Downtown Dental ★9.9

The practice for pain that is not coming from a tooth

Morning headaches, a clicking jaw, teeth worn flat by night-time clenching, a partner kept awake by snoring — Downtown Dental has spent three decades on the bite behind those complaints. It was the first practice in Vancouver to fit the small NTI device for clench-driven migraine, and its owner has aimed every year of continuing education since 2002 at occlusion, orthodontics, the jaw joint and sleep.

Treatments

Everyday work is thorough: exams, hygiene, tooth-coloured fillings, sealants, root canals, extractions, gum grafting, oral cancer screening. Beyond it — crowns, bridges, inlays and onlays, dentures, implants including All-on-4, and full-mouth reconstruction, taken on here earlier than most nearby. Cosmetic: veneers, bonding, Invisalign, laser deep bleaching. Gum disease meets laser therapy rather than a referral to surgery; mercury fillings were dropped here more than twenty years ago.

Appliances for the jaw, the airway and sport

Night guards for bruxism, retainers, TMD devices, and appliances that advance the lower jaw to quieten snoring and manage mild to moderate sleep apnea once a physician has diagnosed it. Athletes get custom sports guards, including Under Armour Performance Mouthwear.

Technology

An iTero scan at every new-patient exam, repeated yearly, turns shifting teeth into a time-lapse. Cone-beam CT and panoramic imaging show impacted teeth, fractures and bone; VELscope lights up soft-tissue change; DIAGNOdent reads decay the eye misses.

The dentists

Dr. Mario Esposito — Vancouver-born, UBC biochemistry in 1989, a UBC DMD in 1993 and election that year to the Omicron Kappa Upsilon honour society; International Association for Orthodontics member since 2002, Invisalign-certified through two levels, trained in laser headache therapy. Dr. Matin Tohidi qualified at Trinity College Dublin in 2020 and practised six years in Ireland before Vancouver.

Who it suits

Anyone whose headaches, ear pain or flattened teeth have never been linked to the bite. Downtown workers and West End residents. Out-of-town patients are taken on an emergency or pre-planned basis.

Frequently asked questions

My jaw clicks and I wake with headaches. Is that dental? That pairing points at clenching and the joint. Opening range and wear are measured, then a night guard, NTI device or TMD appliance is fitted.

Do you treat snoring and sleep apnea? Yes, with a custom appliance that advances the jaw. Apnea needs your physician’s diagnosis first; the practice works to that prescription.

Is specialist work done here? No. Surgery, orthodontic and prosthodontic cases go to a settled circle of local specialists, whose appointments the office books.

Can I be seen at short notice? Room is kept in the day for infection, a knocked-out or cracked tooth, bleeding that will not stop.

Opening hours