David Stokes has always been a high flyer. A professional basketball league player from Geelong, he ­returned to school in his 30s to complete his HSC and then undertook five years of uni to earn an MBA. He now works as a productivity consultant, travels the world and enjoys life to the full.

But for years, one thing had niggled him – his mouth. A chronic grinder, he’d worn his teeth down top and bottom, leaving them brown and with the nerves exposed. An acid mouth from sipping soft drinks all day, combined with blood pressure tablets, had given him a mouth full of fillings – and four of his teeth were missing. "I’m a pretty confident sort of guy, but people could definitely see my teeth," he says.

In March last year, David walked into the surgery of Dr Michael Ho, a Sydney dentist, for a mouth makeover. Using new E4D laser technology, Ho mapped the missing parts of David’s teeth. He fiddled with the ­dimensions on a computer, then milled an exact replica of each tooth from white porcelain and fixed them into position to give David a dazzling smile.

"I was getting to the stage where I had to take action, and I think my mouth and teeth look great now," David says. All up, the new mouth will cost him as much as a new car, but he considers it well worth it. "I’m happy."

While dentistry is reaching new heights of sophistication, dental ­disease in Australia is still an undeniable reality. Over a quarter of us have untreated tooth decay, with up to 95% of adults born before 1970 – and 76% of people born after – having at least one filling. About one in 20 adult Australians have lost all of their natural teeth. Meanwhile, our sugar-laden diet of soft drinks and fast food has stalled the gains made in children’s oral health in recent years, says Robert Boyd-Boland, CEO of the Australian Dental Association.

That’s a problem, since there’s mounting evidence that oral health ­affects the entire body. Gum disease and tooth decay are the most common infections in Australians, and put us at higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, lung infections, osteoporosis and preterm births. Unchecked infection in teeth and gums can be dangerous, even life-threatening, because the mouth is situated so close to the brain, lungs and heart, while jaw problems can lead to chronic poor sleep. Oral cancer is also an issue.