Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Post Extraction Instructions

Extraction sites generally heal over within 7 days following surgery. Healing may be delayed in smokers and patients with medical conditions. 

First 24 hours after extraction

Numbness

• Numbness of your lip or palate may persist for several hours after the procedure.
• Avoid eating hard chewy foods and drinking hot liquids until the anaesthetic has worn off to prevent injury from accidentally biting yourself.

Bleeding

• Minor bleeding that results in a pinkish tinge to your saliva is normal and may occur for the first 24 hours after the extraction
• Avoid rinsing or spitting as this may dislodge the clot
• Avoid heavy physical exertion for 24 hours
• If slightly heavier bleeding occurs:
• Place a piece of gauze over the extraction site
• Bite firmly on the gauze for at least 30 minutes
• Rest quietly with your head elevated

If the bleeding continues, call the practice on 8610 6697 or if required seek medical attention.

Pain

• If required, take over-the-counter pain medication in accordance with the instructions on the box, taking care to keep within maximum daily dosages
• Avoid taking aspirin
• If pain medication has been prescribed, take it as instructed by the practitioner / dentist
• Notify the practice immediately of any problems that may arise from medications being taken

Brushing and flossing within the first 24 hours after the surgery

• Avoid rinsing your mouth vigorously
• Brush your teeth gently but thoroughly and avoid brushing directly on the extraction  site

The days after surgery

• If numbness persists after 24 hours, please call our practice immediately
• Do not smoke for at least 48 hours
• Avoid food with nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc, which may get lodged in the socket areas.

Sutures / stitches

• Sutures will resorb or fall out on their own usually 5-7 days after the surgery
• If sutures need to be removed, your practitioner/dentist will schedule a follow up appointment with you

If you experience constant and radiating pain 5-7 days after the surgery, call our practice immediately on 8610 6697.

If you do have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.

A fissure sealant is not the same as a filling. A filling will restore a cavity in a tooth, while a fissure sealant offers excellent protection and prevents the fissure from needing a filling. The fissure system in a tooth is made up of grooves and pits typically found on a back tooth’s biting surface and can be prone to future decay. 

The pits and fissures are often deep and narrow and can be difficult to clean. The bristles of a toothbrush can be too thick and inefficient at removing trapped food or bacteria. The fissures are five times more likely to decay than other tooth surfaces and the risk is greatest in the first five years of the tooth erupting. Bearing this in mind, the fissure sealant has become a common preventive procedure for children once their first permanent molars erupt at around six years of age. At between 11 to 14 years of age, the other permanent teeth erupt. These molars and premolars can be sealed if they are at risk of decay.

At Willow Dental Care, our dentists in Norwest, can examine your child’s fissures to see if sealing them could be a good preventive strategy. The dentist can take photos to show you how deep the fissures are, or if food or plaque are being trapped and take x-rays to assess for hidden decay. Often its best to wait until the tooth is fully erupted unless there is a history of decay in which case an early GIC based sealant can be applied. Even baby teeth can be sealed or older adult teeth if needed. 

How Is Fissure Sealant Treatment Done?

The dentist will assess and examine the mouth and teeth and advise you if fissure sealants are necessary. Some teeth have flat smooth fissures and no history of decay and may not need fissure sealants. The dentist will always be checking for decay, in which case a fissure sealant would not be done.

Fissure sealing does not hurt and is not invasive. Fissure sealants always start with a thorough clean of the tooth surface. The fissure system is then coated with an etchant so the sealant will bond to the enamel. This is rinsed and dried and then kept dry for the procedure to work. Adhesive resin and/or liquid sealant is painted on and cured with a light so that it sets hard. We often explain it simply by saying that it’s just like painting nail polish, but on teeth. 

How Long Do Fissure Sealants Last?

Fissure sealants can wear down over time and can chip. People who chew a lot of ice and nuts will wear their sealants out faster. At six monthly check-ups your dentist will be looking at how the fissure sealant is going. Typically, once the tooth is past the first 5 years the risk of the tooth decaying has halved and the decision about whether to replace it will be made based on the patient’s personal decay risk. If the fissure sealant needs a top up or repair this can be pick up easily as the fissure sealant is visible and white on the tooth surface. 

Regular brushing, flossing, a low-sugar diet and fluoride are also key components to decay prevention.

Is There Any Risk with Fissure Sealants?

There is no reported toxicity of fissure sealants. Some children find dental procedures uncomfortable and may not tolerate a lot of cleaning, washing or drying or have a sensitive gag reflex. Your dentist can help with all these issues. If you have any concerns, please discuss them with your dentist. 

As a preventive measure fissure sealants are affordable, and prevent more costly dental treatment such as fillings. For more information on the cost of a fissure sealant and appointment availability please call Willow Dental Care on 8610 6697.

We have found that most Hills District Mums have been well supported and educated on oral health and hygiene through the baby and toddler stages through community nurses and mothers groups.

In Baulkham Hills, most of our first visit patients come to see us at the age of 3, and we find this to be a great stage to make for a fun first dental experience. There is no pressure, though. Every child is different in what they are ready for at the dentist. At the first appointment, we usually count their teeth, introduce them to a few simple things, like a polish, if they allow. A ride in the chair by themselves or on a parent's lap is a simple start. We also teach them how to play their part in oral care and give you some guidance on our personal tips and tricks for making even the most reluctant brusher happy to make it a habit.

The Australian Dental Association recommends you bring your child for their first visit after the appearance of their first tooth at 6-12 months to check the tooth and mouth and recommend cleaning and diet habits. These really young ones are most welcome in our surgery. We can comfortably perform an assessment of your little one's mouth which can alleviate worry or create a plan for care if you are concerned about the changes in their developing dentition.

As a parent, if you are at all worried about their mouth, please bring your little one for an appointment at any age. We have found that Mums and Dads know their child best, and any concern deserves attention.

How Do I Prepare My Child for the First Visit?

• Start an oral hygiene habit early with their first teeth, using a cloth to wipe them over and continue a good oral hygiene habit of brushing morning and night for your child.
• Use positive language about their upcoming trip to see us.
• Make a game of dentistry. Play dentist and count their teeth, and let them count your teeth.
• There are lots of books about your child's first visit to the dentist. The episode "Peppa Pig goes to the Dentist" has been a very popular prelude to a young one's first visit.
• If your toddler is happy in their pram while you have your check-up, bring them along! A ride on the chair with mum or dad is a great playful introduction.

Children's Dentistry in Norwest

We invite you to reach out to our friendly team to book your child's first dental visit. Our experienced team is great with children and looks forward to meeting your little one.

Porcelain veneers are custom-made shells our dentist secures to the front surface of your tooth or teeth. Veneers can improve the shape, colour and overall appearance of one's smile. 

Veneers are a popular choice for patients who want to correct issues like chipped, stained, gapped or uneven teeth with a long-lasting and natural-looking result.

What to Expect at Willow Dental Care

At Willow Dental Care, we use high-quality porcelain that mimics the light-reflecting properties of natural enamel so your veneers look and feel just like real teeth. Each set is carefully crafted to suit your face, smile line and personal preferences.

The process usually takes two appointments: the first to prepare the teeth and take impressions, and the second to place the veneers with precision. 

Veneers are ideal for patients looking for a more permanent solution than whitening or bonding, and they can dramatically improve your overall appearance in just a few visits. Porcelain veneers can last 10–15 years or more with proper care, like brushing daily, flossing daily, a healthy diet and getting regular check-ups and cleans. 

Speak with Our Cosmetic Dentists in Norwest, NSW

We invite you to book a consultation with our team to see if porcelain veneers are right for you. 

The longevity of all restorations is varied based on the remaining tooth's structure and the ongoing home and professional care.

You care for your crown in the same way as we recommend caring for your teeth. If you don't already, make a habit of good brushing techniques twice and day and flossing once a day. It's also important to attend your routine cleans at your dentist's practice.

What Can I Eat with a Crown?

Your diet also has an impact. Your dentist in Baulkham Hills can discuss your dietary habits and their effects on teeth, fillings, crowns and inlays.

Another factor we might consider is if you habitually clench or grind your teeth. Again, there are many areas to consider, including your sleep and airway. If you have nighttime tooth grinding, sometimes an occlusal splint or night guard can be made to protect your teeth and restorations.

If that's the case, our dentist will advise you of that when you visit us for a consultation. If you do not protect your teeth from grinding, it's possible that the pressure could crack or break your dental crown.

Dental Crown in Norwest

If you're seeking a dentist to place a dental crown, you have found a kind and caring team with the experience necessary to provide you with exceptional treatment.

We welcome your call to book your appointment at Willow Dental Care.

While dental fillings are great for repairing small areas of decay or damage, they aren’t always strong enough for larger problems. If a tooth has a large cavity, fracture or is weakened from previous treatments, your Norwest dentist may recommend a crown or onlay to provide better protection and long-term stability.

Crowns: Cover the Entire Tooth

A dental crown covers the entire visible surface of the tooth, making it the best option when a tooth is heavily damaged, has undergone a root canal or is at risk of breaking. It restores strength, function and appearance, allowing one to chew and speak comfortably.

Onlays: Cover a Portion of the Tooth

An onlay, on the other hand, is a more conservative restoration that covers only the affected portion of the tooth, usually the chewing surface and one or more cusps. It’s ideal when the damage is too extensive for a filling, but the rest of the tooth is still healthy enough to preserve.

Our Norwest Dentists Welcome Your Call

Choosing between a crown and an onlay depends on the size, location and condition of the tooth. Your dentist will carefully evaluate your situation and recommend the most appropriate treatment to protect your tooth and keep your smile functioning at its best.

Dental implants in Norwest, NSW, are an excellent option for replacing missing teeth, but not everyone is a candidate right away. To be eligible, you’ll need healthy gums and enough jawbone density to support the implant post. If you’ve experienced bone loss, procedures like bone grafting may be recommended to help prepare the area for implant placement.

Who Is a Candidate?

Dental implants are ideal for patients looking for a permanent, natural-looking solution. Unlike removable dentures, dental implants are fixed in place and feel just like real teeth. They restore full function for chewing and speaking, help prevent jawbone shrinkage and preserve the alignment of surrounding teeth.

After surgical placement by a specialist, the dental implant will need time to heal and integrate with your bone, usually over a few months. Once healed, we place a custom-made crown or bridge to complete your new tooth. 

Caring for Your Smile

Caring for your dental implant is much like caring for a natural tooth: daily brushing, flossing and regular dental check-ups will keep it healthy and long-lasting.

We Welcome Your Call

If you’re missing a tooth and want a stable, long-term solution, dental implants may be the perfect fit. We invite you to book a consultation to find out if you’re a good candidate. 

If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, your first step is to call your Norwest emergency dentist as soon as possible. At Willow Dental Care, we prioritise urgent cases and aim to fit you in quickly, often on the same day.

When you arrive, we’ll begin with a prompt but thorough examination to identify the source of your pain or injury. This may include digital x-rays to get a clear picture of what’s happening beneath the surface. Once we know the cause, we’ll explain your treatment options and focus on relieving your discomfort right away.

Depending on your situation, emergency treatment may include:

• Pain relief and medication
• Temporary or permanent fillings
• Tooth repairs or replacements
• Abscess drainage or infection control
• Tooth reattachment (if you've brought in a knocked-out tooth)

Our goal is to stabilise your condition, stop the pain and prevent further damage, especially if there’s risk to surrounding teeth or tissues.

We understand emergencies can be overwhelming, so we’ll talk you through each step and make sure you feel supported and informed throughout your visit.

Dental Emergency? Please Call Us!

If something feels wrong, please don’t wait and call your emergency dentist in Norwest, NSW. Prompt care could mean the difference between saving or losing a tooth.

Try and find the fragment and bring it with you to the dentist as soon as possible.

We will endeavour to reattach the fragment or rebuild the tooth. If the nerve is exposed, a dressing against the nerve to help maintain and keep the nerve alive may be placed. Rest assured that at Willow Dental Care, we have the appropriate materials to repair and maintain the tooth the correct way. Some practices only carry materials that can cause the tooth to become grey over time.

Caring for your dentures properly helps extend their lifespan, maintain comfort and support your overall oral health. A consistent daily routine is key, whether you have full dentures or partial dentures. 

How to Care for Your Dentures

Start by removing your dentures each night to give your gums a rest. Soak them overnight in a denture-cleaning solution or plain water (never hot water, as it can warp the material). This helps keep them clean and prevents them from drying out or losing shape.

Each morning and evening, gently brush your dentures with a soft-bristled toothbrush or denture brush. Use a non-abrasive denture cleanser, and please avoid regular toothpaste, which can scratch and damage the surface. Rinse your dentures thoroughly after cleaning and before putting them back in your mouth.

Don’t forget to care for your mouth, too. Gently brush your gums, tongue and the roof of your mouth with a soft toothbrush to remove plaque and stimulate circulation.

Handle your dentures over a soft towel or basin of water to avoid breakage if dropped. If your dentures ever feel loose, cause irritation, or don’t fit properly, see your dentist in Norwest, NSW. Adjustments or relines may be needed.

Our Dentists in Norwest Welcome You

With proper care, your dentures will remain clean, comfortable and ready to help you smile with confidence.

We invite you to call us if you need any adjustments or if you have any questions or concerns. 

Are you worried about coming to the dentist? Dr Shabnam from Willow Dental Care in Norwest, NSW discusses dental anxiety and how the team at Willow Dental Care help put you at ease.

At Willow Dental Care Norwest, we use a fluoride varnish, one of most effective forms of preventive fluoride treatment. The fluoride acts to harden the enamel surfaces of healthy teeth, as well as to reverse any early enamel decay. It helps with tooth sensitivity and to protect exposed root surfaces. It is also a great protective factor during orthodontic treatment when it is often hard for children and teenagers to clean around braces. Your teeth may feel sticky afterwards, which is quite normal. To achieve the most cavity fighting effect from your fluoride treatment, please avoid hard foods, alcohol, brushing or flossing for 4 hours, and avoid eating/drinking/rinsing for 30 minutes.

Proper care of your clear aligners is essential to keep them clean, clear and working effectively throughout your treatment. Fortunately, caring for them is quite easy and simple. 

First, always remove your aligners before eating or drinking anything other than water. This prevents staining, warping and food particles from getting trapped. 

After eating, we strongly encourage you to brush your teeth before putting the aligners back in. Doing so helps prevent plaque buildup and keeps your aligners fresh and bacteria-free.

Please also clean your aligners twice a day using a soft toothbrush and lukewarm water. Avoid hot water, which can warp the plastic. You can also use a gentle, clear liquid soap or an aligner-cleaning solution (available in most dental care aisles or through your Norwest dentist). Avoid toothpaste, as it can be abrasive and cause scratches that make aligners look cloudy.

Store your aligners in their protective case whenever they’re not in your mouth. We recommend avoiding wrapping them in napkins or leaving them out, as they’re easy to lose or accidentally throw away.

Clear Aligners in Norwest, NSW

With consistent care and good hygiene habits, your clear aligners can stay nearly invisible and comfortable to wear throughout your treatment.

If you have any questions or concerns, we welcome your call! 

Root canal treatment has a scary reputation, but in reality, it's a straightforward, pain-relieving procedure that can save your natural tooth. Thanks to modern dental techniques and effective local anaesthesia, most patients report that having a root canal feels no more uncomfortable than getting a dental filling.

You may need a root canal if the soft tissue inside your tooth (pulp) becomes infected due to decay, trauma or a deep crack. Signs can include a persistent toothache, swelling, sensitivity to hot and cold or pain when biting. If left untreated, the infection can worsen and even lead to tooth loss.

During the procedure, the dentist will gently remove the damaged pulp, clean out the canals and seal the tooth to prevent further infection. In most cases, we place a custom dental crown to restore strength and function.

After your root canal, you might feel some mild soreness, but this typically fades within a day or two and can be managed with over-the-counter pain relief.

Gentle Root Canal in Norwest, NSW

A root canal doesn’t just stop the pain; it helps preserve your natural smile for years to come. If you’re nervous, we invite you to speak with your Norwest dentist. We're here to help you feel comfortable and at ease!

Our research into the literature explains it. Extrinsic stains are commonly on the tooth's surface from food like tea, coffee, red wine or smoking. These surface stains can be removed. However, intrinsic stains come from colour molecules inside the tooth and are impossible to clean with regular external polishing.

The reasons for intrinsic colour are varied:

Born This Way

Occasionally, tooth colour is just something in our genetics like hair, skin and eye colour. Our teeth erupt already containing organic debris in the microstructure of the enamel and a genetic colour in the dentine, both giving the tooth its colour.

Age

Another possibility is that as we age, the pulp nerve and blood vessels) shrinks, and dentine increases in size and can be yellow or brown within the tooth. With age, the colour molecules keep joining together, creating longer and darker molecules. Sitting inside the tooth, they make an overall increasing yellow or darker hue to our smiles.

Absorbed Over Time

Also, with time, our teeth pick up organic debris the soaks into the microstructure of the enamel. The stain molecules link like magnets, getting longer, going deeper and becoming darker as we age.

These colours are chemically long-chain pigments. The atoms have tight bonds called chromophores which absorb light, making the tooth look darker. This material can't be removed with surface polishing at the dentist or abrasive toothpaste-like charcoal or whitening toothpaste.

The aim of professional whitening products containing either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide is to break down to oxygenate and disintegrate and convert these long and dark molecules deeply into the microstructure of all the teeth. It's cleaning the tooth from the inside by penetrating the tooth structure, breaking up the long-chain molecules that are plugging up the prismatic and crystalline structures of the tooth.

The byproducts of the whitening gel break down into oxygen and free radicals, which travel through the tooth via water molecules that then act to break the chromophore bonds. The long molecule is converted into small white molecules. These reactions need to penetrate deep into the enamel and the dentine to break down the stain molecules.

Teeth Whitening in Norwest, NSW

With teeth whitening treatments in Norwest, we help patients create brighter smiles all the time. We welcome your call to arrange your teeth whitening consultation.

Many factors may have come into why your teeth whitening didn't work as well as you hoped.

• The right product and concentration, and the proper method and duration, weren't chosen for your particular needs.
• Your trays were leaking, allowing the whitening product to leak out or saliva leak in and break down the product. Saliva actually breaks down your whitening product.
• The product degraded and was compromised by the conditions it was transported or stored in. By virtue of being a product designed to break down to work, whitening products are notoriously unstable.
• The product is expired.
• The product is too thick to be available to get into the tooth's microstructure.
• Your teeth have absorbed more organic long-chain stains, and it's time to whiten with a new method.

Teeth that don’t look natural often aren’t natural. They might be fake veneers or dentures. Whitened teeth are your own teeth, just beautifully lightened. They will look like you.

Professional Teeth Whitening Near Me

Are you ready for a whiter smile in Norwest?

We invite you to call 02 8610 6697 to arrange your appointment with Willow Care Dental or ask further questions about teeth whitening treatments.

It is normal to get a little regression in the first 2 weeks after whitening as the whitening bubbles exit the tooth. From here typically the results can last one to four years, depending on the amount of staining beverages like wine, tea and coffee that the teeth are exposed to over time. Long term people can get reabsorption of stain molecules. If you enjoy your coffee tea and red wine we suggest a periodic maintenance programme.

There has been no association of nerve or pupal damage to teeth or damage to the structures of the teeth using whitening gels as designed. Unfortunately, laser whitening cannot say the same.

It is relatively common for you to experience increased cold sensitivity while you whiten. However, this is not a lingering problem, and our whitening system has a special desensitiser to apply during your treatment.

Whitening products also do not whiten your fillings or crowns. As a result, some people find they will need to replace certain fillings to get the white, natural look they are after.