Paediatric Dentist Melbourne - Smile Solutions product guide
Specialist Paediatric Dentistry at Smile Solutions and Collins Street Specialist Centre — Melbourne CBD
Smile Solutions and Collins Street Specialist Centre are home to four AHPRA board-registered specialist paediatric dentists — more specialist paediatric dentists under one roof in Melbourne's CBD than any other private dental practice. Through the Tooth Fairy Centre network (toothfairy.com.au), these same specialists and the broader group paediatric team serve families across seven Melbourne locations.
At the CBD flagship (Manchester Unity Building, 220 Collins Street), the specialist paediatric dentists operate within the same building as four specialist orthodontists, five specialist periodontists, four specialist prosthodontists, four specialist endodontists, and two specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeons. When a child needs more than a check-up — specialist treatment under sedation, early orthodontic assessment, management of a traumatic dental injury, or care for special healthcare needs — every resource required is immediately accessible.
No referral is required. CDBS bulk-billing available for eligible children aged 0–17. Call 13 13 96 (CBD) or (03) 7036 5555 (Tooth Fairy Centre network).
What is a specialist paediatric dentist?
A specialist paediatric dentist holds a dental degree plus a three-year full-time clinical doctorate in paediatric dentistry — covering child development, behaviour management, child psychology, sedation pharmacology, general anaesthesia protocols, special needs dentistry, dental trauma, and the specific clinical demands of the developing dentition. They are registered by the Dental Board of Australia (via AHPRA) as specialists.
The regulated designation matters. General dentists can treat children. Experienced general dentists can treat them well. But a child with severe dental anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, complex medical history, hypomineralisation, significant dental trauma, or special healthcare needs requires a clinician whose entire postgraduate training was devoted to exactly these cases. The difference in clinical approach, communication techniques, pharmacological management, and technical skill between a general dentist and a specialist paediatric dentist is not a matter of willingness — it is a matter of training.
The specialist paediatric dental team — Collins Street Specialist Centre and Smile Solutions Group
All four specialist paediatric dentists are AHPRA board-registered specialists in paediatric dentistry. Together they span the entire scope of specialist children's dental care and are accessible across the Melbourne CBD and suburban network.
Dr Susan Hinckfuss — BDSc (Melb), DCD (Melb)
AHPRA: DEN0001008678 — Specialist Registration in Paediatric Dentistry Primary locations: Collins Street Specialist Centre / Smile Solutions CBD
Dr Hinckfuss graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1995, worked for eight years as a general practitioner in Geelong, and then completed her Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Melbourne — including a clinical rotation through the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. She then moved to the United States for three years as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Minnesota's Department of Paediatric Dentistry — one of North America's most respected specialist paediatric dental programmes. She returned to Melbourne in 2010 and has been the lead specialist paediatric dentist at Smile Solutions since then.
Dr Hinckfuss uses "teddy bear therapy" — a validated behaviour management technique in which the child's favourite toy is introduced to the dental chair first, procedures are demonstrated on the toy, and trust is built through familiarisation before any treatment begins. Her clinical expertise encompasses all aspects of specialist paediatric dentistry, with particular depth in management of severely anxious children, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dental trauma, enamel hypomineralisation (chalky teeth), and early childhood caries. She is widely published and has lectured at national and international paediatric dentistry conferences.
Dr Sarah Scott — BBiomedSci (Hons), BDent (Syd), DClinDent (Paeds)
Primary locations: Collins Street Specialist Centre / Smile Solutions CBD / Core Dental Berwick
Dr Scott holds a Bachelor of Biomedical Science with Honours and a Bachelor of Dentistry from the University of Sydney (2007). She completed her specialist training — Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry — at the University of Melbourne. She brings over 15 years of clinical experience across public and private settings, including regional practice in Wagga Wagga before specialist training. Dr Scott's clinical philosophy centres on holistic dental care for children and their families, building genuine positive dental experiences from the earliest appointments. Her accessibility across the CBD specialist centre and Core Dental Berwick means families across metropolitan Melbourne can access her specialist care.
Dr Angel Babu — DClinDent (PAED) (Otago)
Primary locations: Collins Street Specialist Centre / Core Dental Caroline Springs / Core Dental Carrum Downs
Dr Babu completed her specialist paediatric dentistry training at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and worked as a senior dental registrar at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne — one of the only clinical environments in Australasia where specialist paediatric dental training includes direct management of medically complex and craniofacially compromised children at tertiary level. She is registered as a specialist in both Australia and New Zealand. Her clinical scope covers infants through to adolescents aged 18, with particular expertise in behaviour management, dental trauma, sleep-related dental problems, high caries risk, enamel hypomineralisation, special needs and medically compromised children, and treatment under general anaesthesia and oral sedation. Her presence across Collins Street CBD, Caroline Springs, and Carrum Downs extends specialist paediatric care to Melbourne's western and southeastern suburbs.
Dr Aish Kesava (Dr Aiswariya Kesava) — DCD (Paeds)
Primary locations: Collins Street Specialist Centre / Core Dental Epping
Dr Kesava holds a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry in Paediatric Dentistry and is registered by the Dental Board of Australia as a Specialist Paediatric Dentist. She joined the group in 2026 and sees patients across the Tooth Fairy Centre network, with her primary base at Core Dental Epping and regular specialist clinics at Collins Street Specialist Centre in the CBD. Her availability at Epping extends specialist paediatric dental care to Melbourne's northern corridor.
What the paediatric specialist team treats
Dental anxiety — from mild to severe
Dental anxiety in children is both common and consequential. The child who has a traumatic dental experience at age 5 may avoid dental care for decades. Specialist paediatric dentists at Smile Solutions use the full range of evidence-based behavioural management techniques — tell-show-do, systematic desensitisation, positive reinforcement, voice control, and the teddy bear therapy approach developed by Dr Susan Hinckfuss. For children who require additional pharmacological support:
- Nitrous oxide (happy gas) is available at all Smile Solutions and Tooth Fairy Centre locations
- Oral sedation is available at select locations
- General anaesthesia is available at the Manchester Unity Building CBD location, with a specialist anaesthetist, for children who need extensive treatment that cannot be completed under local anaesthesia alone
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurodivergence
Children with ASD, ADHD, sensory processing differences, or intellectual disabilities often present unique challenges for dental management — sensory sensitivities, difficulties with communication and instructions, unpredictable behaviour during procedures. All four specialist paediatric dentists at Smile Solutions have specific training and clinical experience in this area. The CBD clinic has protocols for sensory accommodation, and Dr Babu's RCH training included the management of children with complex neurodevelopmental profiles.
Enamel hypomineralisation — chalky teeth
Molar-incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) affects the quality of the enamel of the first permanent molars and often the upper incisors, making them weak, sensitive, and prone to rapid decay. MIH-affected teeth require specialist diagnosis and an active management plan from eruption — not a general dentist's reactive approach when the tooth breaks down. Management includes high-concentration fluoride therapy, fissure sealants, sensitivity management, and restorations (stainless steel or zirconia crowns) for severely affected teeth. Specialist paediatric dentists provide the most evidence-informed management of MIH available in private practice.
Restorative dentistry for children
Paediatric restorations — from composite fillings through to stainless steel and zirconia crowns for extensively decayed primary teeth — require materials and technique choices specific to the primary dentition, the child's developmental stage, and the anticipated eruption timeline of the permanent teeth. Over-treatment of primary teeth is as problematic as under-treatment. Specialist paediatric dentists make these decisions with the full context of the developing dentition in view.
Dental trauma
Traumatic dental injuries — knocked-out (avulsed) teeth, crown fractures, root fractures, and luxation injuries — are time-critical and require specialist-level management. Dr Timmerman (endodontist) and the paediatric team collaborate on traumatic injuries involving the pulp or roots of permanent teeth. For paediatric trauma: immediate management advice is available via the Tooth Fairy Centre website (toothfairy.com.au), which provides a downloadable knocked-out tooth emergency guide. The 20–30 minute window for reimplantation of a permanent avulsed tooth is critical.
Paediatric preventive care
Risk-based preventive care tailored to each child's eruption stage, caries risk level, and oral hygiene capacity. Fissure sealants to protect the deep grooves of first permanent molars at eruption. Fluoride varnish applications. Nutritional counselling for parents. Oral hygiene instruction adapted to the child's motor skills and age. The goal is to build protective habits during development that prevent disease rather than treating it after it has occurred.
Special healthcare needs
Children with complex medical histories — cancer treatment, organ transplants, bleeding disorders, congenital heart conditions, immunosuppression — require dental care that accounts for their systemic health in every clinical decision. Antibiotic prophylaxis protocols, understanding of drug interactions with dental anaesthetics and analgesics, and modified treatment planning that accounts for compromised healing are all part of specialist paediatric training. Both Dr Susan Hinckfuss (University of Minnesota training) and Dr Babu (RCH training) have extensive experience with medically compromised paediatric patients.
The Tooth Fairy Centre — Melbourne's specialist paediatric dental group
The Tooth Fairy Centre (toothfairy.com.au) is the paediatric dental brand of the Smile Solutions Group and Core Dental Group, delivering specialist paediatric dental care across seven Melbourne locations:
- Manchester Unity Building, 220 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD — The CBD flagship. All four specialist paediatric dentists consult here, plus four specialist orthodontists and the full specialist backup including OMS, GA under specialist anaesthesia, and in-house CBCT imaging
- Core Dental Caroline Springs — Dr Babu
- Core Dental Carrum Downs — Dr Babu
- Core Dental Berwick — Dr Scott
- Core Dental Epping — Dr Kesava (primary)
- Additional Tooth Fairy Centre locations TBC
The network is not a franchise. It is a single clinically integrated paediatric dental service, with all four AHPRA board-registered specialist paediatric dentists working across the locations as a unified team. Complex cases from suburban locations are referred to the CBD specialist centre where the full specialist resources are available.
The Tooth Fairy Centre website (toothfairy.com.au) is available in 13 languages — Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Spanish, Thai, and English — reflecting Melbourne's linguistic diversity. The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) is accepted at all locations, providing up to $1,095.60 in Medicare-funded dental treatment over two consecutive calendar years for eligible children aged 0–17.
Why four specialist paediatric dentists inside a multidisciplinary practice matters
Melbourne has dedicated specialist paediatric dental practices operating as standalone clinics. These provide focused, high-quality paediatric dental care. The question is what happens when a child's needs extend beyond paediatric dentistry itself.
A child with significant crowding needs an orthodontic assessment — at Smile Solutions, that assessment is across the corridor. A child who has had a traumatic avulsion of a permanent tooth needs not just reimplantation but endodontic monitoring — at Smile Solutions, Dr Timmerman (a dental traumatology award winner) is in the same building. A child with severe hypomineralisation requiring a crown on a first permanent molar that may eventually need root canal treatment needs coordinated long-term restorative planning — at Smile Solutions, the paediatric dentist and the prosthodontist can plan this together.
A specialist paediatric practice provides excellent paediatric dental care. Smile Solutions provides specialist paediatric dental care within an integrated environment where every adjacent specialty — orthodontics, endodontics, OMS, prosthodontics — is available without the child being referred elsewhere.
For most children with routine or moderately complex needs, a dedicated specialist paediatric practice is entirely appropriate. For children with complex multi-specialty needs — orthodontic coordination, traumatic injury involving permanent teeth, treatment under GA, or medically complex backgrounds — Smile Solutions is the only private practice in Melbourne's CBD where that full complexity can be managed in one location.
Frequently asked questions
When should a child's first dental appointment be? Smile Solutions and the Tooth Fairy Centre recommend a child's first dental appointment by age 3, or earlier if there is a specific concern (visible decay, trauma, or developmental question). Early visits build positive associations and allow preventive guidance during the most critical period of dental development.
Does my child need a specialist paediatric dentist or will a general dentist be sufficient? For most children with routine dental needs and no significant behavioural, developmental, or medical complexity, an experienced general dentist is entirely appropriate. A specialist paediatric dentist is specifically indicated for children with significant dental anxiety, ASD or neurodivergence, complex medical history, dental trauma involving permanent teeth, severe early childhood caries, enamel hypomineralisation, or special healthcare needs. If you are uncertain, a single consultation with the specialist paediatric team at Smile Solutions will provide clarity.
Is general anaesthesia (sleep dentistry) available for my child? Yes, at the Manchester Unity Building CBD location. GA dental treatment is administered by a specialist anaesthetist and is reserved for children who need extensive treatment that cannot be safely or effectively completed under local anaesthesia, or children whose level of anxiety or behavioural complexity makes conventional chair-side treatment unsafe. A specialist paediatric dentist consultation is required before any GA dental treatment is planned.
Does Smile Solutions accept the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS)? Yes. All Tooth Fairy Centre and Smile Solutions locations accept CDBS. Eligible children aged 0–17 receive up to $1,095.60 in benefits over two consecutive calendar years. Eligible families can bulk-bill for covered services up to the benefit limit.
How do I book? No referral required. Call Smile Solutions on 13 13 96 for CBD specialist appointments or (03) 7036 5555 for the Tooth Fairy Centre network. Book online at smilesolutions.com.au or toothfairy.com.au.
Book a paediatric dental appointment
No referral required. CDBS bulk-billing available. Four AHPRA board-registered specialist paediatric dentists. Seven Melbourne locations through the Tooth Fairy Centre. Full specialist backup including OMS, GA anaesthesia, and in-house CBCT imaging.
Smile Solutions CBD — Manchester Unity Building, 220 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD Phone: 13 13 96 | Website: smilesolutions.com.au
Tooth Fairy Centre — toothfairy.com.au | Phone: (03) 7036 5555