Abbotsford Dental Clinic is your one-stop shop for a comprehensive range of dental services. Whether you need a standard checkup and clean or a full smile transformation, we have the resources and services you need to smile with confidence. The ultimate dental touchpoint for many Melburnians, Abbotsford Dental Clinic is accessible for central and inner city dwellers alike. Whether you’re seeking a Richmond dentist or you hail from Kew, Abbotsford Dental Clinic is where you want to be — it has location and quality on its side.

What Services Does Abbotsford Dental Clinic Provide?

General Dental

Though it’s far from a smile transformation, a checkup and clean can be all the reassurance you need to feel affirmed in your smile. Even if you miss the mark during a checkup, our dentists can provide constructive feedback to help set your smile straight. During the ‘clean’ portion of your checkup and clean, we’ll give your teeth a Prophy-Jet polish to remove plaque and staining. You’ll walk out of your checkup feeling brighter and whiter!

If, throughout your checkup, we notice decay or infection that runs as deep as your tooth root, we may recommend root canal treatment or tooth extraction, depending on how severe the issue is. If your case calls for either of the above services, you’ll almost certainly be in the market for a dental crown, which is a step in the direction of smile transformation.

At Abbotsford Dental Clinic, we offer holistic and sleep dentistry beneath our general dental umbrella. If you would prefer a holistic rather than traditional approach, we can arrange that for you. If you experience extreme dental anxiety, sleep dentistry could be your ideal solution. To review your options, you are welcome to chat with one of our friendly staff members.

Cosmetic Dental

If you want a full smile transformation, cosmetic dentistry is the route you should take. At Abbotsford Dental Clinic, we host a whole suite of cosmetic treatments to elevate your smile.

White Fillings

If you’ve experienced tooth decay that’s less drastic than those requiring root canal treatment or tooth extraction, a filling may be just the ticket to restoration. The problem herein is that most fillings use amalgam: a silver material with a strong colour contrast to natural teeth. At Abbotsford Dental Clinic, we use white fillings that seamlessly blend with your teeth. They consist of glass particles, resin and a malleable setting ingredient.

Dental Veneers

One of the most popular cosmetic dental treatments, dental veneers are porcelain or composite resin shells tailored to your smile. While you can opt for only one veneer or a set of up to 16, most patients go for between six to eight veneers. Perhaps our best service for smile transformation, dental veneers will mask chips, cracks, crookedness, gap-toothedness, staining and discolouration. Most patients will choose porcelain veneers, as this material is stain-resistant, longer-lasting and a closer aesthetic match to natural teeth. Composite veneers can be better for beginners, although they will stain over time.

Before undergoing the veneers procedure, it’s important to note that it usually involves permanent alterations to the teeth. If you opt for porcelain veneers, they will become a lifelong commitment, and you will have to change them every 15 years or so (5–8 years, in the case of composite veneers).

Teeth Whitening

Happy with the teeth you have but wish they were a few shades brighter? Teeth whitening could be the way to transform your smile. When it comes to teeth whitening, Abbotsford Dental Clinic offers two options: an in-chair procedure or take-home trays. The former option is faster, taking approximately 45 minutes and no longer than an hour, and involves applying peroxide-containing products to the teeth, which the dentist activates with hear, light or laser. The latter involves spreading similar whitening products into custom-fit teeth trays and wearing them at designated periods. Although they have convenience on their side, the trays will take seven to fourteen days to yield results. Alternatively, you can use the trays in the days following the in-chair procedure in order to keep that healthy glow.

At Abbotsford Dental Clinic, we use Zoom whitening: the most well-regarded whitening treatment in the dental world. Forty per cent more effective than non-light-activated systems, Zoom’s light-activated technology will dial your teeth up to eight shades whiter in just one hour.

Invisalign®

Move over, braces: clear aligners are the new and improved way to straighten your teeth. Invisalign® is the leading clear aligner brand, and we have it available here at Abbotsford Dental Clinic. From crowding, crookedness and gap-toothedness to underbites, overbites and crossbites, Invisalign® can fix your dental alignment issues. Using X-rays, pictures and impressions of your teeth, we custom-make your clear aligners to your set of pearly whites. To activate their magic, you must wear these plastic tooth moulds for 22 hours per day. You will also need to switch to a fresh set every one to two weeks.

Overall, Invisalign® trumps braces because they’re more discreet — virtually invisible, as the name suggests — and more comfortable than braces’ abrasive hold. They’re also removable and have a faster average timeframe (six to eighteen months versus one to three years). That said, Invisalign® is higher maintenance than braces. You must remove them to eat and drink, ensuring to brush your teeth before wearing them again. The only exception to this rule is when you drink water.

Restorative Dentistry

On the other hand, a smile transformation for you may be more about reclaiming what once was. Whether you’ve lost one or all of your teeth, our restorative dentistry services are all about replenishing a toothy grin.

Dental Implants

If you’ve lost a tooth all the way down to the root, a dental implant is the closest replacement you’re going to get. A dental implant is a titanium screw that a dentist or dental surgeon attaches to the jawbone while you’re under local anaesthesia. To have dental implants is to undergo major oral surgery, but the payoff is two-fold:
You’ll never have to remove your prosthetic teeth from your mouth (unless your implants require replacing, but this wouldn’t happen for at least 15 years)
When the implants eventually fuse with the jawbone, they will provide the stimulation required to preserve jawbone density and volume, preventing jawbone recession and deterioration. In this regard, dental implants have all other tooth replacements beat.

Though the titanium screw is the defining factor of a dental implant, it’s the most invisible part. Atop the titanium sits the abutment, atop which a dental crown sits. Strengthened by the screw, the crown should function as a natural tooth. It should have a greater biting power than dentures or dental bridges.

Dental Bridges

On the other hand, some patients prefer to bridge a dental gap with a dental bridge, and this is a perfectly valid choice. Not only is it a less invasive solution, but it’s also an opportunity to fix the aesthetics, shape and alignment of your teeth. When you lose a tooth, surrounding teeth may shift to compensate for the loss. A dental bridge can prevent this from happening, protecting your dental occlusion (bite).

If you’re opting for the traditional model, you’re looking at a dental bridge consisting of at least three dental crowns. The middle crown(s) occupy the dental gap, while the outer two will sit atop the two adjacent teeth. Traditional bridges — and their two-toothed variants called cantilever bridges — can be controvertial choices. As is the case with veneers, dentists must make irreversible changes to the adjacent teeth to accommodate the prosthetics.

If permanent tooth alterations aren’t for you, Abbotsford Dental Clinic also provides the option of resin-bonded bridges. Consisting of a single crown, the resin-bonded bridge sits in place thanks to its metal or porcelain wings, which sit behind adjacent teeth for support. Securing them is a simple case of bonding them in place with resin — which is something your dentist will do. A dental bridge may occupy a small space, but it’s sometimes all you need to transform a whole smile.

Dental Crowns

As you may have gathered by now, a dental crown is a prosthetic tooth that sits on top of either an implant or a natural tooth. Made from porcelain, metal or a porcelain and metal hybrid, crowns are the ultimate aesthetic solution that also mimic the functionality of natural teeth. Aside from their application to dental implants and bridges, here are some reasons you may need a crown:

You need to restore or protect a broken, cracked, chipped, decayed or worn-down tooth
You need to protect a tooth following root canal treatment or a large filling
You want to cover misshapen or discoloured teeth.

If you opt for a crown to cover a natural tooth — as opposed to an implant — it’s important to note that the dentist will make permanent alterations to the tooth, as they would when fitting a dental bridge. In any case, your crown fit like a glove, as your dentist will take pictures and impressions of your mouth, which will form the blueprint for bringing your crown to life. Once the lab technicians have created your crown, the only thing left for your dentist to do is cement it into place. What a transformation restoration!

Dentures

Or, maybe you want to restore your smile in the least invasive and most cost-effective way possible. When most people think of dentures, they think of full dentures, which consist of a full upper and lower row of prosthetic teeth. But did you know that you can also purchase partial dentures? As the name may suggest, partial dentures consist only of the prosthetic teeth you need to complete your smile. Regardless of whether you require us to replenish your whole mouth or to fill a few gaps only, we will custom-fit your dentures to your mouth. In the dental world, customisation is key to smile transformation as no two mouths smile the same.

One downside of dentures is that they require frequent maintenance. Your mouth and jaw will change shape throughout your life, and because your dentures are an artificial appliance, they won’t grow with you. For this reason, you should send your dentures in for a remoulding or refitting every one to two years. This way, you can smile, speak and eat without issue.

Dental Emergency

Sometimes, a smile transformation can be a simple case of recovering your smile following a dental emergency. While ‘dental emergency’ can sound ambiguous, the general consensus is that if it doesn’t involve blood, it causes debilitating pain. Common dental emergencies include:

Severe toothache
Broken, cracked or chipped teeth
Knocked-out teeth
Abscessed teeth
Dislodged crowns or fillings.

If you encounter a dental emergency, it’s important to see a dentist sooner rather than later — especially in the case of broken or knocked-out teeth. If you encounter any or both of these emergencies, you must receive dental attention within two hours, lest you jeopardise your chances of restoring the tooth or teeth in your mouth. If your dental trauma occurs outside of Abbotsford Dental Clinic’s operating hours, see if you can find a 24-hour dentist or emergency room near you.

At Abbotsford Dental Clinic, we put aside spaces in our everyday operating hours to accomodate emergencies. So, if your dental emergency happens between the hours of 8am to 5pm on Monday through to Saturday, book an appointment with us immediately.

Transform Your Smile at Abbotsford Dental Clinic

As you can see, smile transformation can mean many things. Some patients consider their smile transformed following a stain-removing clean every six months. Some patients want a grin full of dental veneers — or dental crowns. And some patients are glad if we can work our emergency magic to undo their dental traumas. Whatever ‘smile transformation’ means to you, you can count on the dental clinic Fitzroy North — and all of Melbourne’s (inner) city dwellers — love. Want to transform your smile? Make your next appointment with Abbotsford Dental Clinic.