Consultation
The dental consultation is where your dentist will discuss your oral and overall health. They will review your dental x-rays and discuss their findings from the dental exam. If needed, your dentist will recommend treatments and answer any questions you may have.
Your medical history and list of current medications will also be discussed because these things can play an important role in your oral health and vice versa. Understanding your overall health can help you and your dentist improve your oral care habits.
Scale and Polish ( Teeth Cleaning)
A scale and polish is the procedure of professionally cleaning the teeth and gums. It involves removing staining, plaque (soft, sticky bacteria) and tartar build up. Tartar is formed when plaque is left on the teeth for too long and hardens. This cannot be removed with regular tooth-brushing.
Specialised instruments are used to gently remove these deposits. The teeth are then polished using a soft rubber cup and a gritty-like polishing paste.
Dental Fillings / Restorations
Dental restorations commonly known as dental fillings, or simply fillings are treatments used to restore the function, integrity, and morphology of missing tooth structure resulting from caries or external trauma. White composite fillings are made of plastic material mixed with small glass particles and are tooth coloured, rather than silver.
Following the removal of decay from your tooth, a special bonding agent is applied to help adhere the filling material to your tooth.
Dentures (False Teeth)
Dentures are composed of artificial teeth bonded to a plastic base. The dentist makes an impression of the dental arch and remaining teeth (if any), using a special impression material. The colour and shape of the artificial teeth can be closely matched to your natural teeth. A few appointments are required a few days apart, in order to make a new set of dentures
Types of dentures
Partial denture: A partial denture is made to fill the gap left by a few missing teeth. Clasps are used to secure the denture to adjacent natural teeth increasing both the comfort and stability of the denture.
Full denture: A full denture is made when all the natural teeth are missing. It is fitted to replace the upper teeth,lower teeth, or both.
Immediate denture: The dentist inserts an immediate denture at the same appointment as the teeth are extracted. The advantage is that the patient avoids a period without teeth.
Dentures can be made of acrylic or metal. Your dentist will advise you about the best material for you.
Crown and Bridges
A dental crown is a tooth-shaped cap that restores a decayed, broken, weak or worn-down tooth. Dentists also use crowns to cover dental implants and root canal-treated teeth. Made from a variety of materials, including metal, resin and porcelain, crowns last between five and 15 years with proper care.
Dental bridges replace missing teeth. Specifically, they can replace one tooth or a row of missing teeth. As the name implies, this appliance literally “bridges the gap” in your smile. Dentists can create custom bridges that match the shade of your natural teeth.
Root Canal Treatments
A root canal treatment is a dental procedure to remove inflamed or infected pulp on the inside of the tooth which is then carefully cleaned and disinfected, then filled and sealed. Root canal treatment is designed to eliminate bacteria from the infected root canal, prevent reinfection of the tooth and save the natural tooth.
Root canal therapy is done in three steps, and it takes between one and three sessions to complete:
- Cleaning the root canal: First, the dentist removes everything that is inside the root canal. With the patient under local anesthesia, the dentist makes a small access hole on the surface of the tooth and removes the diseased and dead pulp tissue with very small files.
- Filling the root canal: Next, the dentist cleans, shapes and decontaminates the hollow area, using tiny files and irrigation solutions. Then, the tooth is filled with a rubber-like material, using an adhesive cement to seal the canals completely. After root canal therapy, the tooth is dead. The patient will no longer feel any pain in that tooth because the nerve tissue has been removed, and the infection has been eliminated.
- Adding a crown or filling: However, the tooth will be now more fragile than it was before. A tooth with no pulp must receive its nourishment from the ligament that attaches the tooth to the bone. This supply is adequate, but in time, the tooth will become more brittle, so a crown or filling offers protection.
Until the crown or filling is complete, the patient should not chew or bite on the tooth. Once there is a crown or filling is done, the person can use the tooth as before.
Teeth Whitening
Teeth whitening is a cosmetic procedure that is used to make the surface of the teeth appear whiter. Although teeth whitening cannot turn the teeth brilliant white, it can be a very effective way of lightening the existing colour, without causing any damage to the tooth’s surface.
Teeth whitening is most often done using peroxide-based bleaching agents. At-home systems contain from 3% to 20% peroxide (carbamide or hydrogen peroxides). In-office systems contain from 15% to 43%.
Paediatric Dentistry
Paediatric dentistry or commonly known as paedodontics in ) is the branch of dentistry dealing with children from birth through adolescence. Paediatric dentists promote the dental health of children as well as serve as educational resources for parents.
It is recommended by the South African Dental Association that a dental visit occurs after the presence of the first tooth or by a child’s first birthday. The SADA has said that it is important to establish a comprehensive and accessible ongoing relationship between the dentist and patient – referring to this as the patient’s “dental home”. This is because early oral examination aids in the detection of the early stages of tooth decay. Early detection is essential to maintain oral health, modify aberrant habits, and treat as needed and as simply as possible.
Additionally, parents are given a program of preventive home care (brushing, flossing and fluorides), a caries risk assessment, information on finger, thumb, and pacifier habits, and may include advice on preventing injuries to the mouth and teeth of children, diet counselling, and information on growth and development.
To alleviate the anxiety of children associated with dental treatment, treatment can be carried out under general anaesthesia in a theatre setting or under conscious sedation in the dental chair.
Wisdom Removal
Wisdom teeth are the teeth at the back of your mouth (the third molar teeth). They tend to come through (erupt) in the late teens or twenties. Some wisdom teeth do not come through fully (partly erupt) and get stuck (or impacted) against nearby teeth or bone. This often leaves a flap of gum over your tooth. Others grow too long (over erupt).
A wisdom tooth may need to be removed for one or more of the following reasons:
- repeated or serious infection of the gum
tooth decay - a wisdom tooth can grow out too far and damage the cheek or gum
- you may need an operation to move your jaw forwards or backwards
- your tooth may be in a position that makes it difficult to clean properly
- an orthodontist may need to make space to move other teeth backwards
- you may have a cyst near or around your tooth, or other jaw problems
your tooth may be in the line of a jaw fracture
Wisdom removal can be done in the chair under local Anaesthesia or in theatre under general anaesthesia, depending on the case.
