Frequently Asked Questions
As our patients, our number one focus is your care and therefore it is our job to treat and address all your dental issues and worries.
Before an oral Examination
We kindly request that you share with the attending dentist all medical history, your complaints and concerns.
We promise that all your medical information would be kept confidential.
What to Expect
Our dentist would check the condition of your current dental health and highlight problems as well as provide you with treatment options.
What is an X-Ray?
X-rays is an observation tool, it helps dentist and doctor look at the condition of our bones. X-rays help present an image of your bones that buried deep in a lot of tissue and muscles without needing surgery.
Why do I Need an Extraction?
Extractions are generally a last choice treatment choice, this happens when all other options to save the tooth have been exhausted.
Your natural teeth are much stronger and resilient than any filling material or artificial teeth, hence it is in our interests and yours to best save the tooth where possible.
On the other hand, wisdom tooth extractions might sometimes be a treatment option due to complications that arise when they erupt.
Complications of wisdom teeth eruption includes overcrowding of teeth or odd angles of eruption leading to impacted teeth.
Extraction Anesthetic
Before any extraction, you will always be given anaesthetic which would numb your gums.
Anaesthetic would prevent feelings of pain, it is also common that you can still feel the sensation of touch and pressure.
But rest assured, your dentist would check with you that all feelings of pain are numbed before proceeding with the extraction.
Scaling/Cleaning
Normal daily routines such as cigarette smoking, drinking coffee and tea will leave stains on your teeth. Dental plaque is also present in everybody’s mouths. If not cleaned properly, Dental Plaque will harden to form calculus, which leads to other problems such as gum/periodontal disease, which manifest as bleeding gums and bad breath. With the right brushing and flossing technique, Dental plaque may be easily removed. However, Calculus and Stains require a visit to your dentist’s office to be professionally cleaned off.
Polishing
After a scaling/cleaning, polishing is also normally done to smoothen surfaces and remove any leftover stains. It is essential to smoothen surfaces and get rid of any roughness, as rough surfaces form pockets of areas which tend to retain plaque. In cases where the patient’s gums are affected, your dental practitioner may decide to clean out the root surfaces and smoothen them as well.
While routine 6 monthly scaling and polishing will serve most to all of your needs, prevention is always better than cure. So be sure to ask your dentist and hygienist for the best tips on how to improve your Oral Care and tips on keeping you free from gum disease. Be sure to inform them of any serious illnesses or long – term medications you are taking, as they may be contributing factors to your gum disease.
It is important not to ignore any signs and symptoms of gum disease,as this can progress to irreversible stage of advanced gum disease(periodontitis).
What is a Dental Crown?
A crown is commonly called a cap. It may be thought of as a “cover” as it covers, or replaces, that part of the tooth seen in the mouth.
Why do a Crown?
A crown can be done for many reasons. Most often, it is done when a tooth is either
- Badly decayed or chipped
- Discoloured or shaped poorly
How is a Crown Done?
To put it simply, the tooth is trimmed to make space for the final crown.
Impression moulds are then taken for a custom-made crown to be made in a laboratory according to your dentist’s instructions.
When the crown is ready, it is slipped over the tooth and firmly cemented in place.
What is a Bridge?
A Bridge is a special kind of denture where the artificial tooth is fixed to natural teeth next to it (often by means of crowns) A bridge is compact and feels like natural teeth but it can only be done in specially selected cases.
What is a Crown Made of?
It can be made of porcelain or metal or combinations of gold alloys and porcelain.
Special types of glass and plastics can also be used.
How do I Care for my Crown?
Carefully daily brushing and flossing are essential to keep the gums around the crown healthy.
It is also not advised to chew ice, bones etc as this may chip the porcelain.
Dental Implant
Modern dental implant is a very small titanium body usually not exceeding a diameter of 5mm X length 10mm only. Modern dental implants are root-form endosseous implants which has a special medical grade titanium surface which allow our own body bone cells to fuse with it therefore allowing the dentist to restore a crown on top for replacing the missing tooth.
Invisalign or Braces
Both Invisalign and Metal Braces have different use cases when it comes to straightening of teeth.
While Invisalign looks very pleasing, it requires 20 hours per day of discipline to achieve good results. Similarly, our metal braces can have different colours but require proper care to prevent problems down the road, like dropping brackets.
Thus we ask of you to please seek our dentists recommendation for the best treatment when straightening your teeth. Thank you!
Children's Dentistry
When your child’s first teeth erupt, it is good to visit the dentist early so that you can be advised on how to take care of their teeth.
Oral Hygiene for Children
Parents should start cleaning their child’s tooth as soon as they erupt. You can use a clean cloth or even cotton wool to clean their teeth. As your child gets older, a soft toothbrush and water for children is recommended.
Why Is it important?
Although baby teeth would end up getting removed, it is important to ensure they are clean and healthy.
Diseased teeth would still cause pain and would risk bacteria spreading to other parts of the body, this can manifest as other forms of illnesses.
Visiting a dentist to treat these problems can be quite a terrifying experience for children, as they are very sensitive to the noise and sensation of dental equipment.
All these events could lead to your child developing dental phobia and their future dental health may also be in jeopardy. Hence it is in your and your child’s best interest to look after your child’s dental health.
Toothpaste Usage
From the age of 0 to 3, toothpaste should be used in amount of a grain of rice or avoided as the fluoride concentration in toothpaste if swallowed can cause stomach upsets.
From the age of 3 and above, a pea sized fluoride toothpaste should be used when brushing their teeth.
Your child would still need supervision to brush their teeth and it is important ensure they do not swallow toothpaste.
Explanation of Root Canal Treatment
X-rays is an observation tool, it helps dentist and doctor look at the condition of our bones. X-rays help present an image of your bones that buried deep in a lot of tissue and muscles without needing surgery.
A Healthy Tooth
A tooth consists of a crown and one of more roots. The roots anchor the tooth in the jaw bone.
Within the tooth is the pulp, which contains nerves and blood vessels that nourish the tooth.
A Diseased Tooth
In a diseased tooth, the pulp is infected or damaged. The causes are usually tooth decay and sometimes, trauma or gum disease.
This may lead to toothache and sensitivity to hot/cold.
What are the benefits of Root Canal Treatment?
Root canal treatment saves teeth that would otherwise be extracted. Although the pulp has been removed, the tooth is still anchored in the bone and can still be used for biting and chewing
What are the alternatives to Root Canal Treatment?
Extraction is the only alternative. The extracted tooth will have to be replaced by a denture or a bridge. Otherwise the neighboring teeth will move into the space, creating problems with eating and cleaning. These problems can give rise to gum disease and new cavities.
Fillings and Restorations
After a routine Dental Screening and Examination, your dentist may feel that it is necessary to treat and restore any existing decay or fractured tooth.
Dentists have access to a wide variety of dental materials to choose from, to filling their patient’s teeth. The most common materials around are amalgam/silver fillings or tooth colored fillings. Depending on factors such as aesthetics, the severity of decay, and the patient’s oral hygiene habits, your dentist may advice you to choose one type of material over another.
In more extensive decay or when most of the tooth has broken down, your dentist may in fact recommend that you look at other alternatives such as Crowns.
Teeth whitening and Veneers
Every one of us starts off with beautiful white teeth, but strongly coloured-foods and drinks like coffee, tea, and cola can discolour the surface of your teeth. After a time these stains penetrate deep inside the teeth. Just like white clothes which have picked up dyes and can never regain their original brightness, stained teeth are very difficult to whiten with conventional methods.
Right now, our clinics employ Beyond technology. For a full mouth bleaching, typically one appointment is required, whereby the dentist does the bleaching for you.
We do offer bleaching kits for our patients to take home as an alternative, however diligence is required to apply these kits every day for a period of 10 days.
