Check-ups, gum treatment and restorative work five stations down the line
Hornsby is an interchange town, so people there are already used to travelling for things rather than expecting everything on the doorstep. The patients who come to us from that end usually arrive one of two ways. Either they head south for work anyway and it’s simpler to book near that route than near home, or someone in the family has been coming here for years and they’ve followed rather than starting fresh.
Dentists at Pymble has been caring for households on this stretch of the North Shore for over a century, much of it through people recommending us rather than any advertising. We work conservatively, which means the first question with a tooth is whether it can be kept, not what would take its place.
Here’s what each appointment involves before you’re in the chair. The complete list of treatments is on our dental services page.
What’s right for you comes down to your own situation, and we’d rather discuss the options at a consultation than pencil anything in first.
Since every appointment from Hornsby means a run down the highway, the number of visits is worth settling before you start.
A small filling found at an examination can often be handled in that same attendance, which saves a return drive. Crowns and bridges can’t be, because the restoration is made in a laboratory between visits, so two appointments is the floor. Gum disease treatment is different again, being an ongoing arrangement with shorter review intervals rather than a course with a finish line.
Where appointments can be combined, we combine them. Where they can’t, we’ll say how many are needed at the planning stage rather than partway through. Treatment suitability and results vary between individuals, so the shape of your plan comes out of the assessment rather than a standard schedule.
Hornsby has no shortage of dental practices, so it’s a fair question what justifies going further. The reasons patients give when they move across tend to repeat.
01
More Than a Hundred Years in the Same Place
Families who have stayed with us for decades, and patients who came because someone they know sent them, tell you more about a practice than anything it says about itself.
02
Honest Advice About What Needs Doing
Working conservatively means you'll hear when something can wait, when it can't, and when a tooth is worth keeping rather than replacing. If a treatment isn't suitable, we'll tell you that before you've committed to anything.
03
One Practice for the Whole Household
Children's first check-ups through to complex restorative work all happen here, so a family isn't splitting appointments between two places.
04
The First Visit That Actually Settles Things
We examine, image where it's needed, and talk through the findings and options before you leave, which for someone travelling in saves a second trip just to hear the plan.
05
Early Starts and Saturday Mornings
Useful if you're already heading south on a weekday, or if stepping away midweek isn't an option.
If you’d like to know who you’re seeing, the team page introduces the clinicians.
Pain that has flared, a tooth fractured or knocked out, a filling or crown that has fallen away, or swelling that has come on overnight are all reasons to ring rather than wait. Call (02) 9488 7555 as early in the day as you can, since that’s when there’s most room in the schedule and reception can tell you honestly what’s available rather than booking you three days out.
If there’s severe facial swelling, bleeding that won’t stop, or an injury involving the jaw or face, don’t attempt the drive south. Get seen locally or go to a hospital emergency department, and call 000 if it’s serious. Swelling can escalate quickly, and a car on the Pacific Highway is the wrong place to be while it does.
Patients here span every stage, from a first childhood check-up through to older adults needing longer or differently paced appointments. Children’s visits cover examinations and preventive care, with the adult teeth monitored as they come through.
The waiting room has a play area, and some treatment rooms have televisions mounted overhead, which takes the edge off it for younger children. Patients with special needs are accommodated too, so raise anything relevant when you book rather than on the day.
Because it’s a genuine drive from Hornsby, most families here book several people one after another so the trip only needs making once. Ring reception with how many people and roughly what each needs, and they’ll build the block. What suits each family member depends on their own circumstances, which is something the appointment determines rather than the booking.
You’ll find us at the Pymble Corporate Centre, on Bridge Street just off the Pacific Highway near the Gordon boundary. By car from Hornsby, the Pacific Highway south through Waitara, Wahroonga, Warrawee and Turramurra is the direct route, then a turn into Bridge Street. It’s a single road most of the way with nothing to remember. Traffic tends to build around the Wahroonga end and through school pick-up, so mid-morning and early afternoon are generally the easier windows.
By train, Pymble is five stops south of Hornsby on the T1 North Shore Line with no changes. The station sits on Grandview Street at the lower end of the suburb while Bridge Street is up near the highway, so allow for a walk at this end. Most patients driving down find that simpler.
Suite 304 is on the ground floor of Building 3, and parking is on site, so the drive doesn’t end with a hunt for a space. Build in extra time for a first appointment, since it runs longer than a routine one.
Yes. Reception will arrange a first appointment and tell you what to bring, including your health fund card. If you’ve had X-rays taken elsewhere recently, mention it, since we can often request those from the other practice rather than repeating imaging on the day. What can be transferred depends on what they hold on file.
Yes, and it’s a sensible thing to want, especially where a plan covers extractions, implants or a lot of restorative work. Bring along whatever imaging you were given, or tell reception and we can usually obtain it. You’ll get our assessment and the reasoning behind it, including where we agree with the original. What we’d recommend comes out of the examination rather than the paperwork alone.
Six months suits most adults, though it shifts with gum health, diet and habits such as grinding. Anyone with a history of periodontal disease is usually reviewed sooner, since the aim there is keeping things stable rather than waiting to see what has changed. Treatment suitability and results vary between individuals, so we’ll set your interval at a consultation rather than applying a default.
Usually. Family members travelling down together can generally be booked one after another, which turns one drive into one visit rather than several. Tell reception how many people and roughly what each needs and they’ll line the times up. Saturday mornings are the most requested for this, so ring earlier in the week rather than on the Friday.
Yes, every age group. Kids’ appointments involve an examination and preventive treatment, and we keep an eye on the adult teeth erupting and whether there’s room for them, which is often where crowding is first spotted. There’s a play area in the waiting room and televisions on the ceiling in some rooms. What each child needs depends on how their teeth are developing.
If you already head down the highway for work, an early appointment slots into a trip you were making anyway, and the practice sits directly off the road rather than somewhere you’d detour for. Saturday mornings work for getting several people seen in one go. Dentists at Pymble welcomes new patients from Hornsby and the upper North Shore. Book online or ring (02) 9488 7555 and ask reception what’s open this week.
