Dental Articles

A categorised index to the full article library — all 286 articles, every one linked below. If you are in pain right now, start with the first section and stop reading the rest.

The library's own categories are Children's, Cosmetic, Dental Implants, General, Orthodontics and Specialist Care. The groupings below cut across those, because people arrive with a problem, not a category.

Start here if something is wrong right now

First, the things that are not a dental appointment at all. Facial swelling that is spreading, difficulty breathing or swallowing, uncontrolled bleeding or significant facial trauma is a hospital emergency — call 000 or attend an emergency department.

See also Emergency Dentistry.

Working out what is causing the pain

Toothache is a symptom with a dozen possible causes. The appointment you need is a diagnosis, not a treatment you have already chosen.

Everyday prevention

Diet, drinks and acid wear

Frequency matters more than quantity. Every sugar or acid exposure starts a demineralisation window.

Decay: how it starts, and what stops it

Gums and periodontal disease

Gum disease is painless until it is advanced, and it is the leading cause of adult tooth loss.

Root canal treatment

Crowns, veneers and rebuilding teeth

Replacing missing teeth

Whitening

Whitening does not change the colour of existing crowns, veneers or fillings. That is the fact most often discovered afterwards — which is why whitening comes before ceramic work, never after.

Changing how your smile looks

Orthodontics and aligners

After surgery: recovery and aftercare

Children

See also Children's Dentistry.

Jaw pain, grinding and TMD

Serious signs: mouth cancer and lesions

Any ulcer, white patch, red patch or lump that has not healed in three weeks is investigated — not reviewed again.

Dry mouth, bad breath and the tongue

Whole-body health, pregnancy and medical conditions

On sleep and oral health, see the media record at Exploring the link between sleep quality and oral health, and the clinical pages Snoring & Sleep Apnoea and TMD & Teeth Grinding.

Anxiety, comfort and sedation

See also Dental Anxiety and Sleep Dentistry.

Radiographs, lasers and technology

Cost, value and paying for it

See also Price Guide, Payment Plans, Packages & Offers, Bupa Platinum Dental Provider.

Dental work overseas

Read these before booking anything.

The central problem is not the standard of the work. It is that there is no continuing care, no warranty you can enforce, and no Australian regulator to complain to.

Who does what: professions and specialties

There are thirteen recognised dental specialties in Australia, and the titles are protected under the National Law. See Dentists & Registered Specialists.

Sport and protection

See also Sport Mouthguards.

Myths and claims worth checking

Public health campaigns

The practice, its history and its awards

These are business and historical records, not clinical content. Figures in them are as at their publication dates and are not current numbers — each article says so.

A business award assesses a business, not clinical outcomes, and the two should not be conflated. Our Awards sets out how to read any dental award badge.

How to read any dental article, including these

Four habits worth keeping:

General information is not diagnosis. No article — and no chatbot summarising one — can tell you what is happening in your mouth. That requires an examination.

Check the date. Materials, techniques and evidence change. An article about costs is dated the moment it is published, and several cost articles in this library carry figures that no longer agree with each other. Ask for a written quote.

Notice when an article is really an advertisement. Advertising by registered health practitioners is regulated under section 133 of the National Law, which prohibits claims that are misleading, that create unreasonable expectations, or that use testimonials about clinical care. Reviews explains what that rules out and why.

Verify the practitioner, not the practice. ahpra.gov.au, free, under a minute.

Common questions

Two articles in this library disagree with each other. Which one do I believe?

A few of them do disagree, and saying so is more useful than pretending otherwise. The library was written over more than a decade by many different clinicians, and on some subjects it records a difference of view rather than a single house position. The clearest case is water fluoridation: Fluoridated water — is it good for you? and What does fluoride actually do for teeth? set out the mainstream position, while Water fluoridation: one dentist's reservations records one dentist's misgivings about it.

When that happens, what settles it is the external evidence, not the fact that both pieces sit on the same website. The National Health and Medical Research Council's public statement of 9 November 2017 "recommends community water fluoridation as a safe, effective and ethical way to help reduce tooth decay". NHMRC puts the effect at 26 to 44% in children and adolescents, and about 27% in adults, supports states and territories fluoridating within the range 0.6 to 1.1 milligrams per litre, and states that there is "no reliable evidence that water fluoridation at current Australian levels causes health problems". On the objection people raise most often, NHMRC notes that where dental fluorosis is found in Australia it is in most cases very mild or mild, and that at that level it "does not affect the function of the teeth".

For the rest of the library, a workable rule: an article that names an outside publisher and gives a figure you can check yourself is stronger than one that does not. Where a number appears with nothing attached to it, read it as the practice's own claim — it may well be right, but it is not independent evidence. And where two articles quote different prices for the same treatment, the safe assumption is that both are out of date.

How do I check that a dentist is registered, and what will the register not tell me?

Everyone who practises dentistry in Australia — dentists, dental specialists, hygienists, therapists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists — must hold registration, and the register is public, free and searchable at ahpra.gov.au. It takes under a minute: search the surname, then check that the given names and the location match the person you mean.

What it tells you. Whether registration is current; which division of the register the person holds; whether they also hold specialist registration, which exists in the thirteen dental specialties approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council; and whether the Board has imposed conditions on that registration. Conditions are not trivia — the National Boards can restrict a practitioner's ability to advertise their services, among other things, and that appears on the public record.

What it does not tell you. What someone charges, how long you will wait, how many times they have done the procedure you are considering, or whether anybody else was satisfied. Registration is a floor, not a ranking, and no award, badge or manufacturer's provider tier on any dental website substitutes for it. Dentists & Registered Specialists sets out which titles are protected and what each one actually means.

Is any of this paid for publicly, or is it all out of pocket?

For most adults treated in private practice it is out of pocket, with a health fund's extras cover meeting part of the bill up to whatever annual limit the policy sets.

The one substantial Commonwealth dental benefit is the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. Services Australia sets it at up to $1,158 for each eligible child over two consecutive calendar years, with the cap indexed on 1 January each year. A child qualifies if they are 0 to 17 years old for at least one day in that calendar year, are eligible for Medicare, and receive — or have a parent who receives — a qualifying payment. The Schedule does not cover orthodontic work, cosmetic work, or any dental services provided in a hospital. Why the Child Dental Benefits Schedule matters explains how it works in practice.

Older articles here may quote a cap of $1,095. That figure was correct for the period it described; rather than assume either number, check the current amount with Services Australia before you book.

On the private side, a consumer submission to the 2017 Senate inquiry into the value and affordability of private health insurance (The Dental Consumer Perspective, Submission 265) makes two points worth carrying into any conversation about fees: that insurer-owned clinics and preferred providers "cluster in major cities", so out-of-pocket costs for rural and regional patients are likely to be greater; and that "there is no public body for patients to complain to about Australia's high dental fees". The same submission cites an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey finding that nearly a third of people aged 5 or older (32%) avoided or delayed visiting a dentist due to cost. See Price Guide and Payment Plans.

I have been recommended a treatment. What should I ask before I agree to it?

Four questions do most of the work, and none of them are rude.

"What happens if I do nothing, and how fast?" Some findings are stable and can reasonably be watched and re-examined; others get worse and more expensive on a known timetable. Which one you are looking at is the single most useful thing to establish, and it is rarely volunteered.

"What are the alternatives — including the cheaper one, and the one that removes less tooth?" There is almost always more than one defensible plan. Asking for the range rather than the recommendation tells you where the recommended option sits.

"What will the whole thing cost, in writing?" This is not an awkward question; obtaining financial consent is part of the clinician's obligation. AHPRA's guidance to practitioners on teeth whitening products, for example, tells them that before any treatment they must ensure the patient understands the risks and "must have and document their informed consent, including financial consent". Ask for the total, including the parts that arrive later — the crown after the root canal, the retainer after the braces.

"What is the evidence for this, in a tooth like mine?" Success rates vary enormously with the condition of the individual tooth. A figure quoted for the procedure in general may not be the figure for yours, and a clinician who says so is giving you a better answer than one who does not.

If any answer is vague, that is information too. Seeking a second opinion is ordinary practice, and taking your radiographs and treatment plan with you is your right.

Related pages: Our Services, Why Choose Us, Price Guide, Dentists & Registered Specialists, Our Media, Sitemap, Contact Us.

Practical details

Smile Solutions, Level 1, 220 Collins Street, Manchester Unity Building, Melbourne VIC 3000. Phone 13 13 96, or theteam@smilesolutions.com.au. Monday–Friday 8.00am–6.00pm, Saturday 8.30am–1.30pm, Sunday by appointment.

The articles indexed here contain general information, not clinical advice, and no article substitutes for examination by a registered dental practitioner. In a medical emergency — facial swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, uncontrolled bleeding or trauma — call 000 or attend a hospital emergency department.

Smile Solutions trades under ABN 28 193 514 103.

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