Coastal City Dunsmuir Dental Centre ★9.9

An engineer’s route into dentistry

Dr. Tony Bae took a civil engineering degree at Queen’s and rowed for its varsity crew before qualifying in dentistry at UBC. He owns and practises at this downtown office, running since 1987, holds a Clinical Assistant Professor post at UBC’s Faculty of Dentistry, mentors students in the Downtown Eastside, Abbotsford Food Bank and Douglas College community clinics, and has sat on UBC’s dental admissions committee and the provincial association’s board.

The first visit

New patients get a comprehensive exam in four parts: tooth by tooth against the X-rays; a periodontal exam measuring every pocket, anything past three millimetres flagged; a bite and jaw-joint exam reading opening range, muscle and wear; and a cosmetic exam starting from what you want changed. Teeth that can wait go onto a watch list, not into treatment.

Treatments

Hygiene and prevention, including the CariFree program for mouths that keep growing cavities. Fillings, crowns, bridges, inlays, root canals, dentures, implant-supported prosthetics. Whitening, Invisalign, Botox. Surgery on site: Dr. Bae takes out wisdom teeth himself, plus bone grafting, crown lengthening and gum grafting. Anxious patients are offered oral sedation.

The bite, and the Kois Deprogrammer

Bae studied occlusion for years at the Kois Centre, and offers the Kois Deprogrammer: an appliance that lets the closing muscles release, so the true bite is recorded before several teeth are rebuilt. It also separates jaw-joint pain, clicking and facial headache from other causes. From there — study models, equilibration, night guards, orthodontics.

Urgent care in the core

Same-day slots are held for severe toothache, facial swelling, a broken tooth, a lost crown or an injury; the phone team triages by pain and swelling. After hours the prompts reach Dr. Bae on his own on-call line. The door is at Dunsmuir and Hornby, between the Burrard and Granville stations.

Who it suits

People who want to understand a plan before agreeing to it. Patients whose worn teeth need the bite worked out first. Anyone who has skipped the dentist for a decade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Kois Deprogrammer for? Worn before major restorative work, it relaxes the closing muscles so the dentist can record where the jaw wants to sit.

Do I need a referral for wisdom teeth? No. Dr. Bae performs the extraction here, after a consultation and X-rays.

What if something goes wrong at night? Follow the phone prompts and you reach Dr. Bae on his on-call line. Spreading facial swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, or high fever means the hospital instead.

Are children seen? Yes — every age from toddlers to the very old, so a household is looked after together.

Opening hours