The practice offers the full spectrum of general dental services, seeking to provide up to date treatment options to fulfil your particular dental need. Our most valuable resource is time. We purposefully do not operate a high volume practise; this is in order to be able to devote sufficient time and attention to each of our patients. With the exception of unavoidable emergency situations, you may expect us to be on time for your appointment.
The following is a description of a few of the interesting things we provide for our patients on a daily basis. There is nothing here that any other competent dental team could not offer you; we would obviously however prefer that dental team to be us. If you would like advise on any other dental topic, or would like to see other topics dealt with at this site, please send your request to advice@thedentist.co.za, we'll do our best.
 

This is not a service you will often see mentioned. Have you ever needed a dentist TODAY!? Was your dentist available? If so, don't change dentists, send the practice some flowers as a thank you for being available. The fact is that most dental practices run on a tight appointment schedule, every minute booked for weeks to come, it makes financial sense. We however have time reserved in each day to accommodate patients with urgent dental needs. This reserved time is usually around midday. If you have need of an urgent appointment, please call us as early in the day as possible. Priority for emergency time is obviously given to registered patients, who of course seldom need an emergency appointment! Don't feel you have to wait till 8:00am to call. If it's physically possible to take your call, we will.

24-HOUR CONTACT NUMBER 031-7652230
 

and then there are fillings:

Restorative Options

To help our patients understand some of the treatment options available, the following is a list of the more common options available for routine restorations (fillings).                    
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The traditional silver/mercury filling. In this practice, used only on the rare occasion that an aesthetic material is impractical.
For many years the standard dental filling material was made from a mixture of silver, mercury and several other metallic ingredients. It was a very clever material, a metal that could be formed to a very precise shape without using heat. Fairly easy and cheap to use, the humble amalgam filling has probably made a bigger contribution to dental health than all our hi-tech inventions of the past couple of decades. Amalgam has served humanity superbly for more than 100 years. The problem with amalgam is that it looks awful, does not bond easily to teeth, and contains mercury. Some countries are phasing out the use of amalgam as a dental material. This is not due to concerns regarding the safety of its use as a dental material, but due to a build up of waste material in the environment. The fact is that we now have better materials. In accordance with the international scientific viewpoint, we do not advocate the removal of existing amalgam fillings for health reasons. All new or replacement fillings however are normally done using one of the tooth coloured non-metallic materials, of which there are several. Having said all that, there are still a very few instances in which amalgam is the material of choice, but not many.
 

This is the "Bread and butter" restoration, suitable for use in the majority of situations; the treatment is completed in single visit. The material is tooth coloured, comes in a variety of shades, bonds to the remaining tooth structure, and is usually hardened by exposure to a bright light source or laser.
 

Sometimes a tooth is so damaged and weakened that we need a material stronger than the normal composite filling. When a dental composite material is subjected to intense heat and light, a more complete polymerization or setting reaction is achieved. This substantially improves the physical properties of the materials. The filling, in this case called an inlay, is shaped and the material light-cured directly in the mouth. However the filling is made in such a way that it can then be removed from the tooth and hardened further in a heat/light oven. The inlay is then bonded into the tooth. This restoration is again completed is a single visit.
 

The indirect inlay is a step up from a normal filling in terms of durability and appearance. In this case an impression is taken of the prepared cavity. The restoration is made by a dental technician in the laboratory, and can be more precisely contoured to match the opposing tooth. Materials used can be composite, ceramic or gold. In the case of composite and particularly ceramic inlays, outstanding aesthetics can be achieved.
 

Used to change the appearance of a tooth while doing minimal damage to a tooth, which may be otherwise sound. Imagine a false fingernail, but for a tooth, and very strong, that's close to a dental veneer. Of course a dental veneer will last a lot longer than a false fingernail. At the first appointment a thin layer of enamel is removed from the front of the tooth. Impressions are taken, and temporary veneers fitted. At the second appointment the veneer, a thin layer of porcelain, is bonded onto the tooth. The bonding system ensures that the veneer is firmly supported by the underlying tooth and results in a very durable restoration. As with indirect ceramic inlays, aesthetics should be excellent.

   Before Veneers

Some call them caps, dentists tend to call them crowns. Cap or crown, they must all fit if you want to wear them. There are crowns and there are crowns, and even more crowns. Available crown materials include ceramic, metal and ceramic, all metal, precious or non-precious metal, composite. It's just a case of picking the best material for the job, in terms of cost, and physical and aesthetic properties. Used to restore a tooth with extensive damage, or as a support for a bridge or fixed partial denture, this is a two-stage procedure similar to that for an indirect inlay. The first visit is for preparation, impressions and temporaries, the second appointment to fit the crown. In certain cases an intermediate appointment is used to confirm fit, shape and shade. Generally a week to ten days is required between impressions and completion.              
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Crown and bridge, or fixed Prosthodontics is used for the replacement of one or more missing teeth using existing teeth to support and retain the replacement. The procedure is just like a crown, except there is usually more than one tooth that needs to be crowned.
 

For those patients who would rather be "Somewhere else" while their dental treatment is done, various sedation options are available. For our younger nervous patient, roughly between three and twelve years old, we find that Nitrous Oxide sedation makes for a happy introduction to dental treatment. Adult patients may also receive Nitrous Oxide sedation, or be treated using an intravenous technique administered by a specialist anaesthetist. Treatment under sedation in the dental rooms dramatically reduces the cost of treatment as compared to similar dental procedures performed under general anaesthetic in a day theatre. The patient also has the advantage of the availability of their dentists' full complement of treatment facilities.
 

The need for the wearing of mouth guards during contact sports cannot be over emphasized. The object of a mouth guard is not so much to protect the teeth, but to help prevent concussion. Much like a crumple zone in a car softens the impact felt by the occupants in case of a crash, a properly made mouth guard softens the intensity of the impact felt by the brain following a blow to the chin. Practising close to several high schools we have seen our share of sports related dental injuries over the years. A mouth guard is a much cheaper option than any kind of dental repair. You can't put a price on avoiding brain injury. Check out www.sportsdentistry.com for an exhaustive discussion on different types of mouth guards.
 

Teeth naturally darken as we age. Over time the cumulative effects of coffee, tea, smoking e.t.c. may result in teeth which are unacceptably dark. Using one of the many tooth-whitening techniques available such discolouration can be rectified. As with all tooth-whitening or bleaching systems, the colour of existing fillings and crowns is not affected. For several years we have been using the range of are prouducts in the "Opalescence" range, manufactured by the Ultradent company. The most poular product is the "Home Bleach"system using custom made bleach applicators. The gradual approach of nightly home applications avoids the need for the agresive chemicals used in more rapid bleaching systems including many light activated techniques. An appreciable colour change is usually seem after four or five nightly applications, depending on the case.