General Dentistry
Dental hygiene is an essential part of your well-being, as infections from teeth and gums can affect your general health and quality of life. Prevention begins from childhood and regular check-ups, teeth cleaning and daily home care reduce the risk of cavities and gum disease.
At Precious Dental, we offer a wide range of general and specialised dental services for you and your family, as part of our holistic approach to total health. This includes routine cleaning, fillings, root canal treatment and extractions. Our team also manages more extensive treatment such as teeth alignment with clear aligners, cosmetic dental procedures, crown and bridgework, gum treatment, dental implants and wisdom teeth surgery.
Children's Dentistry
Introduce children to dentistry early to give them a positive start to dental care. Your child's first tooth appears at around 6 months and can quickly decay without proper home care. Bring your child for a check-up between ages 1 and 2 as by 3, all their milk teeth will already be in place. At age 6 the permanent teeth will emerge and replace the milk teeth progressively. As your child grows, it is also important to assess jaw development and plan for braces if needed.
Scaling & Gum Treatment
Scaling is the term for the procedure used by dentists to remove the Scaling is the term used by dentists to remove the hardened deposits that form on your teeth. These deposits, known as “calculus” or “tartar”, form when the natural calcium in our saliva mixes with the bacteria in our mouth and food debris. Starting off initially as a soft mix called “plaque”, it hardens over time and becomes difficult to remove, causing our gums to bleed and teeth to become shaky. At that point “root planing” is required. This more focused procedure to remove the hardened deposits on the root surface below the gum margin is commonly referred to as gum treatment.
Dental Fillings
Fillings are specially selected dental materials used to fill cavities or defects in teeth as the result of either tooth decay or damage by excessive force. Different types of materials including metals, composite resins, porcelain and zirconia have been used. As the strength, durability, biocompatibility and aesthetic properties are vastly different, the choice of filling material depends on clinical and patient factors including cost. The decayed portion is first removed and the remaining tooth structure then prepared by shaping the cavity and refining the margins before inserting the filling.
Root Canal Treatment
Root canal treatment is the procedure which removes the injured or infected tissues from within the central core of the tooth, known as the pulp chamber and root canals. This is then followed by disinfecting and reshaping the canals before sealing them off from the rest of the body using an inert material and cement. Unlike fillings or crown which repair tooth structure, the objective of root canal treatment is to stop pain and infection. As the canals are fine and require careful manipulation, the use of a special microscope to ensure adequate visualisation during treatment is useful.
Wisdom Teeth Extractions
Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt in our mouths and only appear between ages 16-24 years of age. As most of our jaws do not have enough space for it, they often do not come fully through and are not functional and may cause pain and infection. The term used to describe this situation is that the teeth are “impacted” and the resultant infection is termed “pericoronitis”. In most cases, a surgery is required as the tooth is usually partly covered by the overlying gum and partially buried within the jawbone.
Mouthguards, Jaw Pain and Headaches
Mouthguards are plastic shields which fit over your teeth to act as a cushion or shock absorber in order to protect your teeth from injury. While most understand the need to wear these protective guards during contact sports, damage to our teeth also occurs slowly over time as a result of either habitual clenching of our teeth during the day, or subconscious grinding of our teeth when we are sleeping. This habit, termed bruxism, will over time cause damage and pain to our teeth and jaw joints and may even lead to frequent headaches.