss of supporting bone and gum from around our teeth. This condition can be triggered and influenced by general health, genetics, hormones, smoking and diabetes. If you have gum disease your Dentist may recommend a comprehensive gum mapping to assess the extent of your condition. Once diagnosed, treatment can be provided at Southbridge Dental or referral may be arranged to a specialist.
Periodontal treatment involves the removal of plaque and calculus from both above and below your gumline. Treatment will be completed with the use of AIRFLOW® and PERIOFLOW® , gentle PIEZON® scalers and hand scalers. This treatment may require local anaesthesia and multiple appointments may be needed. An appointment to review treatment results will likely be scheduled between 6 to 12 weeks after initial treatment. Those with gum disease may require more regular and extensive dental cleans initially. The good news is that we can often stop gum disease in its tracks if diagnosed early enough and treated accordingly.
Splints are mouthguards which help to treat excessive tooth grinding and jaw joint disorders. Worn at nighttime, these devises protect the teeth and muscles from overloading therefore helping to reducing tooth damage and muscle soreness associated with these conditions.
At Southbridge Dental we provide the gold standard vacuum formed multi- laminated mouthguards for the protection of your teeth. Custom made mouthguards do not only offer superior protection, they also feel better and allow for better breathing and talking than off the shelf options.
Restorative
We use high quality composite resin (white fillings) at Southbridge Dental to keep your smile functional and looking good. Dental fillings seal our teeth and restore the structure and function of teeth that have defects, chips or that been infected by bacteria (tooth decay) . Your dentist will be able to advise if and when a new filling may be needed or an old filling repaired or replaced.
Sometimes fillings are not enough. When we have lost too much tooth structure due to bacteria (decay) or pervious dental work and there are higher structural and aesthetic demands of our teeth ceramic restorations, veneers or crowns may be needed. Newer ceramics can be bonded to teeth allowing our dentists to be more conservative and kinder to our teeth without compromising strength. Your dentist will be able to recommend the options that are available for you.
Replacing Teeth
There are many options available to replace missing teeth. Our dentists at Southbridge Dental are very experienced at planning and restoring your smile. Implants involve a surgery with a specialist to place a titanium root in the space where your tooth used to be and once healed a natural looking ceramic crown is attached to this titanium implant by our dentist to restore your smile and your bite back to normal.
If surgery isn’t for you, a bridge may be an option. This is where our dentists will prepare the tooth or teeth adjacent to the gap for crowns, an impression is taken and then our local laboratory will make a custom bridge where the crowns on the adjacent teeth support a fake tooth in the gap, that has the appearance of emerging from your gum just as your tooth used to be.
Your dentist will be able to advise the options suitable for you.
Our dentists can provide a range of denture options to replace teeth. Dentures can made of acrylic or a combination of Chrome cobalt metal and acrylic. Dentures can replace just one tooth or all of your teeth. We work closely with our local laboratory to provide the best set of dentures for you. We can also provide denture repairs and relines if your current set of dentures breaks or isn’t quite fitting right anymore.
Cosmetic
We are pleased to offer both take home and in chair whitening with the SDI POLA range. Whitening the teeth should be simple, painless and effective.
Muscle relaxants are commonly used in dentistry to aid in the treatment of TMD (Temporo-mandibular Disorders) and in smile makeovers. Our own Dr Millicent Woon is experienced in injectable treatments and is available for consultations.
Emergency
There can be many different types of dental emergency. From a chipped front tooth to a painful toothache. At Southbridge Dental we will endeavour to see you as soon as we can to get you out of pain and smiling again.
These types of fillings are placed when the tooth needs to be sealed quickly to maintain its health, or can be used to stabilise the tooth and allow for monitoring if the diagnosis and or prognosis is uncertain. Temporary fillings are just that… temporary and you will require another appointment to have the tooth permanently fixed.
This treatment allows many teeth that would otherwise be extracted to be saved! Teeth may require these types of fillings if they have been traumatised or if the nerve of the tooth becomes infected by bacteria. Once the root canal treatment is complete your tooth will be sealed with a new filling or a crown and continue to help you chew and smile.
Sometimes teeth cannot be saved and will require removal. Most teeth can be removed safely under local anaesthetic within our clinic by our experienced dentists. However, some teeth can be tricky or can be close to important structures like nerves and blood vessels. These teeth will require extraction by a specialist and prompt referral will be arranged.
F.A.Q's
Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all. Our experienced dentists will complete a thorough examination at your first appointment and create a treatment plan that best suits your dental needs.
Absolutely. We treat all ages and stages. The best time for your child’s first visit will be when they have the first of their teeth around the age of 1.
These visits are often quick and easily accomodated along with a parent’s or guardian’s appointment if prior notice is provided.
Older children will require longer appointments.
Yes. Southbridge has free on-site parking available for our patients both in front of, and behind the practice.
Southbridge is a cashless business. We do accept all forms of card payment including American Express and payment must be made on the day of treatment.
We accept all health funds and you can access your rebate immediately after your appointment provided you bring your physical health care card or the digital card available through most health fund apps.
In relation to your rebate, every health fund is different however, we can provide an accurate quote of the rebate you will recieve through our HICAPS machine.