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A. All new patients are required to fill up a patient intake form before seeing the dentist for check-up or dental treatment. This form allows us to get to know you better and to ensure that our dentists and staff are well aware of any possible medical conditions or allergies that you may have.
After completion of the form, our staff will register your details into the system and you are welcome to enjoy some water or hot drinks while waiting for our dentist to invite you into the treatment room.
Firstly, a consultation will be done by our dentist to find out if you have any issues or concerns before proceeding with a comprehensive examination of your oral health. The attending dentist will inform you what he/she finds and provide you with recommended treatment plan to bring your teeth and gum back to a healthy state. Here at Pure NZ Dental, we believe in educating our patients about their oral health. Our dentists will present you with different options and you should always go for the option that you are most comfortable with.
A. Usually we would recommend bringing your child to see the dentist anytime from 18 months old onwards. By doing so, you are allowing your child to get use to the dentist attending to him/her and they will then be more accepting to dental treatments in the future. Your child will develop a healthy respect instead of fear of seeing the dentist.
We found that most kids who start seeing dentists at an older age due to dental problems, tend to be scared or apprehensive during the appointment as they are not use to the dental environment or having a dentist looking into their mouth.
A. On your child’s 1st dental visit, our dentist will go through every step of the examination with your child. From showing the instruments they would use, to explaining what will be done. This would allow your child to feel at ease and by doing so, our dentist is building your child’s trust and confidence in them. During the examination, our dentist will inform parents what are the issues they have diagnosed. If further treatment is required, our dentist will proceed with the procedures according to how receptive your child is.
Most of the time, our dentist may not do the treatments on the first visit as this may be quite overwhelming for some kids. Our dentist prefers to let the child familiarise themselves with the environment and to let him/her warm up to the dentist.
P.S: We love playing cartoons to entertain children while they are having their check-up done so that they would feel relaxed and comfortable just like being at home.
A. At Pure NZ Dental, we are against restraining the child to allow dental treatments to be done as this would traumatize and instill fear in their future dental visits. Depending on the treatment required and the child’s ability to co-operate, we do offer optional procedures like Happy Gas (Nitrous Oxide) and General Anesthetic.
This would allow our dentist to complete all the necessary treatment while your child is under General Anesthetic or Happy Gas thus removing the anxiety and fear from your child altogether.
A. No. This can happen to anyone, even kids.
Plaque forms when we eat and drink and by allowing it to stay on teeth for a long period of time, it will calcified, turning into tartar and calculus build-up. Hence, it is important to bring your kids for a regular 6 monthly dental check-up.
A. After having a tooth removed, most patients will be advised by their dentist to have a dental implant procedure done. Case suitability depends on 2 factors, patient’s oral health and general health.
A. Our dentist will do an oral examination and a dental x-ray to find out if patient is a suitable candidate for dental implant. After confirmation of suitability, the procedure will start with our dentist giving you an Anesthetic to numb the area that he/she is working on.
Dental Implant surgery is actually painless. You will be numbed up properly so you won’t actually feel a thing.
A. Dental implants are usually cylindrical/tapered in shape and fabricated from titanium and are used to replace missing tooth/teeth in the jaw. It consists of a few parts, namely the fixture(root) abutment (connector) and the crown (tooth). At the moment, a dental implant is a popular choice for replacing a missing tooth or several teeth, and sometimes even to replace the entire dentition.
Dental implants are the best choice as they look and feel like natural teeth, and when done properly will serve as teeth replacement for many years to come. They do not move or slide like dentures do, and what’s best is they maintain the bone mass that usually shrinks when a tooth is lost in the jaw which may change your appearance as well.
A. The process of dental implantation right up to restoring the crown could take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months. The process is divided into 2 parts:
Stage 1: The dental implant fixture is placed in the jawbone
Stage 2: The dental implant crown is fabricated
A. Based on research, 3 months is usually how long it takes for new bones to regenerate to allow the dental implant fixture to be stable and secure in your jaw. This will highly increase your success rate.
A. A qualified dentist who has experience and proper training in dental implants will need to assess each case by examining the jaw as well as taking the necessary X-rays. As long as you are in good health and has enough jawbone, the answer is yes, you can have dental implants!
A. Most implant placements are done with local anesthetic injection. While you are numb, the procedure does not hurt at all! When the numbness wears off you may feel some discomfort which is usually managed with painkillers.
A. As soon as your tooth is extracted, you should definitely consider getting a dental implant. This is because once the tooth is extracted, the bone will begin to shrink. You can’t stop this from happening. For some it happens faster than others, but for most people it may take only a couple of months to lose a lot of bone. You can’t see the bone loss because it happens under your gum. Only an X-ray can tell you how much bone you have got left.
If you waited too long to replace the missing tooth, you might experience too much bone loss, making it harder for a dental implant to be placed. The old adage “If you don’t use it, you will lose it” applies to the bone in your mouth too. For example, if you stop using your legs for a few weeks, it would shrink and become less functional. You will have to go through physiotherapy and may even learn how to walk again.
Once a tooth is extracted, the bone that once surrounded that tooth is no longer stimulated by the force put on it when you chew. Because there is no force or daily stimulation to the bone, it shrinks. It shrinks very quickly and will continue to do so until an implant is placed.
A bridge does not prevent bone loss. A denture or partial accelerates bone loss.
A. Being evaluated for implants will allow you to prevent bone loss. By preventing bone loss, you will save yourself lots of money. You don’t need bone grafting and you will reduce the treatment time considerably as well. Preventing bone loss allows you to look younger as well.
To make matters worse, most of the time, the other teeth will move and shift after even just one molar is removed. The adjacent teeth will begin to tilt on top of each other opening up gaps and spaces.
So don’t wait before the molehill become a mountain. Fix the problem when it’s small otherwise you will be spending even more money fixing more and bigger problems.
A. Basically, RCT is the complete removal of the diseased pulp (nerve) and the complete eradication of bacteria within the canal space in the affected tooth. This is performed using special instruments called root canal files, either by hand or rotary equipment.
A. You need a RCT if you want to save your tooth. Quite often the problematic tooth will cause a toothache which is due to inflamed or infected nerve. Other common reasons are cracked tooth syndrome, trauma or dental decay.
A. No. With effective local anesthetic delivery, the affected tooth will be completely numb which will make the entire process painless. Later on, once the numbness dissipates some minor discomfort can be present for a day or two. This pain is usually managed with painkillers.
A. Usually 2 or sometimes 3 visits. In some unique cases, we could even perform the entire process in a single visit.
A. Many reasons. The main reason is bacteria has found its way back into the canal system causing it to be re-infected. This could be that the initial treatment wasn’t completely successful in eradicating the bacteria. Other reasons are new dental decay or gum disease has affected the tooth. Fractures could also develop after the treatment is completed which is also another reason why RCT fails.
A. Most of the time YES as it’s important to protect the structure of this weakened tooth. After all the main reason why you did RCT is to save the tooth instead of extracting it. So it’s important that you crown it so that it will be protected. Your dentist will be able to ascertain if it is necessary based on the strength and demands of the remaining structure of the tooth.
A. Most of the time YES as it’s important to protect the structure of this weakened tooth. After all the main reason why you did RCT is to save the tooth instead of extracting it. So it’s important that you crown it so that it will be protected. Your dentist will be able to ascertain if it is necessary based on the strength and demands of the remaining structure of the tooth.
A. Functional purpose: When a tooth is heavily filled, the remaining structure undergoes a lot of stress. This could result in the tooth cracking and in due time if the crack is not diagnosed, it could lead to fracture. At this point, the tooth may have to be extracted.
The whole idea of crowning is to protect the “stressed” tooth from fracture. Crowning is also necessary for teeth that have been root canal treated. This is because a root filled tooth becomes weak and brittle.
Aesthetic purpose: This is to change the appearance of your teeth as part of cosmetic dentistry. You may have some forms of discoloration, ,malformation of teeth and dental enamel defects which may require you to crown your teeth if you want to have a better smile.
A. It is a 2 visit procedure. At the first visit, the tooth is prepared and an impression is taken for the laboratory to fabricate the final crown. A temporary crown will be fitted before you are discharged. This appointment normally takes an hour to two hours.
At the second visit, the temporary crown is removed and the tooth is cleaned for the final cementation of the new crown. This step is usually quick and normally takes about 30 minutes.
A. On average a crown could last about a few years or a decade. However, it could last even longer, spanning over decades. The crowned tooth is still a natural tooth so it could still have normal teeth problems like dental decay, root caries, and even gum disease. So, a crowned tooth must still be taken care of, and periodically checked to ensure that the cement is still intact, leaving no gaps for bacteria to enter under the crown causing damage to the underlying tooth structure.
A. There are two common types of whitening treatment: Office (or in-house) and take home whitening.
Office whitening is often done in one sitting and will take about 2 hours long, while take home whitening will take place at the patient’s convenience over a period of time and various applications of the product.
You will usually be able to see results immediately for in house whitening whilst take home kits can usually take a few days and weeks to show.
If you have more questions, do pop in and have a chat with our staff who can advise you on both options.
A. Whitening does not damage your teeth, as long as you are seen by a dentist for a suitability assessment. Basically, your oral health needs to be good before you consider any form of whitening procedure. During the whitening procedure, some patient might feel tingling sensation on different teeth and some patient might not. For most cases, the sensation or “sensitivity” that most people refer to, will dissipate gradually within the next day or so after the whitening procedure.
A. Removing of Wisdom tooth/teeth usually depends on case complexity and it can range anywhere from a normal extraction to a minor surgical procedure.
If you are planning to remove your wisdom teeth, in most cases, an upper tooth would require a normal extraction and a lower tooth would require a surgery.
Our dentist will have an examination done and may also require you to have a x-ray taken to see how the tooth is positioned. After the comprehensive examination is done, the attending dentist would be able to advise you better on the procedure needed.
With minor surgery, you will be able to utilise your Medisave to pay for the procedure. A surgery will cost you $1250 which includes medications and X-rays.
A wisdom tooth normal extraction would set you back from $350 onwards.
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