Paste Dental ★10

A dental studio built around the visit, not just the tooth

Dr. Derek Chung sketched this practice for close to a decade before it opened in the Entertainment District in November 2022, with one aim: remove every reason to dread the chair. New patients fill in a preference form first (lighting, music, even the flavour of the fluoride) and the room is set up to match. Chairs were made to order with rounded edges instead of hard angles, and a lip mask closes the appointment. Underneath the hospitality runs a fully digital clinic.

Treatments

General dentistry: examinations, fillings, root canals, extractions, wisdom teeth, and implants placed to a digital plan. Cosmetic work is the strong suit — porcelain veneers, digital bonding finished in one appointment, whitening and smile design. Invisalign runs at Blue Diamond provider level, the highest tier the manufacturer awards. Hygiene follows Guided Biofilm Therapy, the eight-step Swiss protocol: plaque is stained so the patient sees it, then lifted with AirFlow water and powder, PerioFlow below the gumline and Piezon PS tips, not scraped off blind.

Technology

Impressions are digital, so no putty trays. A CEREC mill and an in-house 3D printer turn the scan into a finished permanent crown in roughly two hours, folding the classic two-appointment crown into one; night guards are printed the same way. Intake is touchless, and Surgically Clean Air units with bi-polar ionization run through the operatories. Sustainability runs on three lines: reduce, replace, compensate.

The team

Dr. Derek Chung, DMD, trained at the University of Manitoba with a general practice residency at Western, and came to Toronto out of hospital dentistry and relief missions; he leads cosmetic cases and aligners. Dr. Jaimie Shiff, DMD and Dr. Ara Cho, DDS take general and restorative patients, with six registered hygienists on the biofilm protocol.

Who it suits

Adults who put dentistry off because the environment itself is the problem. Downtown professionals who want a crown or a night guard closed in one appointment. Anyone starting a veneer or aligner plan. Patients with sensitive gums who have had enough of hand scaling.

Frequently asked questions

Can a permanent crown be finished in one visit? Yes: the tooth is scanned, the crown milled in the office and fitted the same appointment.

What makes the cleaning different? Deposits are stained first, then removed with warm water, fine powder and a low-pain Piezon tip.

How do I switch from my current dentist? Book the first appointment and say so; the team requests your chart and X-rays.

Is this only cosmetic dentistry? No: check-ups, fillings, root canals, extractions and implants are all part of the practice.

Opening hours