FAQ

New patients are always welcome to our family dental care clinic. Patients often ask if they can refer patients to us. Our response is that new patients are always welcome, to come have a chat and check us out.

Please bring along a list of your current medications, drug allergies, medical history and x-rays from your previous dentist as well as any dental appliances that you may have to our family dental care clinic.

Generally, the reasonable period for routine dental examination and cleaning is 6 months. A routine dental examination helps to identify any dental diseases early before they require significant treatment. Prevention is much, much better than cure. In addition, it is now recognised that oral health can have an influence on general health.

It is important to get your child to start visiting a dentist at an early age so that the child will learn that visiting the dentist is a regular part of health care.  Your child should have a dental examination by the dentist within 6 months of the eruption of the first tooth or by the age of one. It is important to make the first visit a positive experience for your child and our dentist is very gentle and has a lot of experience with providing dental care to young children.

Be sure to get an early start on regular dental care at home. Start cleaning your child’s mouth with a soft damp cloth before teeth come in and continue with a soft toothbrush once he or she has a first tooth. Limit the number of sugary treats you give your child, and focus on healthy food choices from the very beginning.

You should still definitely see your dentist when you are pregnant. This is because in pregnancy there is an increased blood flow to the gingival and periodontal tissues due to changes in hormone levels. In some circumstances, this can lead to an increase in inflammation of the periodontal tissue. Therefore, it is important to pay particular attention to oral hygiene during pregnancy and this includes visiting your dentist for routine dental examination as well as cleaning.

Commonly, third molar teeth or wisdom teeth either erupt partially or in the wrong direction which is usually due to a lack of room for them to erupt. Partially erupted wisdom teeth often cause pain because they become difficult to clean, resulting in food packing, tooth decay or gum disease. Because wisdom teeth which are not erupted properly can cause pain, it is best to have these teeth examined for early detection and management and to determine whether or not they should be extracted.

There is significant novel research being conducted which is showing a possible link between gum and periodontal disease and heart disease. This is because inflammation in the gums may invoke a wider immune response in the body promoting inflammation in the arteries which is associated with atherosclerosis and heart disease.