Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Symptom Guide
Symptoms rarely arrive labelled with their cause. This guide matches what you are feeling to what is usually behind it and the page that explains your options, across six groups: pain, headaches and grinding, oral health, cosmetic concerns, sleeping and breathing, and dental anxiety. Two rules of thumb from four decades of practice: pain is a poor gauge of dental health, because most problems develop silently, and almost nothing on this list improves by waiting.
Image of dentist and patient
Image of dentist and patient discussing tooth pain
Symptom Guide
Usually decay reaching the nerve, a cracked tooth or an abscess. Persistent or waking-you-at-night pain needs prompt assessment; an infection can go quiet without going away.
Commonly exposed root surfaces from gum recession, worn enamel from grinding or acid, a leaking filling or early decay. Brief sensitivity has different causes to lingering pain, and the distinction matters.
Often a cracked tooth or a filling that has split away from the tooth beneath, and old large amalgams are frequent culprits. Early treatment can be a simple restoration; late treatment can mean a root canal decision.
Erupting or impacted wisdom teeth commonly inflame the surrounding gum. Some settle, some need removal; imaging decides.
Image of dentist assessing jaw and bite
Symptom Guide
Frequently the footprint of night-time clenching and grinding, which in the majority of cases connects to sleep-disordered breathing rather than stress alone. Common, never normal.
Worn, flattened or cracked teeth, jaw tenderness, a partner who hears it. We assess the airway before prescribing a splint, because the cause decides the treatment.
Joint and muscle dysfunction with several drivers: bite, grinding, posture, joint anatomy. Assessment covers all of them; splint therapy helps most cases.
Image of dental hygiene and gum assessment
Symptom Guide
Bleeding is inflammation, not brushing too hard. Gingivitis is reversible; periodontitis, its progression, costs bone and teeth and is linked in published research to general health conditions.
In about three quarters of cases the cause is in the mouth, most often the tongue and gums, not the stomach. It is measurable, treatable and nothing to be embarrassed about.
Ageing amalgams crack teeth and corrode; some patients also choose removal after weighing the mercury evidence. Both paths run through the same safe protocol.
A gap loses bone quietly and moves its neighbours. Implants, bridges and dentures each have their case; the comparison is honest and costed.
Image of cosmetic dentistry consultation
Symptom Guide
Surface staining responds to hygiene and whitening; internal discolouration (an old injury, certain fillings) needs different tools, from whitening to veneers. Assessment first, then the right method.
Beyond aesthetics, crowding affects cleaning, bite and sometimes the airway. Invisalign handles most adult cases discreetly; retention protects the result.
Composite bonding, veneers or crowns depending on extent, and a check for the grinding that usually caused the wear, or the repair will not last.
Image of dentist discussing sleep and breathing
Symptom Guide
Never meaningless: at minimum it degrades two people's sleep, and it can mark the mild end of sleep-disordered breathing. Screening is simple and the treatment pathway is well established.
Possible obstructive sleep apnoea, which is diagnosed by sleep physicians; we screen, refer and co-manage appliance therapy where it fits the diagnosis.
Open-mouth habits shape growing faces and disturb sleep, attention and behaviour. Early assessment changes trajectories; this is the appointment parents thank us for years later.
Image of dentist reassuring patient
Symptom Guide
One of the most common reasons care gets delayed, and the one we take most personally. First visits involve no treatment, and comfort options run from warmed anaesthetic and happy gas through to IV sedation and sleep dentistry with a qualified anaesthetist.
Second opinions are welcome and unloaded here. Bring your X-rays and your questions; you will get an honest reading of both.
Symptom Guide
Knocked-out tooth, uncontrolled bleeding, facial swelling, or pain that stops you functioning: call (02) 9221 5800 now. We hold same-day emergency appointments, and our first priority is getting you out of pain.
