GENERAL
DENTISTRY

During a routine dental appointment, our clinicians will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your mouth, teeth, gums, and other oral structures.

Should further treatment be required, we will talk you through your options, so you feel fully informed.

We suggest scheduling a routine dental check-up twice a year for optimal oral health. Additionally, we advise dental hygiene appointments at least twice a year.

Our approach at the practice is focused on prevention. By seeing you regularly, offering advice, and getting to know you, our aim is to minimize the necessity for extensive treatments while ensuring long-term maintenance of your oral health.

The foundation of preventive dentistry begins at home. We strongly advise brushing your teeth for two minutes, twice a day, along with daily flossing or using interdental brushes. We also recommend lifestyle and diet changes that can help prevent oral health issues.

A filling is a material used to help fill in a gap or cavity in a tooth that may have appeared due to decay, injury or simple wear and tear.

During your routine dental examinations at 406 Dental, we are often able to identify the need for a filling even before you notice any issues.
However, some patients may experience symptoms that signal the necessity for treatment.

These symptoms include heightened tooth sensitivity, discomfort, or difficulty when chewing or biting. If you encounter any of these signs, it is crucial to promptly contact our practice. This enables us to diagnose and address the concern before the cavity progresses further.

At 406 Dental, we provide both white and metal fillings, each offering strength and durability. White fillings offer a more natural appearance and are crafted from a robust composite resin that is easily sculpted and shaped to blend seamlessly with your teeth.

Restorative dentistry, which includes filling treatment, is a relatively routine procedure that begins with the application of a local anaesthetic to ensure you feel no discomfort in the treated area. After the anaesthetic takes effect, we remove the decayed or infected portion of the tooth and meticulously clean the area.

The filling material is then carefully positioned and shaped to fit and blend in with the tooth.

A filling can be cared for just as you would a natural tooth. We recommend brushing your teeth twice daily for two-minutes with a fluoride toothpaste, as well as flossing regularly and visiting us here for regular check-ups.

Dental Crowns are most commonly made of Porcelain, Zirconia, or a precious metal – such as Gold. Porcelain is particularly popular because it provides both durability and a natural tooth-like appearance. It can be colour-matched to your other teeth and reflects light in the same way as your natural tooth surface.

Fitting a dental crown typically requires two appointments. In the first appointment, any decayed, damaged, or weakened areas of the tooth are removed, and the tooth is prepared for the crown. We then take impressions or scans of the tooth and provide you with a temporary crown.

Following this, there is typically a 1-2 week wait while your custom crown is fabricated at our dental laboratory. Each crown is designed and made specifically for each individual patient. Once your crown is ready, we will place it, ensuring an exact fit, and cement it securely into place.

After the treatment, you may experience increased sensitivity around the treated tooth for a few days. Some soreness is normal, and we recommend gentle tooth brushing during this time. As any soreness or sensitivity subsides, you can continue care for your crown as you would for a natural tooth – with regular brushing, flossing, and routine dental check-ups.

A dental bridge can be used to replace single or multiple missing teeth following tooth extraction when a replacement is required. They offer an alternative solution to dental implants or dentures.

Bridges replicate the natural shape and colour of the missing teeth and utilize adjacent teeth as support anchors.

To create a conventional bridge, crowns are placed on the teeth adjacent to the gap, and these crowns are then connected by inserting a false tooth in the space.

An alternative type of bridge is an adhesive bridge, which features a small ‘wing’ that is bonded to the back of the next door supporting teeth, requiring minimal drilling.

It’s highly advisable to replace a missing tooth or teeth in some way, as failing to do so can lead to various dental and oral health complications. Some of these issues include:

• misalignment of surrounding teeth as they shift to fill the gap,
• the potential for food accumulation in the gap, which can result in decay, and the risk of bone loss.
• Missing teeth can also affect your bite, making eating and speaking more difficult and impacting your self-confidence.

Dentures are a treatment designed to replace missing teeth. Traditionally, dentures have been removable and consist of a base, made of acrylic or chrome, which rests on the gums, and a set of prosthetic teeth are attached.

Dentures are available as partial or full sets, enabling them to replace a single tooth, several teeth, or even an entire arch, depending on the patient’s needs.

Missing teeth can affect a patient’s self-confidence and smile, as well as their function and ability to eat. Dentures are a treatment that can help rectify these issues.

At 406 Dental, we offer a wide variety of denture replacement options and will always help guide you to the choice that is right for you.

A root canal treatment is used to treat infection or inflammation of the nerve of a tooth.

The nerve or ‘pulp’ of a tooth can become infected as a result of decay or injury. In some cases, it can cause a great deal of pain to the patient.

Treatment for a root canal can usually take place over just one appointment, but in some cases, it may have to take place over two or three. This is dependent on the extent of the infection present and the damage to the tooth.

During the treatment, local anaesthetic is used to numb the area being treated and stop you from feeling any pain or discomfort. The affected pulp is then carefully removed, and the interior of the tooth is thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and then sealed. This procedure effectively alleviates pain, saves the tooth from extraction, and allows you to maintain a healthy, natural smile.

Once the root canal treatment is completed and the local anaesthesia begins to subside, it is common to encounter some discomfort in the treated area. Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen or paracetamol can help manage this. At your appointment, we will provide you with detailed instructions for post-treatment care to ensure a smooth and comfortable recovery.

Understandably, the idea of a dental extraction can be daunting for many patients. At 406 Dental, we prioritize your comfort and strive to keep you well-informed throughout the process.

To ensure your comfort, we will always use local anaesthetic. This ensures you won’t feel any pain in the area being treated.

After the local anaesthetic has had time to take effect, we will delicately expand the socket of the tooth planned for extraction. This process loosens the tooth before it is then removed. After we have extracted the tooth, the treated area will be cleaned, and in some cases, stitches may be necessary to facilitate a more efficient healing process.

All detailed aftercare instructions will be provided to you during your visit to our practice. However, it’s advisable to avoid consuming hot and cold beverages for a period after your tooth extraction. It’s quite common to experience some pain after the local anaesthetic wears off. In such cases, over-the-counter pain relief can be helpful.