Our Services
Porcelain Veneers / Composite Venners
White Fillings
Crowns and Bridges
Implants
Dental Hygiene
Whitening
How We Look After You
Porcelain Veneers / Composite Veneers
There are many reasons for superficial white, brown, grey or orange spots on the surfaces of teeth. Often these spots are objectionable as they are unsightly. The discoloration(s) on the teeth can be covered with porcelain veneers or composite veneers. Similarly, mild cases of crooked teeth can be corrected in this manner. A dentist will need to assess which of these would be applicable. Porcelain veneers are thin, custom made pieces of porcelain that are bonded/ glued onto teeth very much like a false finger nail does onto the natural finger nail. The teeth are minimally prepared and are therefore NOT a reversible procedure. This procedure takes 2 appointments.
Composite veneers are fillings that are placed on top of the teeth that require it. This happens in one appointment and is a reversible procedure.
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White Fillings
The old debate on the mercury/silver fillings is very contentious. There is an increasing demand for white/ tooth coloured fillings, as the appearance of peoples smile can be dramatically changed. We use both silver fillings and tooth coloured fillings. Fillings are done in the one appointment. There are many indications for each one of them. Many carious/ decayed/ broken down teeth can be restored with white fillings, but there are limitations. As with real estate, location is a main determinant. The next deteminant is the size of the filling that is required. As a rule of thumb: the larger the cavity the better it is to place a silver filling. This may be different for you; a dentist is the only person that can determine that for you.
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Crowns and Bridges
A crown is an artificial cover that is placed over specially prepared tooth to improve strength, function and appearance. Crowns are used most frequently when a normal type of filling is no longer suitable. The more common reasons that cause this to become necessary are:
- when the tooth has been damaged by decay;
- when tooth has been badly damaged in an accident;
- after a root canal treatment when the remaining tooth would be vulnerable to chipping or cracking;
- when a piece of tooth/filling has broken off a heavily filled front or back tooth,
- some badly discolored teeth,
- a cracked tooth.
These can be made of several materials and will be dependant on each individual's case.
A bridge replaces one or more missing teeth. They consist of an artificial tooth anchored to teeth on each side of the gap via a crown.
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Implants
These are the best things that dentistry has to offer in replacing missing teeth. It may be used to replace one tooth to several missing teeth; even the entire mouth. The implant replaces the root of the lost tooth and then a crown is placed over that to create the new tooth. The entire process can take up a year, depending on the situation. The main time is usually a period of 3 months for bone integration to the titanium implant i.e. for the bone to grow around the implant. There are a number of things to consider for an implant to be placed: mainly, a healthy patient with good
bone density and quantity of bone around the area where the implant(s) is to be placed. This is assessed with models and pictures of the surrounding area. A plate/denture may be required while the implant process is being undertaken.
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Dental Hygiene
Here at The Heights Laser Dental Centre, we pride
ourselves on ensuring that everyone keeps his or her teeth for life. We have
a hygiene department in our dental practice that facilitates this for our
patients. This will be managed by a qualified dental hygienist and will
supplement some of the services provided by the dentist. We view this as an important part of your overall health and have dedicated a separate section on gum health.
The dental hygienist specialises in oral hygiene practices- which includes scaling and cleaning teeth, whitening teeth, preventive periodontal (gum) disease treatment.
Both the dentist and dental hygienist will be able to create, manage and maintain your unique smile.
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Whitening
At The Heights Laser Dental Centre, we understand that everyone is unique. Each one of us has their own skin tone, eye colour, hair type, smile and such like. A general standard
Hollywood smile does not reflect the best for everyone. Ever seen the
show called Friends? Remember when Ross whitened his teeth for his new girl-friend; it was so white it glowed in the dark! Whitening of your teeth should enhance your overall smile as an individual. It should not completely take over your image. Our aim is to achieve the best possible smile for each individual but not the same smile for everyone we see.
Tooth whitening is a procedure that lightens the colour of your teeth as it removes staining and discolouration. We provide a whitening service of in-chair whitening with our Beyond light plus a take home kit. The teeth are isolated with a protective barrier and the whitening agent is prepared and placed onto the teeth. The light activates the whitening agent. After several treatments, whitening of the teeth is achieved. A take home kit is issued so you
can maintain the colour of your teeth that has been achieved in the surgery, at home. The kit is used for 30 minutes a day for a week, after the
in surgery treatment. This ensures longer lasting results.
There are two types of staining which occur on our teeth; staining that is on the surface of the tooth or within the tooth. Staining that has been built up within the tooth can only be removed by whitening, on the other hand, staining on the surface of the tooth may be removed by a simple cleaning session with the dentist or hygienist. Why not make an appointment with our friendly staff and see how much we can help you improve your smile.
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HOW WE LOOK AFTER YOU
State of the art technology: digital films - reducing the radiation dose by up to 90% and therefore, there is no need for lead aprons; we use a highly specialized computer program for all our dental records all our dental appointments. Everything is linked to our television screen so that images can be brought up to show you your smile and teeth.
We have an OPG machine which will enable us to view the entire mouth (including wisdom teeth and other pathology) at the same appointment. This eliminates referring you to another clinic to have the OPG
taken and making another appointment for another consultation.
We also have a DeLight Laser machine by Hoya ConBio. Laser dentistry is use to:
- Clean out small decay areas
- Gum sculpturing
- Cold sore removal
- Tongue tie release
Appropriate treatment - after a thorough examination of your oral condition, you will be presented with a treatment plan that best suits your needs and wants.
"It is the dentistry that I would choose to do for myself and my family members."
Dr Greg Chang
Only extract teeth when no other options are available to you.
Infection control - we are continually upgrading our decontamination and sterilizing practices. We place barriers over all our equipment and these are replaced with new barriers after
EVERY patient. We have a very large and clean sterilizing room where all instruments are cleaned and sterilised in our Class B autoclave; the next generation of autoclaves. We have a unique tracking system that allows instruments to be identified in each procedure that we perform, and you may see us placing stickers in your file after each appointment.
Your health is important and we are here to assist you in attaining and maintaining that goal.
Payments - EFTPOS, Master and Visa Cards are accepted. We also have HICAPS. This is a great system where we can claim directly to your health fund after each treatment. In doing so, all that you require to pay is the gap. This saves you going into a health fund office. There are over 30 health funds that can be done processed here including HBF, SGIO,HIB,NIB, Medibank Private, just to name a few.
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