Restoring Your Teeth

For our team to understand your situation, we will spend time with you and listen to your concerns and treatment objectives. We will discuss your desires, carefully explain your options and obtain the necessary diagnostic records needed to ensure your treatment is successful.

We are aware the needs of every patient are different, along with every dental procedure. Lifestyles are different as are values and routines. We carefully work with you to personally understand and diagnose your current oral health. This is imperative to providing optimal, long-lasting restorations and appropriate treatment.

The materials we use are of the finest available quality and our techniques are proven methods. You can be sure you are in good hands at Health First Dental.

Restoring your teeth

Tooth enamel is made of the hardest substance in the human body, but your teeth still have their weaknesses. Any sharp blow to the mouth can damage or even knock out a tooth. Breaks range all the way from minor chips to major fractures. Some are just cosmetic problems, but others are true emergencies.

In addition to breaks, you may also lose healthy tooth structure to decay or wear. Decay attacks the tooth by way of decalcification and your saliva’s natural defence is severely hampered when sugar and other acids are left to invade the enamel.

The gradual wear of your teeth is also a concern, especially with the stresses of daily life. Bruxism is the clenching and grinding of teeth and is a common problem faced by many. This involuntary action can cause erosion of the tooth’s biting surfaces.

With all of these potential concerns, it’s comforting to know that if problems have occurred before we were able to help prevent them for you, the Health First Dental team can effectively treat them and restore your smile and your oral health to enhance your quality of life.

Dental Crowns – The versatile applications of a crown has made them a popular and successful restorative option. If a tooth has become weakened through a crack or chip, has undergone root canal therapy, lost a large filling or sustained damage in an accident, a crown restores strength, function and appearance and protects the tooth from further stresses and increases the longevity of the tooth.

Crowns cover the whole of your tooth to protect it from further damage and are a perfect option to restore compromised teeth back to their full potential. They are also a useful option in cosmetic dentistry to instantly realign misshapen or crooked teeth. Crowns are also placed on dental implants to replace a missing tooth or bonded to teeth on either side of a space becoming the supports for a dental bridge, which is replacing several missing teeth.

Dental Bridges – A bridge may represent an excellent alternative to dental implants for replacing missing teeth especially if the teeth adjacent to the space have large restorations and would benefit from being protected by a crown.

A dental bridge is secured by crowns attached to teeth on either side of the space and prevents your adjacent and opposing teeth from moving out of alignment. A bridge may represent an excellent alternative to dental implants for replacing missing teeth.

Dental Implants – The most significant innovation in restorative dentistry has been the development of dental implants.

A dental implant is made from medical grade titanium and may resemble a screw. An implant is placed in a minor surgical procedure and after a short period naturally bonds with your jawbone, replicating a natural tooth root. It then becomes the solid foundation to which a crown, bridge or if several implants are placed, dentures may be secured.

A dental implant will help prevent the loss of jawbone volume and facial muscle elasticity, a concerning consequence of a missing tooth root. A dental implant is the closest restorative solution to a natural tooth.

It becomes the solid foundation to which a crown ,bridge or denture can be secured.

Root Canal Treatment

In the past, if your tooth had an infected or injured pulp (often called the nerve), the tooth may have been removed. Today, with specially developed instruments and modern dental techniques, there is a very high probability of being able to save and restore your tooth to its full function and appearance through root canal treatment.

The purpose of root canal treatment is to relieve pain caused by the infection. While some people may be a little apprehensive about undergoing root canal treatment, with the administration of anaesthetic and innovations in treatment procedures, root canal treatment can be completed in comfort.

If an injury or deep decay has caused an infection that is not treated, there may be no alternative but to remove your tooth. This is always a last resort as tooth removal can lead to further oral health problems.

Infection of the pulp can be caused by:

  • Deep cavities
  • A knock or trauma
  • Crack or chip in the tooth
  • Broken fillings
  • Deep fillings

Symptoms of pulp infection include:

  • Sensitivity to heat
  • Pain
  • Swelling
  • Painful gums surrounding the affected tooth
  • Discolouration

A root canal treated tooth will be weaker than a sound tooth so we recommend a dental crown be placed over the remaining tooth structure as this will increase its strength and longevity.