GENERAL DENTISTRY

Routine Dental Check-Ups

(Children’s & Adult)

A Routine Dental Check-Up is like a health MOT for your mouth. It’s a chance for the dentist to check how your teeth and gums are doing and ensure your smile is as healthy as possible.

These Check-ups are crucial for spotting cavities and detecting early signs of gum disease, alignment issues, or other oral health concerns.

What Happens During Your Visit?

Each of the treatments at our clinic usually starts with a quick discussion of your general health and any dental care you’ve had before. We might take some X-rays to get a closer look at your teeth and gums to ensure we’re not missing anything that can’t be seen with the naked eye.

Then, we examine the mouth, check your teeth and gums, and see their health. We’ll also check the inside of your cheeks and your tongue to make sure everything looks good there too. If we spot anything that needs a bit more attention, like signs of gum disease, we can talk about what to do next.

How Often Should You Visit?

Everyone’s different, so how often you must come in can vary. Some people might come once a year, while others might need to visit more often, especially if they’re getting treatment or have something special we need to keep an eye on. We’ll work out a schedule that’s just right for you.

Emergency Dental Appointments

Experiencing sudden pain, a broken tooth, or swelling?

These signs demand immediate attention, signalling issues that can’t wait. It is crucial to consult an emergency dental care nearby to get on-time treatment. In an emergency, the priority of an emergency dentist is always to relieve patients’ pain, address any infections, and provide solutions for dental injuries like breaks or cracks. We use advanced diagnostic tools to swiftly identify the problem, ensuring you receive the most effective treatment promptly.

As a dentist, we always aim to protect long-term oral health. So, our patients can rely on our expertise and compassionate care, in the stressful moments of a dental emergency, to guide them through the situation easily and confidently, restoring their dental health and peace of mind.

If you have a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to:

What are composite fillings?

Dental composite fillings are essentially standard tooth fillings that are coloured to resemble the natural colour of your original tooth. They are also known as resin fillings, white fillings and tooth-coloured fillings.

They serve the same function as traditional fillings; to repair cracks, fissures and decay in affected teeth. Your dentist removes the area of decay or the affected part of the tooth and then places a composite filling in its place.

Like standard fillings, composite fillings come in a variety of different materials to help protect and defend your teeth from decay and damage. During your consultation, you and your dentist will discuss the best option for your case to ensure you’re happy with the treatment path.

Composite fillings remain one of the most popular options to restore teeth to their former appearance, mainly due to their aesthetic advantages (being coloured to match your existing tooth or teeth).

Do composite filling last forever?

Although composite fillings are designed to withstand the same amount of stress we put our natural teeth through every day, they are not a lifelong solution. If your filling becomes damaged, loose or falls out, it can easily be replaced. If this happens, it’s important you contact your dentist as soon as possible to ensure the tooth does not become infected.

Some of the most common reasons composite fillings are required are:

Damaged teeth through accident, injury or trauma
Teeth that have decayed
Teeth are worn from bruxism
Smile makeover composite bonding
Indirect composite veneers (fabricated in the dental lab) for Veneering of the front teeth.

Root canal treatment

If you have been experiencing severe tooth pain, it is possible that you may require root canal treatment. If your tooth has become damaged or cracked, you have tooth decay, large fillings or have recently had a trauma to the tooth, the chance of a root canal procedure increases, as these scenarios all leave your tooth open to infection.

When is a root canal required?

Root canal treatment (or endodontics) is required when there is an infection deep within your tooth. The blood or nerve supply may be infected either due to an injury or a severe cavity. You may not experience any pain or discomfort during the early stages of an infection, however if your tooth changes colour and darkens that is a sign that your tooth nerve is in danger of dying. If left untreated, this kind of infection can not only be very painful, but can lead to a tooth abscess or even tooth loss.

Five signs of infection:

Serious toothache when eating, or when you put pressure on the tooth. Does it hurt when you bite down hard?
Excessively sensitive teeth. Does the sensitive pain linger after the initial contact with hot or cold foods or drinks?
Darkening of your tooth. Has your tooth changed colour? This may be a sign of the nerve dying.
A small bump on the gum, close to the painful tooth.
Tender or swollen gums around the tooth.

What does treatment involve?

Root canal treatment removes all of the infection from the tooth, before sealing the tooth to protect the damaged nerve and restore you back to good oral health.

When you first come into R&G Dental and Implant Surgery, we will take an x-ray to assess the status of the infection. Then a local anaesthesia is administered to the area and a piece of rubber material called a ‘rubber dam’ is placed around the tooth the keep it dry and accessible throughout the procedure. Once you are fully anaesthetised, your dentist will use specially designed tools to remove the infected tissue. Once it is clear, a rubber compound is used to fill the tooth where the root canal tissue previously was. This is usually finished with a temporary filling. This is the completed stage of your first visit. Following this it is recommended to have custom made crown for this tooth to provide long term stability and strength to this tooth.