GENERAL DENTISTRY

Star Dental believes in the saying ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime’. Through eduction and understanding, we will help you to maintain your teeth.  With proper preventive care and regular check ups we believe that it is highly likely that most of our patients can expect to keep all of their teeth for the rest of their lives. Of course if the damage has already been done we can restore, repair or replace teeth.

Scale and Clean

The most common problem that people have with their teeth is a build up of plaque. Every day a sticky, almost invisible film forms on the teeth. This film is plaque and it contains food and dead cells, which allows bacteria to grow.

Plaque grows on the teeth and down into the crevice between the gum and tooth and if left on this surface will become calculus or tartar. It only takes a little more than a day for any plaque left on your teeth to turn into calculus. This calculus can only be removed by using an ultrasonic scaler or dental hand scaler.

An ultrasonic scaler emits a high frequency sound wave that vibrates the calculus build up off the teeth and removes heavy build up. Once the build up has been removed we then polish the teeth using an Airflow, which combines sodium carbonate and water and removes all extrinsic staining.  As opposed to normal prophy polishing, the airflow will remove stain inter-proximally.

The Solution

There are three steps that you should do to maintain good oral hygiene and prevent gum disease

  1. Floss: Flossing removes the plaque caught between the teeth that brushing won’t.
  2. Brush: A correct brushing technique is important. Remember that you have 32 teeth or less if you have had extractions and you must take the time to clean them all thoroughly.
  3. Regular Dental Check Up: We recommend that you have a scale and clean every 6 to 12 months depending on your oral hygiene, as only a professional scale and clean will remove the hard calculus that develops over time.

Maintenance does not start and finish at the dentist. You, the patient need to continue with proper oral care at home. We recommend using an Electric Toothbrush to assist in correct brushing and maintaining healthy gums and teeth.

Fillings

The causes of tooth decay vary from person to person but the most common causes are a diet high in sugar and little to no oral hygiene care. With regular examinations we can detect early signs of decay and thus the decay can then be removed with a minimum of discomfort.

At Star Dental we only use tooth coloured restorations. Composite Resin is a light cured Polymer material that is placed directly in the mouth in one appointment. Composite can be used for fillings or veneers and are an excellent colour match to natural tooth and feel as smooth as your own.

Our fees vary for fillings depending on the size and depth of the cavity; this price will be quoted to you before treatment is commenced. Star Dental is a STRICTLY MERCURY FREE practice.