Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Patient privacy is important to The Dentists @ Belmore.

The Dentists @ Belmore is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) and endeavours to uphold the Australian Privacy Principles in collecting, disclosing, maintaining and securing personal and health information.  We will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to protect your personal and health information from:

• Misuse, interference and loss, and
• Unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

The Dentists @ Belmore requires your consent to collect personal and health information about you.

Why do we collect information?

The Dentists @ Belmore collects relevant personal and health information from you for the primary purpose of providing quality dental care and treatment.

What information do we collect?

The Dentists @ Belmore may collect and store the following types of personal and health information:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Contact Details - postal and/or street address; email address/es; telephone number/s
• Family contact information
• Private health insurance information
• Information regarding other funding sources, where relevant (e.g. Child Dental Benefits Schedule, Department of Veteran’s Affairs)
• Medicare number
• Information on workers compensation, motor vehicle and other accident claims, where relevant
• Details of your oral health condition and the treatment/s and service/s you have received
• Details of your general health (e.g. allergies, medications, medical conditions) and medical history that may impact the treatment you receive.

Can you refuse to disclose your information?

You have the right to refuse to provide your information.  If you choose not to provide relevant personal and/or health information it may, however, affect you receiving appropriate care and treatment.

How will we use your information?

The Dentists @ Belmore may use your personal and/or health information to:

• Assess your oral health
• Provide dental treatments and services to you
• Communicate with other service providers (e.g. specialist dentists, technicians, laboratories) to provide dental treatments and services to you
• Send communications requested by you
• Assist with queries you make and provide information and advice about related treatments and services
• Process payments for treatment – including private health insurance and/or Medicare claims
• Update our records and keep your contact details up to date
• Resolve complaints
• Carry out internal functions such as administration, accounting and information technology

We may also use your personal and/or health information for staff training, professional development, treatment or service development, practice planning, quality improvement and dental health research.  We will use de-identified data for these purposes, unless you consent to being identified.

If we need to use your information for any other purpose, we will generally seek additional consent from you to do this, unless obtaining your consent is not practical or reasonable, and an exception under the Privacy Act 1988 applies.

To whom may we disclose your information?

Only people who need to be able to access your information will be able to do so. The Dentists @ Belmore may disclose your information to:

• Our dentists and practice staff – to support the provision of dental treatments and services to you
• Others involved in your dental care outside this practice (e.g. specialists, technicians, laboratories)
• Your nominated relatives in an emergency
• Government and regulatory bodies (e.g. Medicare)
• Third party health benefit providers and insurance companies to assist in the processing of claims for payment/reimbursement
• Third parties who work with our practice for business purposes  
• Third parties where this is required to comply with a court/tribunal order or to meet other legislative or regulatory requirements.

Accessing your personal and health information

You may inspect or request copies of your records at any time.

Altering your personal and health information

If any of the information we have about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, you may ask us to alter our records.  

Here at The Dentists @ Belmore, we try our best to respect your time and we expect our patients to do the same. Arriving late (more than 15 minutes), short notice cancellations and failure to attend leads to disruptions to our patients and staff.

As a small privately-owned dental practice, we are financially strained when patients miss appointments. We are not a large corporation and we do not treat our patients as numbers.

We like to give our patients the full scope of our knowledge and care, and we like each patient experience to be personalised, as dental care should be. We aim to provide you with an exceptional service at an affordable cost. Chair time lost to no shows or short notice cancellations impacts our ability to run our small business.

It is in ours and our patients’ best interest that we keep lost chair time to a minimum.

We ask our patients to give at least 24 hour notice before cancellation or rescheduling. It is very difficult to fill in these appointments, so please let us know well ahead of time if you need to reschedule.

Holding your appointment time means turning away other patients in urgent need of dental care. Therefore, any missed or short notice cancellations will attract a cancellation fee of $50.  

Our cancellation policy is as follows:

• Our patients are required to pay a $50 holding fee to secure their appointment.
• The holding fee will be taken off the final cost of your appointment.
• Cancelling an appointment with more than 24 hour notice is absolutely fine. We can accommodate for this.
• Failing to attend, rescheduling, or cancelling an appointment with less than 24 hours notice leads to a $50 cancellation fee, which means forfeiting the $50 holding deposit.
• If you wish to re-book after cancelling within 24 hours, you will be required to pay another $50 holding fee.
• We always send out an SMS reminder or we call our patients well in advance to confirm the appointment.
• We reserve the right to ask for the cost of treatment upfront before making another appointment. This is a last resort option only if there is a recurring cancellation pattern.
• New patients who fail to attend or cancel with less than 24 hours notice on two consecutive occasions will not be rebooked.

For long appointments such as whitening or root canals, we will require a deposit at the time of booking.

Whether you’re looking for a dentist near me in Belmore, NSW, or you'd like to find a dentist to treat the whole family, The Dentists @ Belmore are conveniently located to meet your oral health care needs.

Our Dentist's Clinic near Lakemba, Campsie, Belfield, Kingsgrove, Roselands and Clemton Park

While our address is on Burwood Road, our entry is on Collins Street. We suggest you use the Canterbury Bulldogs mural as our landmark for our entrance. 

Our clinic address:

Level 1, 400 Burwood Rd

Belmore, NSW 2192

We Welcome New Patients and Families 

Our office is newly remodelled with several pieces of modern technology just added. We will do our very best to make your experience at our Belmore dental clinic as calm and straightforward as possible.

We understand that finances can be a significant concern for our friends and neighbours in Sydney, NSW and beyond. The University of Melbourne reports that better than three in ten Australians report feeling under financial stress, while another two in ten are "just making ends meet." However, our mission at the Dentists @ Belmore is to remove barriers that keep you from your oral health, including financial obstacles.

We Offer Options and Payment Plans

Dr Ibrahim's team is committed to consistently offering you options and empowering you to choose what works with your personal and financial situation. We also can arrange a payment plan through third parties like ZipMoney.

Oral Health Is a Solid Investment

One common mistake people make about their dental care is avoiding it until later. The problem with this attitude is that nearly all dental conditions are progressive, meaning they start small and continue growing until you seek treatment. This can be understood in financial terms as well as health and comfort.

For example, if you have a tooth cavity that we detect early and fill while small, the cost is negligible. However, fast-forward a year or two, and that little cavity can grow into a large hole that compromises your inner tooth, causing infection and your need for root canal treatment. Where costs are concerned, a dental filling is ten times less expensive than root canal therapy.

This is compelling evidence that faithful preventive oral health care is a good investment.

Patient safety is an integral part of our care at the Dentists @ Belmore in Sydney, NSW. This commitment extends from the treatment room to our diagnostic technology.

Our Dental Clinic Maintains Exemplary Standards

In terms of cleanliness, we use the highest level of infection prevention standards. Every one of our instruments undergoes a rigorous disinfection process and is sealed in a labelled bag to allow systemised tracking. We also use barriers over the dental chair and use hospital-grade disinfectants to clean the chair between patients. Our team members undergo frequent updates in better standards and practices, and we use Australian-made products wherever available.

Dental Technology for Safe Treatments

Many of our dental technology upgrades are to enhance your health and safety as a Dentists @ Belmore patient. For example, we now are using a leading-edge x-ray called OPGs (orthopantomogram). This type of dental x-ray produces a full panoramic-type dental x-ray of your upper and lower teeth in one image. In addition, these machines emit less radiation and show a complete view without multiple scans. 

We encourage you to learn more about how our focus on health and safety can make a difference in your life. We are always welcoming new patients from the communities around Belmore, including Canterbury, Lakemba, and Clemton Park.

It is generally recommended to start taking them to the dentist when their first tooth comes through or by 12 months, whichever comes first. Whilst no treatment may be performed then, this is a good strategy to get kids used to seeing the dentist. At that first appointment, our dentists will discuss strategies to maintain your child's oral hygiene and health in an easy and non-threatening way. The first time our young patients come in, they often sit in their parents' lap for a joy ride in the dental chair!

Here's some more info from the Australian Dental Association.

No, the benefits may not be transferred between family members. The benefits can only be used for the treatment of the eligible child.

The total dental benefit is capped at $1,132 per child over two years and to access the benefits, certain eligibility criteria need to be met. If the full amount is not spent in the first year, it is carried over into the second year. Any funds not used by the end of the second year are forfeited.

Before beginning any work, your dentist will take time to inform you of the costs of any treatment so that you can spend your allowance effectively. We choose to bulk-bill on the spot through Medicare, up to the child’s benefit allowance.

Every calendar year the eligibility of a child is determined and the benefits are made available for two calendar years. A child becomes eligible to receive the benefits if they are between 2 and 17 years old for at least one day of the calendar year.

In addition, they should meet the requirements, be eligible for Medicare and be part of a family that receives:

• Family Tax Benefit Part A
• Special Benefit
• Youth Allowance
• Double Orphan Pension
• Parenting Payment
• ABSTUDY
• Disability Support Pension
• Parenting Payment
• Veteran’s Children Education Scheme (if the child is 16 or over)
• Carer Payment
• Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme (if the child is 16 or over).

If your child is eligible, your family’s details will need to be up to date with Medicare and Centrelink to use their CDBS benefits.

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) is a federal government program that was introduced to make dentistry more accessible to children up to the age of eighteen. Many children meet the eligibility criteria, and this scheme is under-utilised.

Parents that hold a Medicare card can simply call us up and ask that we check their child’s eligibility.  

The Child Dental Benefit Scheme covers a range of basic dental services including routine checks, fillings, fissure sealing, x-rays, root canal treatments and extractions. The government has provided itemised codes for the treatments that are covered by the CDBS here.

It’s important to note that services classified as ‘high-end’ are not covered by the CDBS. This includes orthodontic or surgical work and cosmetic dental work.

Dental anxiety is often triggered by an unfortunate bad past experience, which remains imprinted on our emotional memory. This is very common. In fact some of our dentists had this in the past before they became dentists themselves!

The first line option for helping with dental procedure anxiety is nitrous oxide or "happy gas". Happy gas is not meant to put you to sleep but instead will relax you during treatment. It is easy, quick and has a long history of safety. The amount of gas delivered (with oxygen) is tailored for your own personal needs. Our dentists will check-in with you regularly during the procedure as well to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. 

The next-best thing about happy gas is that you can resume your normal activities once the treatment is complete as the gas leaves your system fairly quickly after the procedure.

Whilst not everyone may be suitable for happy gas, our dentists will discuss other options with you.

Other recommendations to help with dental anxiety:

- breathing relaxation exercises

- avoiding caffeine on the day of the procedure

- getting a good night's rest

- speaking to your dentist about this before the start of any treatment

Teeth Whitening is a Well-Researched Treatment

Teeth Whitening uses hydrogen peroxide gel to break down the staining molecules absorbed by the teeth. These molecules make teeth appear darker and so they reflect less light. The hydrogen peroxide molecule breaks down into hydrogen and oxygen gases forming a 'fizz'. This fizz contains a little burst of energy that breaks down the staining molecules, which get washed away returning your teeth to their whiter brighter appearance.

Beware of Social Media Before and Afters!

Just like many things in life, the result of teeth whitening depends on a number of factors. For example, the current shade of your teeth and the amount of staining on them. We also know that younger teeth respond better to whitening. At our practice, we use a medical-grade TGA-approved bleaching gel which can remove the toughest stains. We routinely recommend a home bleaching product following in-chair whitening to continue and maintain the whitening effect.

Have you ever asked yourself how adrenaline sports competitions like extreme surfing or MMA fighting can possibly be held safely? Or how about the same question about some of the mind-bending stunts you see at the movie theatre; how is it possible they allow such dangerous feats? The answer is quite simple: those performers are closely supervised by professionals who know how to do the job while minimising risk.

Teeth Whitening with the Dentists @ Belmore Is Supervised

Professional teeth whitening follows this same rule. Technology has provided treatments that can achieve dazzling results. But if misused, the compounds used in teeth whitening can cause problems. To prevent this, Dr Ibrahim's dental team will clearly advise you on using your whitening system, how long to wear an activated tray and how long you should wait between treatments. Following our directions will help you avoid tooth sensitivity or gum irritation.

Dr Ibrahim can also monitor your teeth at routine check-ups to determine if teeth whitening is an effective treatment or if you should consider other cosmetic dental options. For example, we can place a dental veneer composed of composite or porcelain over a stained tooth surface to conceal it completely. Your tooth will look like new because your veneer is custom-made to fit your tooth and match its colour.

Does Teeth Whitening Weaken Teeth over Time?

This is a common myth. If you follow our instructions and maintain your regular dental routine, then teeth whitening with Dr Ibrahim and the Dentists @ Belmore does not weaken teeth over time. 

Root Canal Treatment May Save Your Tooth

When the pulp (nerve and blood supply inside the tooth) becomes damaged or inflamed, a person may experience a lot of pain or swelling. Root Canal Treatment is a proven way of saving the tooth by cleaning out the damaged pulp inside the roots of the teeth. This often relieves the pain and prevents bacteria from regrowing inside. Root Canal Treatment is a highly technical procedure, which our dentists are well-trained in performing.

In fact, two of our dentists Dr Moe and Dr Ibrahim have been clinical tutors at The University of Sydney Dental School, teaching undergraduate students this fine art and science.

If you've grown accustomed to the general consensus that dentistry is painful, then we understand how your first question when seeking care might be how much will it hurt. However, at the top of our list of dental care myths we'd like to dispel is that dentistry causes pain. The truth is that oral health problems like infection,  inflammation and damaged teeth cause pain, and dental treatments relieve that pain.

How Australians Feel Pain

A global pain study recently revealed that Australians top the world in body ache prevalence. Here are some of the breakdowns to consider:

• Half of Australians who complain about pain say it lasts several hours or longer.
• A third of Australians think pain is a sign of weakness
• 45% of Australians are ‘annoyed’ or 'frustrated' by pain
• One in four say pain ruins their overall happiness

At the Dentists @ Belmore, we take your pain seriously and seek to relieve it through effective and compassionate care. Our team is highly experienced and uses gentle techniques when numbing the area to be treated. We also offer nitrous oxide mild sedation to help you experience that dentistry can be pleasant, easy, and efficient. 

If you are concerned about pain, let us know, and we will be here to help you have the gentle, stress-free dentistry you deserve.

The Dentists @ Belmore use leading-edge technology, modern techniques and the skills that come from years of training to provide you with the best dental care found in Belmore and the communities of Canterbury, Lakemba, and Clemton Park, NSW. Our commitment to you is to offer care options and educate you on each of them before we begin any treatment. Part of that education is understanding that some treatments last longer than others.

We Discuss Your Dental Care in Detail

We discuss the success rates of any chosen treatment and offer alternatives when they exist with patients. For example, suppose you need to restore a forward-facing surface of a front tooth. In that case, our dentists may recommend that we supply a dental veneer, a thin shell that we incorporate into your tooth to cover the damaged tooth portions seamlessly.

If you like this option, we will offer you either a composite dental veneer made from the same material as cavity fillings. Or you may choose a porcelain veneer fabricated in a precision lab and then cemented to your tooth. A composite veneer is more cost-effective and lasts several years, while a porcelain dental veneer is more expensive but will be with you for a decade or longer.

You Play a Part in Your Treatment's Longevity

Our team also wants to communicate that it's essential for you to take an active role in maintaining your treatment's results. You can help your treatments last as long as possible through consistent at-home care, regular check-ups, and good lifestyle choices.