What happens at the first examination — and what doesn't

The sentence we hear most from patients who have stayed away for a long time is "I'm embarrassed". This article was written to say, in order, what happens once you are through the door.

At the desk

ID and a short health form: medications, allergies, chronic conditions, pregnancy. Because this form decides anaesthetic and medicine choices, filling it in accurately matters more than the procedure itself.

In the chair: listening

You describe the complaint in your own words: when it started, what makes it worse, whether it wakes you at night. These few minutes before the dentist has even looked are, more often than not, half the diagnosis.

Looking

With the intraoral camera each tooth comes up on the screen one by one; you see it too. Gums are measured, the edges of old fillings are checked. If there is a question — a hidden surface, the state of a root, the bone level — a panoramic X-ray is taken. If there is no question, it isn't.

The written plan

Findings, options, how many visits each option takes and their order are written down. Cost is part of this document and is given to you individually; by regulation it is not shared online or over the phone.

What is not done on day one

Except for acute pain, treatment does not start on the first day. Two reasons: so that you do not decide in a hurry, and so that the plan is built for the whole mouth. Filling one tooth today and deciding about its neighbour next month usually means two more separate visits.

Afterwards

You take the plan home. Write down your questions and ask them by phone or at the start of the second visit; there is no deadline pushing you. Once treatment starts, what will be done that day is said again at the beginning of every visit.