Albany Dental Centre: A Dental Practice on Campbell Road, Albany WA
We are the Albany Dental Centre, a dental practice in Albany WA at 26/28 Campbell Road, on the corner of Cockburn Road and opposite Reeves. We provide general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry and minor oral surgery, and we are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.
An independent practice
We are an independent dental practice rather than a health fund preferred provider, and we are direct about why. Our position is that the best treatment decisions are made through consultation between patient and dentist, and without influence from a health fund. It means what we recommend is worked out between you and your dentist rather than shaped by an agreement with an insurer.
Being independent does not mean being awkward about health funds. We accept patients from all of them, and we run HICAPS, so a rebate can be claimed at the counter on the day rather than chased up afterwards.
Our dentists
There are three dentists at the practice. Dr Ockert Botha graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1991, and Dr Juan Pretorius graduated from the same university in 2001. Dr Adam Kadri completed his dental degree at the University of Western Australia in Perth.
Dr Ockert Botha, known as Ockie, moved to Australia in 2002 with his wife Tania and their four children. The family settled first in Mount Barker and then moved to Albany. Dr Juan Pretorius practised dentistry in South Africa before immigrating to Australia in 2004, and he has been with Albany Dental Centre since 2006, which makes him the longest thread running through the practice. Dr Adam Kadri was born and raised in Canada and travelled across the world to pursue his interest in dentistry. What he sets out to do, in his own words, is provide honest opinions and help people make well-informed decisions.
The dentists are not the whole practice. There is a reception team, and there are dental nurses working alongside the dentists.
The dental treatments we provide
What we offer at Campbell Road
- General dentistry: scale and clean, fillings, crowns, restorations and root canal treatment.
- Cosmetic dentistry: crowns, veneers, soft tissue lasers, and digitally designed restorations made with Cerec.
- Minor oral surgery: wisdom teeth, implant placements, root canal treatment and digital X-rays.
What the treatments involve
Each of our treatment pages sets out what the thing actually is, which is worth reading before an appointment rather than after one. A scale and polish removes the scale and plaque that build up around the teeth and gums, and that is how cavities and gingivitis are kept at bay. For fillings, the days of gold and silver are long gone here: we use white ceramic inlays produced on our CEREC CAD system. A crown is a cap fitted over a tooth where major decay has threatened its structure. A bridge is a different thing altogether, used when a tooth is missing, connecting a porcelain or metal tooth to the teeth on either side of the gap.
On the cosmetic side, porcelain veneers are custom fitted from an impression taken at a first appointment and fitted at a second. Composite veneers work differently: a paste is applied to the tooth, sculpted to shape and set with a light, usually in a single appointment. The CEREC process is worth explaining, because it changes how long things take. A 3D camera captures a digital image of the tooth instead of a plaster impression, a block of dental porcelain goes into the CEREC machine, and the machine mills the restoration from it. As we describe it, that can be completed within an hour. Soft tissue lasers are used to cut and trim gums and the connective tissue on the inside of the lips, and they cauterise the cuts as they go.
Under minor oral surgery, wisdom teeth are the common one. Third molars usually come through between the ages of 17 and 25, and where the jaw is too small to take them we list what tends to follow: pain, gum infections, bad breath and a bad taste in the mouth, decay to the wisdom teeth and to the teeth beside them, crowding and misalignment, ulcers, and difficulty opening and closing the mouth. An implant is a titanium root that is screwed into the jawbone; once it has integrated, which takes approximately six months, a porcelain tooth-shaped shell is placed over it and bonded to it.
Emergencies, cost and parking
On emergencies, our answer is that we have a team of three dentists and regularly fit emergency appointments in, and that we are a phone call away. On cost, pricing depends on your treatment plan, which is worked through at your first consultation with your dentist rather than quoted blind over the phone.
Getting here is straightforward. We have off street parking, all on level ground, which makes the practice accessible to everyone. To book, ring 9841 1238 during office hours, or email [email protected]. We are at 26/28 Campbell Road, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm, and we keep a Facebook page if you would rather find us there.