Olympic Village Dental ★9.9

The office that mills the crown while you wait

Dr. Amir Hossein Nazemi had practised in Yaletown since 1997 under a slogan he still quotes: tomorrow’s dentistry, today. The clinic he opened across False Creek is built so the hard work is not parcelled out. A CEREC CAD/CAM unit designs and mills all-ceramic restorations on the premises, so a crown that once meant a temporary and a laboratory wait is fitted in one appointment.

Treatments

Examinations of teeth and gums, hygiene, oral cancer screening, digital X-rays, fillings, root canal therapy, extractions, night guards and sleep apnea appliances. Crowns, bridges, inlays and onlays, veneers, bonding, dentures, Zoom whitening and full-mouth rehabilitation cover the restorative and cosmetic side. Implants are planned against the patient’s own CT scan, so a broken tooth can come out and the implant go in without a referral elsewhere. Clear aligners run through a Gold + Invisalign provider.

Technology

The three-dimensional CT scanner positions an implant against the real shape of the jawbone rather than a flat film; an iTero wand replaces impression trays. The KaVo Key 3 laser kills the bacteria behind cavities, sterilizes a surface before a filling, treats gum disease and calms sensitive teeth, and in most cases removes the need for freezing. Instruments come in individually wrapped cassettes through a five-step sterilization cycle, unwrapped in front of the patient.

The dentists

Dr. Nazemi came to Vancouver from Tehran at nine: chemistry at Simon Fraser University, then a dentistry doctorate at UBC; his continuing education went into surgery and sedation. Dr. Mona Shoman graduated with Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan in 2005, ran her own practice in Calgary, took extra training in children’s dentistry and teaches part-time at UBC. Dr. Ching Wen Tan trained in Australia and works in English and Mandarin. Dr. Ozlem Sengezer concentrates on root canal treatment and instructs at the Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene.

Who it suits

Anyone on a deadline: a crown, implant or root canal that must be finished before a flight. Adults whose fear needs more than kind words — intravenous as well as oral sedation is available. Families. And patients who would rather book in Farsi, Arabic, Malay or Russian, all listed by the clinic.

Frequently asked questions

Can a crown be done in one visit? Yes — CEREC mills the ceramic on site, so no temporary and no laboratory wait.

Who answers at night? An emergency line staffed by a dental professional, with the 123Dentist line as backstop.

Will a child be seen? Yes; Dr. Shoman took additional training in children’s dentistry.

Is the drill unavoidable? Not always — the KaVo laser does part of that work without freezing.

Opening hours