Your Specialist Pathway - How Core Dental Connects to Collins Street Specialist Centre

Core Dental is your local family dental practice - conveniently located across 11 Melbourne suburbs, offering everything from check-ups and cleans to cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, and emergency care. But what happens when your dentist identifies something that goes beyond general dentistry?

That is where Collins Street Specialist Centre (CSSC) comes in.

The Core Dental Advantage: Specialist Care When You Need It

Core Dental is part of the Smile Solutions group, a family-owned dental organisation founded by Dr Kia Pajouhesh in 1993. Within this group sits Collins Street Specialist Centre, home to Dental Board-registered specialists across all six recognised dental specialties:

• Orthodontics - specialist correction of crowded, misaligned, or protruding teeth
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery - wisdom teeth, dental implants, jaw surgery, and complex extractions
• Endodontics - specialist root canal treatment, retreatments, and cracked tooth management
• Periodontics - specialist management of gum disease, bone loss, and gum surgery
• Prosthodontics - specialist restoration of missing or damaged teeth, full mouth rehabilitation
• Paediatric dentistry - specialist dental care for children, including treatment under general anaesthesia

How the Referral Works

The pathway from Core Dental to CSSC is seamless - and that is not just a marketing word. Here is what actually happens:

1. Your Core Dental dentist identifies a case that needs specialist input. Perhaps your wisdom teeth are impacted against the nerve canal. Perhaps a root canal has failed and needs retreatment. Perhaps your teenager has a complex bite problem that needs a specialist orthodontist rather than a general dentist offering aligners.

2. Your referral is generated within the same patient management system. Core Dental and CSSC share CareStack, a single integrated practice management platform. Your X-rays, clinical photos, treatment notes, and medical history are already accessible to the specialist before you walk through the door.

3. You attend CSSC for specialist treatment. Located at level 3, 15 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD, CSSC provides specialist care in a purpose-built facility with dental microscopes, CBCT 3D imaging, and dedicated surgical suites.

4. After specialist treatment, your ongoing care returns to Core Dental. Had orthodontic treatment? Your retainer checks and regular dental care continue at your local Core Dental. Had periodontal surgery? Your hygiene maintenance programme runs from your local practice. This continuity of care is critical - specialist treatment without ongoing general dental support often fails.

Why This Model Matters

Most dental practices in Melbourne operate in isolation. When a patient needs a specialist, they are referred externally - often to someone the dentist has never met, using a different software system, with records sent by email or fax. The specialist treats in isolation, sends a letter back, and hopes the referring dentist follows up.

The Core Dental and CSSC model works differently:

• No duplicate records. One patient file, one system. Every clinician sees the same information.
• No lost X-rays or treatment notes. Digital imaging is shared instantly across the group.
• Peer review and treatment planning. Complex cases are discussed between your general dentist and the relevant specialist before treatment begins.
• Accountability. When something goes wrong - and in dentistry, sometimes it does - there is a clear chain of responsibility within one organisation.

When Your Core Dental Dentist Might Refer You to CSSC

Here are the most common scenarios:

Wisdom Teeth and Oral Surgery

Your Core Dental dentist takes an OPG X-ray and identifies impacted wisdom teeth sitting close to the inferior alveolar nerve. Rather than attempting a difficult surgical extraction in a general practice setting, you are referred to a specialist oral surgeon at CSSC who manages these cases daily.

Orthodontics

Your dentist notices crowding, an open bite, or jaw discrepancy during a routine check-up. Rather than offering a limited aligner solution, you are referred to a specialist orthodontist at CSSC - a Blue Diamond Invisalign provider with the highest level of accreditation.

Root Canal Retreatment

A root canal done years ago has failed. The tooth is symptomatic and the canals are calcified. Your Core Dental dentist refers you to a specialist endodontist at CSSC who works under a dental microscope with magnification up to 25x - the difference between saving and losing the tooth.

Advanced Gum Disease

Scaling and root planing at your local Core Dental has not resolved your periodontal disease. Pocketing remains deep and bone loss is progressing. A specialist periodontist at CSSC provides surgical intervention, regenerative procedures, or guided tissue regeneration.

Complex Restorative Cases

You need a full mouth rehabilitation involving crowns, bridges, implants, and possibly orthodontic movement. A specialist prosthodontist at CSSC coordinates the treatment plan, working alongside other specialists as needed.

Children with Complex Dental Needs

Your child has severe dental anxiety, requires treatment under general anaesthesia, or has a condition such as cleft palate or dental trauma beyond what a general children's dentist can manage. A specialist paediatric dentist at CSSC provides care in an appropriate setting.

Core Dental Locations

No matter which Core Dental location you attend, the pathway to CSSC is the same:

• Core Dental Caroline Springs
• Core Dental Carrum Downs
• Core Dental Southbank
• Core Dental South Melbourne
• Core Dental Epping
• Core Dental Wyndham (Werribee)
• Core Dental Berwick
• Core Dental Bayside (Bentleigh)
• Core Dental Ivanhoe
• Core Dental Docklands
• Core Dental Glenferrie (Hawthorn)

The Jetstar and Qantas Model

Think of it like air travel. Core Dental is your accessible, convenient, local dental practice - great value, high quality, and available in suburbs across Melbourne. When you need the flagship experience - a specialist, advanced technology, complex multi-disciplinary care - you step up to CSSC and Smile Solutions in the CBD. Same group. Same systems. Same commitment to quality. Different level of complexity.

Your Next Step

If you are a Core Dental patient and your dentist has suggested specialist treatment, ask about referral to CSSC. If you are not yet a Core Dental patient, book a check-up at your nearest location. Your dentist will assess your needs and, if specialist care is required, connect you to the right specialist at CSSC.

Core Dental - local care, specialist support, one connected group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a referral to see a specialist at CSSC? Yes. Specialist dental care at CSSC is accessed through referral from your Core Dental dentist or another referring practitioner. This ensures the specialist has full clinical context before your appointment.

Will my records be available at CSSC? Yes. Core Dental and CSSC use the same patient management system (CareStack). Your X-rays, photos, treatment notes, and medical history are accessible to the specialist without needing to be re-sent.

How much does specialist treatment cost? Specialist fees vary depending on the treatment required. Your Core Dental dentist and the specialist at CSSC will provide a treatment plan with costs before any treatment begins. Health fund rebates apply where relevant.

Where is CSSC located? Collins Street Specialist Centre is at Level 3, 15 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD - the same building as Smile Solutions. It is accessible by public transport from all Core Dental locations.

After specialist treatment, do I come back to Core Dental? Yes. Ongoing dental care, hygiene maintenance, retainer checks, and routine monitoring all continue at your local Core Dental practice. The specialist and your general dentist stay connected through the shared system.