General Dentistry

Here at Temple Square Dental we would in most situations now endeavour to place a white filling in most teeth requiring restoration. White fillings are sometimes used to replace old amalgam (metal based) fillings, or to restore decayed, chipped and cracked teeth.

Composite bonding is a process in which tooth coloured materials are applied to a tooth’s surface, hand crafted and sculpted into shape, hardened, and then polished for the ultimate natural appearance.

Grinding your teeth, an improper bite, the aging process, fillings and tooth decay can all be contributing factors in the wearing down, cracking or breakage of your teeth.

A crown is made to look as real as your own natural tooth and covers the entire visible surface of your tooth. Crowns are attached permanently to the tooth to enhance aesthetics, add strength, durability and tooth stability.

The procedure takes two appointments. At the first appointment, we minimally shape the tooth and place a temporary crown. About 14 days later at your second appointment, we remove the temporary crown. We place your new crown and check the fit and your bite.

With proper oral hygiene, your crown can last up to ten years. However, improper or infrequent brushing and flossing, irregular dental visits can all affect the longevity of your crown.

Endodontic treatment is concerned with the fine space inside the tooth called the root canal. This small area contains the dental pulp which is made up of nerves and blood vessels and other connective tissues.

If the dental pulp becomes diseased or dies it may result in a toothache or abscess. Sometimes there may be no apparent cause but all of the above can result in pain and root canal treatment is most often needed for the relief from this pain and to prevent further problems. During treatment the health of the dental pulp and the surrounding tissues will be assessed with the help of a clinical examination, radiographs and special tests, as sometimes it may be difficult to identify the exact tooth which is causing the problem.

A cavity will be cut through the chewing surface of the tooth to gain access to the root canal(s). The root canal(s) will be cleaned, shaped, and therefore disinfected with fine dental instruments. Then the root canals will be sealed near to their tip with an inert filling material called gutta-percha. The tooth will finally be restored back to its original function.

This treatment may take several visits and the tooth will have a temporary dressing between sessions. The treatment will be made as painless as possible using local anaesthetic and painkillers. Teeth requiring root treatment will often have had very large restorations in them previously or have been badly damaged. In order to restore them adequately and protect the root filling from further infection a cast cuspal coverage restoration (crown) is strongly recommended, particularly in posterior teeth.

Your personal oral hygiene is more important than most of us think and instrumental to our overall wellbeing too. We provide a wide range of high quality hygiene treatments which include cleaning, scaling and polishing and stain removal. This can be done as part of or prior to whitening treatments too.

These can be used to repair a tooth that has fractured or where the area of damage is too large for a filling.

If you have missing teeth, the unfilled spaces may cause the surrounding teeth to rotate and drift out of position thereby causing a host of problems including a bad bite, hard to clean teeth, gum disease and temperomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.

Unlike removable appliances such as dentures, which you can take out and clean daily, a bridge fills a space permanently by linking into your adjacent teeth. Beautifully made out of porcelain, they are extremely durable, correct bite issues, improve speech and are a good way to get your smile back on track.

It takes two appointments to make your bridge. That’s because your bridge is custom crafted in a dental laboratory to precisely fit your teeth.

The procedure takes two appointments. At the first appointment, we minimally shape the teeth in either side of the space, take a special mould of the teeth and place a customised temporary bridge.

About 14 days later at your second appointment, we remove the temporary bridge. We place your new bridge and check the fit and your bite.

Not all wisdom teeth need to be removed, but they all need to be checked by your dentist or an oral surgeon or orthodontist. When they align properly and gum tissue is healthy, wisdom teeth do not have to be removed. Unfortunately, this does not generally happen. The extraction of wisdom teeth is necessary when they are prevented from properly erupting within the mouth. They may grow sideways; partially emerge from the gum buried into the bone. Impacted wisdom teeth can take many positions in the bone as the attempt to find a pathway that will allow them to erupt successfully. These poor positioned impacted teeth can cause many problems. When they are partially erupted, the opening around the tooth is difficult to clean. Food trapped beneath the gums will quickly lead to painful inflammation will eventually cause an infection. An acute infection arises quickly and results in fever, painful swelling, and difficulty chewing and limited opening. Removal of the offending impacted tooth or teeth usually resolves these problems. Early removal is recommended to avoid future problems and decreases the surgical risk involved in the procedure. In general terms, patients bounce back from such surgical procedures much quicker at a young age (teenage years) than as middle age or elderly adults. Also Medical problems arise as we age, which can limit the options available to be used to remove these such as IV anesthesia.