Your first visit
Allow about an hour. You will leave with a written plan, the cost of each part of it, and a clear answer on what is urgent and what can wait.
Teeth, existing fillings and crowns, gums, bite, and a check of the soft tissue including an oral cancer screening.
Digital, and only where the image will change the plan. If you have recent films from another practice we will use those instead.
What needs doing, what can wait, what can be left alone, and what each part costs before you agree to any of it.
Why we take them
X-rays let us see between and inside teeth, and into the bone beneath them — decay under an old filling, an abscess at the root, bone loss from gum disease. None of that is visible from the outside.
Ours are digital, which means a small fraction of the dose of the film X-rays most people remember, and the image is on the screen next to you immediately so we can look at it together.
Questions
About an hour for a first appointment. That covers the examination, any X-rays that are actually needed, and time to talk through what we found.
Usually yes. If your gums need more than a routine cleaning we will explain why and book the right appointment rather than rushing it.
Your insurance card, a list of any medications you take, and the completed patient forms. If you have recent X-rays from another dentist, ask them to send them over.
Yes. Tell us when you book and we will set the appointment up as a conversation and an examination, with nothing else on the list.
Next step
The first appointment is an examination and a conversation. There is no obligation to book treatment at the end of it.