If we’re looking at a new patient exam, we like to bring the patient in and get their whole medical and dental history. We then do a whole thorough examination of the health of their teeth and gums, and do a head and neck screening for oral cancers. We’ll take a standard set of x-rays to see what’s going on between the teeth, the areas we can’t see. If there are specific issues, we’ll focus in a little more on those. Usually, at the end of that appointment, we’ll have some sort of plan in place where we know exactly which areas we want to treat first, how long it’s going to be afterward, and how many appointments you’ll have to come back for. Then we work out a treatment plan so you can plan ahead and book those appointments appropriately.

For cosmetic dentistry, typically, it can be as simple as a one-two thing or a full-mouth work-up or full-mouth rehab. Often times for the more complex cases, we’ll get a patient in and kind of address their goals and what they want to change about their smile. We’ll do a mock-up where we’ll take impressions, send them off to the lab, and they’ll set what it would look like if we do all these things.

A lot of times when people have negative experiences in the past and are a little nervous, we tend to try to just make them forget about the past. This is a new experience, we’re going to meet and we’re going to talk at your first appointment. We’re just kind of learning about you, we’re learning about your teeth, we’re learning about your goals for your oral health. We’re trying to figure out what makes you tick. And often times, if a patient is really nervous, I get them to explain that a little bit and these are things we can then change, or do differently, or watch out for so you don’t have those same experiences again. The caveat to that is the longer you wait if you’re scared, the worse it’s going to be when you do come, too.