meet dr sharonne zaks

Introducing Dr Sharonne Zaks AM

Sharonne was immersed in dentistry from an early age, working in her father and uncle’s busy practice as a receptionist and later as a dental assistant during her school holidays.  Growing up in a family of very highly regarded dentists who were excellent mentors prepared Sharonne well for her future in dentistry.

Sharonne graduated from Melbourne University in 1998 at the top of her class, receiving the Periodontics prize in her final year. She has 24 years of experience in private and public practice in Melbourne and Daylesford / Creswick in regional Victoria. Caring, compassionate, gentle and very thorough, Sharonne has been very well received by all who know her.

With her special interest in both periodontics and oral surgery, Sharonne manages advanced periodontal cases and is highly skilled with complex extractions. This saves many patients trips to specialists. She also has a very strong interest in treating anxious and phobic patients, and survivors of trauma. See the ‘trauma informed dentistry’ menu of this website to view the video resources Sharonne has made for both dentists and survivors, and for more detail about this project. Sharonne loves the diversity of general practice, offering the full range of services.

Sharonne is a passionate part time teacher, working with overseas trained dentists in the areas of periodontics, paedodontics, and restorative dentistry to help them qualify to work in Australia. Dedicated to staying up to date, Sharonne loves continuing education and regularly attends congresses and workshops in Australia and internationally. She is a member of the Australian Dental Association.

In addition to dentistry, music is another huge passion. Sharonne regularly performs in her bands and loves composing on the piano and trumpet. One of her compositions was inspired by trains and can be heard below. In 2004, Sharonne created the first dental cabaret show: ‘Gobsmacked: a celebration of the mouth’ combining her two loves. It is designed to spread oral health messages to teenagers and make oral hygiene more sexy, especially flossing. This raised thousands of dollars for the dental care of homeless people which was donated to the Inner South Community Health service. The show was received with great reviews when it was performed at a dental congress at The Hilton Hotel and at several music venues in Melbourne.

In October 2014, Sharonne toured Australia playing the trumpet in her band Madre Monte, as the opening support act for world renowned band ‘The Cat Empire.’  Fronting audiences of 3-6 thousand per night around Australia for 6 weeks was a huge thrill. Sharonne has an Advanced Diploma of music performance (piano). Another one of her bands, ‘The Red Brigade’ have performed both locally and nationally at many music festivals, events and venues.

Other strong interests include bushwalking, outdoor activities and character comedy. In 2005, Sharonne performed in the show ‘Four people and one lamington’ which sold out a season at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Sharonne was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia (AM) for her ‘significant contribution to dentistry and to the arts,’ in the King’s Birthday Honours on the 12 of June 2023.