Dental Health―Our Standard of Care
Our Goals for Your Health
Have you ever wondered what to expect once your needed and necessary treatment has been completed? In this section we itemise what we believe are the building blocks of excellent oral health.
To achieve a goal of optimum oral health, you should plan to have a full and thorough examination, followed by careful diagnosis. A plan for your treatment helps prioritise urgent care, medium-term repairs and maintenance and perhaps for some people long-term treatment objectives.
I can't do everything all at once-what should I do?
Not everyone wants to embark on an ideal plan straight-away, so we also help with options for a less than ideal approach with a plan that fits your life right now but enables you to have the opportunity to achieve optimum oral health as time and budget permits.
Dental Goals―The Restored Mouth
Teeth are to be restored using evidence-based, tried and tested techniques that will promote:
- ideal periodontal (gum) health
- Ideal strength
- The longevity of restorations and
- Tooth retention
- Ideal aesthetics
- Ideal occlusal scheme
In plain-speak, this means that we aim to provide durable treatment that lasts as long as possible, looks as natural as possible, and allows you to eat comfortably while not creating stresses and strains that cause fractures and cracks.
We define ideal restorative dentistry as:
- Sealants for unrestored teeth in young people with limited cooperative skills;
- Preventative Resin Restorations in unrestored teeth at risk of caries for patients of all ages
- Using the "Hall Technique": for young people with limited cooperative skills we can preserve their teeth till they are a little bit older
- Following pulpotomies in deciduous teeth, the provision of stainless-steel crowns
- Tooth-coloured bonded composite resin restorations for front teeth with small to moderate defects
- Glassionomer restorations in at-risk teeth (because of root-caries or a lack of natural enamel)
- The option of resin-bonded ceramic inlays and onlays where the cavity is larger one-third of the biting surface of the tooth
- Crowns for teeth following endodontic therapy and where onlays might fail
- Decisions on the type of crown material are based on where your tooth is in your mouth, the biting force and degree of parafunction.
- We use lithium disilicate (e.max®) for front teeth and some back teeth (where aesthetics is paramount); monolithic zirconium or gold for second and third molars.
- Porcelain veneers or ‘creneers’ for aesthetic defects, and to restore lost height or vertical dimension
- Bridges or implants for missing teeth and
- Removable prosthodontics where bridges or implants are not possible or practicable
- We don’t use silver amalgam alloy, but we don’t malign it as a ‘poison’ either
In plain-speak, this means that for each situation where you or your children need a filling, we will provide the choice of the highest quality option required to achieve the goal of optimum care.
Tooth Pain
Tooth pain can be caused by various problems. Oral examination can help determine the cause.Broken or Chipped Tooth
Chipped teeth can be treated either by cosmetic bonding or porcelain restoration.Cavities & Decay
We use modern technology to detect decay in the earliest stages, saving and preserving your teeth.Tooth Stains
We offer a couple of whitening procedures to brighten your teeth and return the smile to your face.Dental Wellness
Many of our patients not only wish to have problems fixed, they want to actively prevent disease, and be well.
What is dental wellness?
Research is showing more and more that eliminating bacterial colonies between gum and tooth, removing sources of chronic infection in deeper bony locations, and retaining as many teeth as possible are all absolutely crucial to a healthy mouth.
Believe it or not, there is a link between how many teeth you have and your risk of developing or worsening diabetes, for example. It makes sense when you think about it: your ability to gain adequate nutrition, eat a wide range of fresh food and chew comfortably diminishes markedly if you lose even one tooth.
Research shows dental wellness matters
Many studies have reported the association between poor oral health and coronary heart disease or stroke, but few of them evaluated peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
Hence, in this study we examined the associations between oral health and PAD.
We found that incident tooth loss was significantly associated with PAD, especially among men with periodontal diseases. The results support a potential oral infection-inflammation pathway.
So, being ‘well’ is a hugely important thing. We offer our patients opportunities to be assessed, understand their current situation, and actively prevent future problems. If you’d like to consider a dental plan for your future, give us a call-we’d be happy to discuss it with you.
The key findings from some of the research papers we reviewed were:
- Compared with patients with no significant stenosis, poor periodontal health including missing teeth, periodontal inflammation, and bone loss is associated with angiographically verified coronary artery narrowing in patients with stable coronary artery disease or acute coronary stenosis. In other words, if you don’t have all your teeth, you’re statistically likely to have cardiac disease problems.
- Periodontitis is associated with angiographically verified coronary artery disease.
- Number of teeth as a predictor of cardiovascular mortality in a cohort of 7,674 subjects followed for 12 years.
- Researchers found for the first time a dose-dependent relationship between number of teeth and both all-cause and CVD mortality, indicating a link between oral health and CVD, and that the number of teeth is a proper indicator for oral health in this respect. Over 7,000 people and 12 years is pretty convincing! And, it’s not just your heart(infarction) or your head (stroke) that might be at risk if you are not orally healthy. Oral health and peripheral arterial disease.
Research papers reviewed
J Clin Periodontol. 2011 Nov;38(11):1007-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2011.01775.x. Epub 2011 Sep 15.
Buhlin K, Mäntylä P, Paju S, Peltola JS, Nieminen MS, Sinisalo J, Pussinen PJ. Source: Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
J Periodontol. 2010 Jun;81(6):870-6.
Holmlund A, Holm G, Lind L. Source: Department of Periodontology, County Hospital of Gävle-Sandviken, 801 87 Gävle, Sweden.
Hung HC, Willett W, Merchant A, Rosner BA, Ascherio A, Joshipura KJ. Source: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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