About Us

Your Local Friendly Dentists

Thornbury Family Dental is a state-of-the-art dental clinic opened by Dentist Dr Oliver Liao and Dr Alice Chen in 2017. With a convenient and accessible location on High Street in Thornbury, Dr Oliver and Dr Alice are pleased to deliver excellent dental care with compassion and kindness to our growing community.

Our aim is to bring to the Thornbury and surrounding communities a fresh, new, and dynamic dental experience. We strive to help make each dental visit as enjoyable for the anxious and as fun for the kids as possible.

Here at Thornbury Family Dental we are a patient focused dental practice. Our whole team has had, and will continue to have, extensive training to ensure we can provide each and every one of our patients with the best dental experience/treatment possible, efficiently and safely. Our priority is patient comfort and making sure even the most anxious patient is put at ease when visiting our practice.

Safety, Comfort and a Soft Touch

We welcome everyone, from children to families, young professionals to retirees. With a fresh, modern feeling, you’ll feel like you’ve entered a friendly space that puts you right at ease.

Our open and calming environment has been carefully designed to showcase our innovative approach to dental care that ensures your comfort and focuses on the details each step of the way.

Our team strongly believes in nurturing a positive dental attitude by creating a safe, empathetic and calming environment to help alleviate dental anxiety. There are many advantages to choosing Thornbury Family Dental for your dental care:

  • Same-day visits, weekend bookings and late opening hours
  • Patient orientated with individualised treatment
  • State of the art equipment and facilities
  • Health funds accepted
  • Payment plans available 

We are proud to be a
QIP Accredited Dental Practice

Thornbury Family Dental is a QIP accredited private dental practice. This means we have demonstrated our commitment to providing an excellent dental care service and incorporate the NSQHS (National Safety and Quality Health Service) standards and regulations into our daily practices.

QIP promotes the continuous improvement in the quality of dental services and safety of both patients and the community and accreditation provided by them is supported by the Australian Dental Association.

Delivering an
Exceptional Experience

A commitment to superior service begins from the moment you walk inside our door.

Our smiling, friendly receptionist is ready to greet you and make every effort to accommodate your needs and wants.

Dr Oliver and Dr Alice are fully qualified dentists who have concentrated on extensive continuing education and keeping up to date with the latest innovations to provide their patients with the best possible care.

It’s our goal to not only address your immediate dental needs but to put a plan in place that ensures your oral health is maintained for life.

We Hope That By Sharing Our Journey,
You’ll Allow us To Become a Part of Yours.

Our Journey So Far…

2012

Graduation…
Just The Beginning
of Our Journey

In 2012 we both graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery. We were ready and excited to take on the world and begin our careers in dentistry. On graduation we went our separate ways (what were we thinking?) to wherever our first job would take us.
2008

University of Adelaide, Where it All Began

Our story began at the University of Adelaide where we ( Dr Alice and Dr Oliver) met whilst studying a Bachelor or Dental Surgery at the University of Adelaide. A friendship was formed after we found out we both grew up across the ditch in Auckland, New Zealand, were both born in Taiwan and had moved to Adelaide for dental school (We think the stars were aligning).

It was Time For Dr Oliver
to Become a Melbournian

In 2013, I made the wise decision to pick up my bags and move to the most liveable city in the world – Melbourne.
I couldn’t deny the coffee was great, the culture was alive and vibrant and knew Melbourne was the place to be. Ithen worked in private practice at multiple locations across the Northern and Eastern suburbs.

During this same period Dr Alice moved
into private practice in rural Queensland.

2013

Public Dental Health Care

Our careers began in the public dental health care system. I (Dr Oliver) stayed put in Adelaide and worked at the Adelaide Dental Hospital as a house dentist for several months helping patients in the public system. While Dr Alice ventured up North to rural Queensland under the Queensland public dental health system. Here she gained a wide-range of experience helping patients with limited access to dental care.
2012 to 2016

We Wanted to
Revolutionise the
Dental Industry

Our relationship began to flourish and we both continued to work in private practice. We’d decided our ultimate dream was to join forces and set up a dental practice in Thornbury that would completely revolutionise the dental industry.

After spending too many years working in other clinics, we’d both decided we weren’t satisfied with what all the other clinics were doing. We wanted something better for our patients and were looking to create a dentistry experience that was seamless.

So we worked hard, saved up enough money and set the wheels in motion.

2014

A Chance Meeting Brought Us Back Together #fate

As if it was straight from a Hollywood Movie, Dr Alice and I coincidentally (*cough* it was fate) ran into each other during a personal development seminar in Melbourne. After a lot of courting (I must have done something right) we began to date in July 2014 and embarked on a long distance relationship.

It was About Time
Dr Alice Became a
Melbournian

In late 2016, it was clear that our dream was going to come true and we’d both met our match. Both professionally and personally (cue romantic music).

Dr Alice moved to Melbourne (Yay!) to work in multiple private practices and to join me in setting up our dream practice.

null
2016

The Planning Begins For Our Dream Practice

The seed had been planted. There was no going back. We were on a mission. Our dream practice was going to become a reality. We spent hundreds of hours planning, having late night phone calls consuming way too much take away, but we didn’t want anything to be overlooked. We hired the best of the best to help us plan because that’s what we wanted for our patients. The best. We were going to create a unique experience like no other.

Our Dream of Serving You Becomes a Reality

After years of planning, late nights, stressful phone calls, lots of laughs and a few tears along the way, it was time to open up the doors and welcome our amazing new patients into the Thornbury Family Dental family.
2017

We Begin to Bring Our Dream Practice to Life

After detailed planning and innovative custom design our custom build began. As if straight from an episode on the block, we worked tirelessly day and night with brilliant tradespeople to bring our dream practice to life. No expense was spared. We knew we were creating something incredible that the Thornbury, Northcote, Preston residents were going to love (as much as you can possibly love a dentist).
2019

We Finally Said “I do”,
Tied the Knot and
Celebrated Our Second
Year Anniversary.

2019 was definitely the most magical year of our lives. Our clinic was flourishing, we were serving even more people in the community and on a beautiful sunny day in Summertime in Melbourne, we both married the love of our lives (awwww) at the Melbourne Town Hall. Check out how beautiful Dr Alice looked on our wedding day.
2018

1 Year Anniversary and
over 800 Happy Patients

We are so humbled to be welcomed by the Thornbury locals and saw great growth in our first year of opening.

2021 & BEYOND

We have so many big plans and a huge vision for how Thornbury Family Dental can serve the local
 community in the years to come.

We look forward to consistently being the best that we can be for every single one of our patients!

Your dentist protects you in more ways
than you realise.

Now is the best time for cost-effective dental health treatment.

We believe that everyone has the right to great dental care so we want to make it a no brainer for you.

Here’s 50% off your essential 1-hour dental health check-up.

That includes:

  • A thorough dental health examination
  • Photos of your mouth and teeth
  • X-rays
  • Gum and soft tissue analysis
  • Oral cancer screening
  • A treatment strategy planning session 

Don’t hesitate. Take action now and book today and claim your discount.