Preparing for your dental appointment

• Rinse once a day with Savacol or Curasept for the week before your surgery. Start seven days out — swish for a full minute, then don't rinse it away with water.
• No smoking or vaping — from a week before through to eight weeks after. Smoking is comfortably the biggest thing in your control: implants in smokers fail more than twice as often.
• Eat a proper meal beforehand, and no alcohol for 24 hours before.
• Brush and clean between your teeth thoroughly that morning — you go into surgery with the mouth you arrive with.
• Do the soft-food shop before the day and put cold packs in the freezer the night before. Yoghurt, soup, eggs, smoothies.
• Take whatever pain relief you'd normally use about an hour before you come in — getting ahead of it works far better than catching up later.
• Take your regular medications as normal unless we've specifically told you otherwise.
• Allow more time than a usual appointment. Wear something comfortable, and use the bathroom before we start.
• You're fine to drive yourself home if you feel up to it — just keep the rest of the day quiet, and nothing strenuous for 48 hours.
• Ring us before the day if anything changes — a new medicine, antibiotics from your GP, a cold, a cold sore starting, or feeling generally unwell. Easier to move it than push through.

Afterwards, follow our implant aftercare instructions, plus any specific instructions from your appointment.

• Rinse once a day with Savacol or Curasept for the week before.
• No smoking on the day or for at least 48 hours after — it's the single biggest cause of dry socket. Stopping a week out is better again.
• Take whatever pain relief you'd normally use about an hour before you come in.
• Eat a proper meal beforehand — you won't feel like eating for a few hours afterwards.
• No alcohol the night before or on the day.
• Take your regular medications as normal.
• Do the soft-food shop before the day and freeze a couple of cold packs.
• Brush and clean between your teeth that morning.
• If you take the combined pill, let us know. The risk of dry socket is a little higher, so we take extra care with the socket and you should be extra strict about the no-smoking and no-straw advice afterwards.
• You're fine to drive yourself home — just keep the day quiet, and nothing strenuous for 48 hours.
• Ring us before the day if anything changes — a new medicine, illness, or a cold sore starting.

Afterwards, follow our extraction aftercare instructions.

• Everything in the extraction section above applies here too.
• Rinse with Savacol or Curasept once a day for the week before.
• Clear two or three easy days — swelling usually peaks around day two or three, then settles.
• Freeze two cold packs the night before so you can swap them over: 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.
• Do the soft-food shop before the day — and skip the straws, you can't use them afterwards.
• Take your usual pain relief about an hour before you come in.
• Eat properly beforehand, and no alcohol the night before.
• Don't book the gym, a flight or a big event in the three days after.
• Wear comfortable clothes, tie long hair back, and skip lipstick.
• Ring us if you're unwell or a cold sore is starting — easier to move it than push through.

Afterwards, follow our wisdom teeth aftercare instructions.

• Have a light meal about two hours before — not a heavy meal, and not on an empty stomach.
• Tell us if you have a cold or a blocked nose. The gas is breathed through a small nosepiece, so it won't work properly — we'd rather reschedule.
• No alcohol beforehand, and go easy on the coffee if it makes you jittery.
• Take your regular medications as normal.
• Tell us if you're pregnant or think you might be — we'd avoid happy gas in the first trimester.
• Wear comfortable clothing, and bring headphones and a playlist if that helps you settle.
• Bring someone with you if it helps — they're welcome to wait.
• Allow a little extra time either side of the appointment.
• At the end you'll breathe ordinary oxygen for a few minutes while it clears. We check you're completely back to normal and tell you when you're right to drive.
• If any other form of sedation has been arranged for you, its fasting and escort instructions take priority over everything on this page.

More on how it feels on our dental anxiety page, and the cost in our pricing guide.

• Eat beforehand — you'll be numb for one to three hours afterwards.
• Take your usual pain relief about an hour before if the tooth is already sore.
• Take your regular medications as normal.
• Brush before you come in.
• Allow extra time if you're having more than one filling in the visit.
• Tell us if you've had trouble getting properly numb before. It's common, and we can plan for it rather than discover it in the chair.
• Don't book a presentation or an important call straight after — a numb lip is hard to talk through.
• Be careful with hot drinks and chewing until the numbness has fully gone, so you don't bite your cheek or lip.
• You're fine to drive home.
• Ring us if you're unwell, or if the tooth flares up badly before the day.

Afterwards, see our filling aftercare instructions.

• Take an anti-inflammatory about an hour before — if ibuprofen suits you, it genuinely helps us get a sore tooth properly numb. If anti-inflammatories don't agree with you, take whatever pain relief you normally would instead.
• Eat a proper meal beforehand — these appointments run an hour or more, and you'll be numb afterwards.
• Take your regular medications as normal, and finish any antibiotics we've prescribed.
• Plan nothing important straight after the appointment.
• Tell us if your jaw tires easily — we build in breaks, and there's a rest to support it.
• Bring headphones and something to listen to.
• Brush that morning.
• Use the bathroom before we start.
• You're fine to drive home.
• Ring us if the tooth flares up badly before the day — don't sit it out waiting for the appointment.

Afterwards, see our root canal aftercare instructions.

• Allow more time than a filling appointment.
• Eat beforehand — you'll be numb for a while afterwards.
• Take your usual pain relief about an hour before if the tooth is sore.
• For front teeth, come without lipstick or heavy make-up. Shade matching is far easier, and natural light helps.
• Tell us if you grind or clench your teeth — it changes how we design and protect the work.
• Bring a photo if you have a particular shape or shade in mind.
• Take your regular medications as normal.
• Brush that morning.
• You'll leave with a temporary — avoid sticky and hard foods on that side, and slide floss out sideways rather than pulling it back up.
• If a temporary comes off before your fit appointment, keep it and ring us. Don't glue it back yourself.

Afterwards, see our crown and bridge aftercare instructions.

• Have your check-up and clean done first — whitening goes on clean, healthy teeth.
• Use a sensitive toothpaste twice a day for the week or two before. It makes a real difference to how comfortable the appointment is.
• Take your usual pain relief about an hour before if you know your teeth are sensitive.
• Ease off staining food and drink for 48 hours before — coffee, tea, red wine, curry, beetroot, berries — and keep avoiding them for 48 hours afterwards.
• No smoking or vaping in that window either.
• Eat beforehand — you'll be in the chair a while.
• Allow up to 90 minutes, and bring a lip balm.
• Bring headphones and something to listen to.
• Whitening isn't suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Fillings, crowns and veneers won't change colour. If you have visible ones, we'll plan the order of treatment with you first.

More detail on our teeth whitening page.

• Take your usual pain relief about an hour before you come in.
• Eat beforehand — parts of your mouth will be numb afterwards.
• Rinse with Savacol or Curasept once a day for the week before.
• Brush and clean between your teeth as normal that morning.
• Take your regular medications as normal, and tell us if you're on blood thinners.
• Allow the full appointment time. Gum treatment takes longer than a standard clean and is often split across more than one visit.
• Cutting back on smoking before and after makes the biggest single difference to how well the gums respond.
• Expect tenderness and some sensitivity for a few days. Have soft food and a sensitive toothpaste at home ready.
• Plan a quiet evening — though you're fine to drive home.
• Ring us before the day if you're unwell.

• Ring us first on 07 4635 1444 so we can fit you in and know what's coming. Outside hours, text 0451 442 722.
• Take your usual pain relief before you come in. It's much easier to keep pain down than to catch up on it.
• Don't hold aspirin or any tablet against the gum. It burns the tissue and makes things worse.
• Eat something soft beforehand if you can manage it.
• Bring a list of your medications and your health fund card.
• Note when it started and what sets it off — hot, cold, biting, or nothing at all. It speeds up the diagnosis considerably.
• Knocked-out tooth: don't scrub it, keep it in milk or tucked inside your cheek, and come straight away — minutes matter.
• Broken tooth or lost filling: bring the piece if you have it.
• Take your regular medications as normal.
• Go to the emergency department instead if you have facial swelling with difficulty swallowing or breathing, swelling that is closing your eye, or bleeding you can't stop. That's beyond what can be safely managed in a dental chair.

More on our emergency dentist page.