When you next visit us, feel free to ask for a free toothbrush that is best suited for your teeth and gums.

There are no excuses for not complying with your dental routine now!

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If you are a suitable candidate for a CEREC instant crown, you are more than welcome to watch your own crown being milled in our clinic! Our staff are happy to show off and let you be entertained by this piece of machinery. Sure beats watching fish swim about…

Click here to watch.

The post Could this be your instant crown? appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Lost a tooth? A new 3D-printed replacement might protect against future cavities. Published earlier this month by researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, “3D-Printable Antimicrobial Composite Resins” details a tooth made from materials that kill bacteria on contact.

The post Antibacterial 3D printed tooth appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Thanks to research and technology, bone regeneration for implant dentistry is a usual and routine procedure in oral surgery.

Understanding the principles of wound healing now allows for regeneration of bone to occur using a variety of techniques. Most include cutting through the gum to expose the bone and then augmenting the existing (insufficient) bone by adding bone grafting materials to it. Hence the name “bone grafting”.

Grafting materials include your own bone (sourced from a secondary site), cadaver bone, bovine bone, or synthetic bone. All of these grafting materials have been processed so that they are inert and certified safe for human use. Your body will then grow its own bone around the graft, eventually replacing volume.

Healing of the grafted material can be enhanced by using membranes which cover the grafts to promote and enhance healing.

See more about how we do our bone grafts here.

The post Rebuilding bone in dentistry appeared first on South Steet Dental.

The real problem with tooth loss isn’t just aesthetics, it’s the subsequent bone loss. The alveolar bone, which surrounds the teeth, requires regular stimulation (piezoelectric effect – tiny stresses transmitted via the tooth) in order to stay healthy. Without such stimulation the bone will gradually be lost. It is a process of the body to take bone from where it’s not ‘needed’ to where it is needed. Studies have proven that a lost tooth can result in a 25% decrease in bone width in the first year alone, and will continue to decrease in subsequent years.

As bone loses width and height, gum tissue also gradually decreases. Ability to chew and to speak can be impaired. The more teeth lost, the more function is lost.
Bite collapse can occur when only some of the back teeth, which support the height of the face, are missing. This can cause the front teeth to be more stressed, squashed or pushed forward. Severe bone loss will also result in uncomfortable dentures or the inability to wear one at all.

Fortunately, there is way to keep tooth loss from becoming bone loss: It’s the dental implant. Because the implant actually becomes fused to the living bone, it will continue to stimulate the bone and prevent loss.

Molars, in fact, are usually the first teeth to be lost. Dealing with that first missing molar will help maintain the integrity of the jaw and the structures they support.

Read here for an in-depth discussion on the benefits of dental implants and facial collapse.

The post The hidden cost of missing molars appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Yay, you have a new crown, but after a day that tooth starts to feel sensitive. Sensitivity vary from person-to-person so this can be a difficult question to answer unless you consult the dentist who placed your crown.

It is helpful if you have identified as many of the facts and/or triggers for any symptoms you have. For example, are your teeth sensitive to temperature, taste, touch, pressure, or biting a certain way? It may be as simple as adjusting a minor high spot when you bite. It may even be the adjoining tooth that is sensitive. If you are having a cold, hayfever allergies or sinusitis, it may be referred pain due to the pressure in the sinuses.

Some sensitivity is normal after a crown as the tooth settles down; however, increasing sensitivity or pain after a week or more warrants a follow up visit to your dentist to re-adjust and rule out newly developed issues.

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Dr Henry Chan has successfully completed his Masters program at Goethe University in Frankfurt.

After almost three years flying between Perth and Frankfurt, and about 10 other seminars/tutorials/conventions in between, a Master Thesis and countless formal case studies later, Henry has earned himself the title “Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology”.

If you are interested to see what the Masters program involved, follow this link to the university’s website here.

Congratulations Henry, there are not many dentists in Australia with this title, so we are lucky to have him here in Perth!

Watch out – he’s going to need a bigger business card to contain all his long titles, lucky he has a short name.

The post Dr Henry Chan “Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology” appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Found during one of Henry’s travels:
A painting in the Leopold Museum in Vienna demonstrates the effects of facial collapse.

Facial collapse is a condition that occurs when a person has lost their teeth and his or her body starts to absorb the bone that once supported those teeth. It happens over a period of about 10 years as the bone in the jaw shrinks substantially.A person who suffers from facial collapse has a significantly altered appearance and looks much older than he or she actually is. In addition to the physical toll facial collapse takes on a person, it negatively impacts health.

How does facial collapse occur?

Bones need proper chewing forces to maintain their form and density. The compressive and tensile forces teeth exert on the surrounding bone stimulates the growth and density of the jawbone . When a tooth is lost, the lack of stimulation to its supporting bone will thus cause a decrease in bone volume and integrity. According to credible research, 25% of bone loss occurs during the first year after tooth loss and continues, sometime to the point of fracture.

A tooth is necessary for the development of facial bone, and stimulation of this bone by chewing forces is vital for maintaining its structure. This phenomenon has been ignored in the past and is currently being ignored by traditional dentistry. Dentists most often overlook facial bone loss that occurs after tooth extraction. The general public is often not educated about the anatomic, aesthetic, and functional consequences of continued bone loss. In actual fact, the bone loss often accelerated if the patient wears removable dentures.

Just as the body can absorb bone, the good news is that it can also rebuild.When teeth or dental implants are present in the jaw, a stimulus is sent to the bone that keeps it from dissolving away. This is called the piezoelectric effect, and it is one of the most important reasons for restoring missing teeth with dental implants.

If you’re missing all your teeth, it will be worthwhile in consider investing in dental implants. Placing eight dental implants in each jaw is optimal in preserving your bone. If that doesn’t fit your budget, then the more dental implants you can afford to have placed, the better.

To find out more in detail contact us for our free publication “Dental Implant Reference” where it addresses everything about dental implants.

The post Facial collapse documented on canvas appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Stationed in a foreign country, Alison sought to have a root canal treatment for a cracked front tooth, but awoke from sedation with all her healthy teeth removed.

In pain, unable to eat and ashamed of her appearance, she endured dentures which were “loose, bulky … uncomfortable”.

But in a turn of events, Alison is now smiling again after having implant surgery which restored her health and confidence.

Her case was documented by UK TV series Botched up Bodies.

To see a recent article on her horror story, read here.

The post Implants deliver a second chance appeared first on South Steet Dental.

Thank you to all who supported the cause, and well done to our runners – Demi, Tess, Angel and Henry who devoted their day off to run for a reason!

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