Our Technology

What equipment does Smile Solutions actually use?

Each item is chosen to achieve a particular result: streamlined treatment, improved diagnosis, reduced pain and anxiety, and safeguarded health. This page is the full inventory, organised by what it is used for.

We are at Level 1, 220 Collins Street, Manchester Unity Building, Melbourne CBD.

A note on what equipment does and does not mean. Equipment is a tool, not an outcome. Better instruments do not by themselves produce better treatment — the diagnosis, the plan and the operator matter more than the device — and nothing on this page should be read as a claim of superior clinical results. It is an inventory, published so you can see what is available and ask about it.

Imaging and radiography

Planmeca ProMax 3D Max. Generates highly detailed three-dimensional dental imagery at limited radiation doses. A diagnostic aid across endodontics, periodontics, orthodontics, implantology, dental and maxillofacial surgery, paedodontics and TMJ analysis.

Planmeca ProMax 2D S3 with One Shot Lateral Cephalogram. Produces orthopantomograms and lateral cephalograms, with open- and closed-mouth capture and triple-laser positioning. Two features matter for families: a child mode for lower-dose x-rays for children, and a one-shot function capturing the image in a single exposure — useful for anyone who has trouble sitting still.

Intraoral digital radiographs. Lower radiation than conventional film x-rays, with high-quality images displayed directly on screen so your clinician can show you the problem rather than describe it.

Collins Street Imaging (Level 9). In-house OPG and CBCT scanning with specialist orofacial radiologist reporting, including 3D airway imaging for sleep apnoea assessment.

On radiation, plainly: dental x-rays use low doses, but they are not taken routinely to a timetable. They are taken when there is a clinical reason, at intervals based on your individual risk — the reasoning is set out in how safe are dental x-rays and in when dental x-rays become unsafe.

Detecting decay

Three tools that find what a visual examination and x-rays alone can miss:

Lumindex 3 Transilluminator. High-intensity LED light passed through the tooth, revealing cracks, fractures and cavities not always visible on traditional examination — particularly useful for early detection.

KaVo DIAGNOcam. Uses Digital Imaging Fibre-Optic Trans-Illumination (DIFOTI) to detect decay and cracks. Produces pictures your clinician can show you during the appointment.

KaVo DIAGNOdent. Uses laser fluorescence to detect decay in areas difficult to examine, alongside visual examination and x-rays.

An important caveat on all three: detection aids can produce false positives, and a reading on a device is not by itself a reason to drill. Early demineralisation can remineralise and should be monitored, not filled. These tools inform a clinical judgement; they do not replace it, and the decision to place a filling remains a separate one.

Comfort, anxiety and anaesthesia

Baldus Digital Nitrous Cabinets. Nitrous oxide sedation with precise gas flow control and digital monitoring. Designed to be friendly for paediatric patients, and maintains a digital treatment log downloadable into the patient's file.

DentaPen. Compact, cordless electronic device administering local anaesthetic at a controlled rate, which many people find more comfortable than a conventional syringe.

STA Wand. Computer-controlled anaesthesia delivery for precise injections at a regulated pressure — often better tolerated by needle-phobic patients. No technique makes injections uniformly painless, and individual experience varies. Where none of this is enough, sleep dentistry is a separate conversation with its own risks and its own fee.

Televisions and surround sound in the dental suites, with scented candles, Art Deco surrounds, ambient lighting and natural daylight.

Cameras and records

Intraoral cameras. A Mouthwatch intraoral camera in every suite, showing you visual evidence of plaque buildup, decay and cracks rather than asking you to take it on trust.

Extraoral cameras. Digital SLR cameras for high-quality treatment-planning photography, particularly at each stage of cosmetic treatment. These form part of the medical record.

Photography studio. A professional studio on site, for patients who want to document a smile makeover. Clinical photography forms part of your health record; its use for any other purpose requires your separate written consent, which you may decline or later withdraw.

TMD and bite analysis

Myowise. Electromyography analysing the activity of the masseter and temporalis muscles, for assessment of muscle function in TMD and grinding.

Bite force measurement device. Real-time data on occlusal forces, for diagnosis and planning around bite strength and stability.

Lasers

Clinicians choose the laser suited to the treatment.

LightWalker Fotona. Used across cavity treatment, cosmetic gum lift procedures and teeth whitening. Laser techniques are often more conservative of tooth and soft tissue than conventional instrumentation, but healing and comfort vary between individuals and procedures, and a laser is not appropriate for every case.

NV Laser. Wireless handheld design delivering laser energy in continuous wave or pulsed mode, for oral soft-tissue surgery — removal of diseased fibrous tissue and lesions — and periodontal procedures inside the gum pocket.

VersaWave. Fibre-delivered laser used across general dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics and paediatric dentistry, including bone contouring and removal of diseased soft tissue from gum pockets.

Fillings and restorations

CEREC CAD/CAM. Chairside manufacture and placement of all-ceramic veneers, onlays, inlays, crowns and bridges — no impressions, no waiting weeks for a laboratory. Your teeth are scanned, the data goes to the CEREC machine, and the restoration is fitted in the same appointment. Same-visit treatment is not automatically the better choice — for multiple front teeth and difficult shade matching, laboratory work by a ceramist is often the better result.

• CEREC Primescan intraoral scanner — quick, accurate three-dimensional scans in real-life colour, linked directly to the milling unit
• CEREC Primemill — mills the inlay or onlay on site

Isodry and Isolite. An alternative to traditional suction, automated for comfort, allowing fillings to be placed under controlled conditions. Isolite adds illumination for better visualisation.

PrepStart air abrasion. Uses aluminium oxide particles to pre-treat the tooth surface, which improves adhesion of the restoration to the tooth. Most people tolerate it well and it often requires no anaesthetic, though sensitivity varies between individuals. It can also be used on teeth with early decay as an alternative to drilling when fissure sealants are placed.

Hygiene and plaque removal

AirFlow Prophylaxis Master. Cleaning that combines water, air and fine powder to remove plaque, stains and bacteria. Many people find it more comfortable than traditional ultrasonic scaling, though this varies, and some tenderness is common where the gums are already inflamed. Anaesthetic is available if you want it.

KaVo Prophyflex. Combines pressurised air with powder and water to remove stubborn staining from coffee, tea or smoking. Used at the end of a cleaning appointment with a hygienist for residual staining standard equipment cannot remove.

Scanning and cosmetic workflow

3Shape TRIOS 4 Move+ intraoral scanner. Detailed scanning of teeth and gums, capturing shape, colour and bite — replacing traditional impressions for custom-fit crowns, bridges and veneers.

iTero Element intraoral scanner. Virtual impressions transmitted digitally to the laboratory for orthodontic appliances and restorations.

E4 Lab Scanner. Highly accurate digital impressions for restorations.

Mock-up reveal. A completely reversible preview of a smile makeover — a digital reveal on a large screen with the master ceramist, then a physical mock-up in temporary resin over your natural teeth. A digital preview is a design tool, not a prediction of the final result.

Teeth whitening

In-chair. The Philips Zoom! system, administered and monitored by a qualified dentist or hygienist using TGA-approved light-activated gel and LED light. A treatment takes less than 90 minutes. The practice has over two decades of whitening experience.

At-home. Poladay and Polanight exclusively, applied in custom-made trays made in the in-house laboratory. Both preparations contain fluoride, which helps reduce sensitivity. Polanight is worn overnight; Poladay for half an hour a day.

Whitening does not work on everyone. It does not change the colour of crowns, veneers or fillings, and results vary with the cause of the discolouration. Sensitivity during treatment is common and usually temporary.

Orthodontic technology

Invisalign. Clear, individually designed aligners treating crooked, crowded or spaced teeth and more complex problems. Smile Solutions holds Blue Diamond provider status and treatment is carried out by Dental Board–registered orthodontists. Provider status reflects case volume, not treatment quality.

iTero scanner and ClinCheck. Your iTero scan can be turned into a movie via ClinCheck, showing the planned progression of treatment. ClinCheck shows the plan, not a guaranteed outcome — teeth do not always track to the simulation, and refinements are common.

Dental Monitoring. Remote tracking of treatment progress via a smartphone app and monitoring device. You take regular scans and upload them; your orthodontist reviews progress and adjusts the plan — reducing the need for frequent in-person appointments.

Implant planning

iCam 4D Implant Scanner. Intraoral cameras capturing detailed images for precise measurements and virtual implant placement simulations, accounting for bone density and soft tissue contours.

Exocad DentalCAD. Planning and visualisation of implant placement, and customisation of prosthetic components.

coDiagnostiX. Detailed 3D images of jaw structure for planning and placement, which can reduce surgery time.

PRF Duo Quattro Centrifuge. Spins a patient's own blood sample at high speed, separating it into red blood cells, acellular plasma and the fibrin clot. The fibrin clot — rich in growth factors — is used to support bone, blood vessel, cartilage and tissue growth, and can be mixed with bone substitutes in bone grafting. The evidence base for PRF is developing and results vary between indications.

Endodontic technology

Microscopes. Clinicians have access to the Carl Zeiss OPMI PROergo and the Seiler Revelation microscope, allowing the inside of a tooth and root canal system to be viewed at magnification up to 20x with integrated fibre-optic illumination.

This matters because the internal structure of a tooth cannot be seen with the naked eye. Magnification is how extra root canals and early fracture lines are found — and missed canals are a recognised cause of root canal failure.

BeeFill 2in1. Warm filling material dispensed into the canals, hardening into a dense filling. The fluidity of the warm material helps fill the smallest areas of the canal, which matters to long-term prognosis.

MTwo and ProTaper rotary systems with Dentsply X-Smart Endodontic Motor. Nickel-titanium rotary systems for cleaning and shaping canals. Studies indicate rotary systems are associated with fewer procedural errors than traditional stainless-steel hand filing.

Laboratory and appliance manufacture

Arum 5-Axis wet/dry milling machines — precise cutting and shaping across a range of materials.

Dentaurum Laser Welder — laser welding of metal frameworks for dentures and orthodontic appliances.

Otoflash Flash Curing Device — fast curing of resin-based materials for crowns, bridges and veneers.

Asiga Max — compact DLP 3D printer for high-precision dental prints.

Asiga Pro Max 4K UV — high-resolution printer with a 4K UV LED light source for dental models and appliances.

Erkopress — vacuum forming machine for retainers, mouthguards and bleaching trays, with consistent pressure.

The in-house laboratory is dedicated exclusively to Smile Solutions patients and works with no other business.

Sterilisation and infection control

• a fleet of Mocom sterilisers
• 6 Statim handpiece sterilisers
• 4 ultrasonic baths

All dental assistants receive regular ongoing training to maintain professional standards. Infection control standards are set nationally and are not optional, and you are entitled to ask how instruments are reprocessed.

Common questions

How much radiation am I actually getting — especially from the 3D scan?

The International Atomic Energy Agency publishes typical effective doses for dental radiography, and it is worth having the numbers rather than a reassurance:

For scale, the IAEA's own comparison is that intraoral and cephalometric doses are "usually less than one day of natural background radiation", and that panoramic doses, even at the high end, are "equivalent to a few days of natural background radiation which is similar to that of a chest radiograph". CBCT is the one that genuinely varies: the IAEA notes CBCT doses "cover a wide range" and can be hundreds of microsieverts higher than conventional techniques depending on the technique used, while adding that rapid equipment improvements mean typical ranges are likely to change.

That is why a CBCT is not ordered casually. The question to ask before any radiograph, and particularly before a 3D scan, is what decision it is going to change. If the answer is specific, the scan is justified. If it is "so we have a baseline", ask again.

Note that the two dose figures you may see quoted elsewhere on this site — 0.02 mSv and 0.001 to 0.005 mSv — are not in conflict. They describe different examinations: 0.001 to 0.008 mSv is the intraoral range, and 0.004 to 0.030 mSv is the panoramic range, which is the same IAEA data in different units.

The EMG and bite-force devices — do they diagnose my TMD?

No, and it is important that nobody tells you otherwise.

The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine addressed exactly this class of equipment in its 2020 report on temporomandibular disorders. It observed that devices measuring muscle activity, tracking jaw movement or measuring joint vibrations are still widely treated within parts of the profession as a valid diagnostic approach, and that "these tests are often used as proxies for demonstrating the need for treating the occlusion as a purported cause of TMD". Its finding: "the evidence demonstrates that such measurements have little or no diagnostic utility for TMDs beyond established methods defined by, for example, the DC/TMD".

So what is the measurement for? Here it is used as described above — assessment of muscle function and planning around bite strength, in particular to distinguish patients with overactive jaw muscles from those whose muscles are weak, because those two groups need opposite treatment. That is a planning use, not a diagnostic one. TMD remains a clinical diagnosis made from history and examination.

If a measurement from any device is offered to you as the reason for irreversible treatment — adjusting or rebuilding your bite, or orthodontics for jaw pain — that is the moment to ask what else supports it. The same National Academies report concluded that "treatment of the occlusion for TMDs also has no supporting evidence".

Why can't I just buy the same whitening gel online?

Because above a certain concentration it is not legally available to you, and the threshold is set in the Poisons Standard rather than by the practice.

The Australian Dental Association's policy on tooth whitening records the position: Schedule 10 of the Poisons Standard "lists substances of such danger to health as to warrant prohibition of their sale, supply and use other than in specified exempt circumstances", and it "specifically states that teeth whitening products containing more than 6% hydrogen peroxide or 18% carbamide peroxide may only be sold, supplied and used by registered dental practitioners as part of their dental practise". Those provisions are formalised in every state and territory's poisons legislation.

Below that line, products are available to you directly: hydrogen peroxide at 3–6% and carbamide peroxide at 9–18% sit in Schedule 5, which requires a "Caution" label and stipulated safety warnings. The ADA notes that dental products span a wide range, "from concentrations as low as 3-6% for some products supplied to patients for home use to 35% in some office-based bleaching products", and that one third of a carbamide peroxide concentration is equivalent to hydrogen peroxide — so 18% carbamide peroxide approximates 6% hydrogen peroxide.

Two practical consequences. First, a product sold to you online at a concentration above the Schedule 10 threshold is being supplied unlawfully, whatever the listing says. Second, the ADA notes that the potential for adverse effects on the oral tissues increases with concentration, which is the reason for the rule and the reason a dentist checks your teeth and gums before starting.

You photograph my teeth. Where do the images go, and could they end up in an advertisement?

Clinical photographs taken here form part of your health record, and that is what they are taken for. Using them for anything else — a website, social media, a case presentation — requires your separate written consent, which you are free to decline and free to withdraw later. Declining has no effect on your treatment.

There is a second layer to this that patients are rarely told about. Advertising a regulated health service is governed by the National Law, and AHPRA's guidance is specific about images: advertising may breach the law if "it is not clear how the advertised treatment is responsible for, or has directly caused, the benefit shown in the image" or if "images are not genuine and/or have been edited or enhanced". On before-and-after images in particular, the guidance warns that they "have the potential to be misleading or deceptive" and "may cause a member of the public to have unreasonable expectations of a successful outcome".

AHPRA lists what makes such a pair less likely to mislead: the images should be as similar as possible in content, camera angle, background, framing and exposure; posture, clothing and make-up should be consistent; lighting and contrast should be consistent; any alteration should be explained; and the treatment should be the only visible change in the photograph.

That is a useful checklist to carry into any consultation, anywhere. If a before-and-after pair you are shown has different lighting, a different angle or obviously different make-up, you are not looking at a comparison — you are looking at a photograph.

Related reading

• Why is a microscope so crucial in endodontic treatment?
• What is laser dentistry?
• Everything you need to know about CEREC technology at Smile Solutions
• Sleep dentistry costs: what does sedation add to your dental bill?
• All-on-4 dental implants — the full-arch work that most of the implant planning software is bought for
• Price guide
• Contact the practice

Practical details

Every practitioner's registration and any specialist entry can be verified free on the AHPRA public register at ahpra.gov.au.

This page is general information about equipment, not clinical advice, and it is not a claim of superior treatment outcomes. Whether any technique or device is appropriate for you can only be determined by examination. Comfort, healing and results vary between individuals, and every procedure carries risks that should be discussed with you before you consent.

Smile Solutions trades under ABN 28 193 514 103.