What To Expect At Your New Patient Appointment

When you come into our front door for the first time, I hope that you instantly feel like you belong. You’ll be greeted with a warm welcome, and introduced to our team. I hope every step of the way, you can feel just how much thought has gone into each aspect of your experience with us. You’ll be given a quick tour of the office so you can see how meticulous we are about infection control and your safety. You’ll then be able to take a seat in our consultation room to finish up any electronic paperwork that needs to be completed on your patient portal- you’ll notice we try to be as environmentally conscious as possible by eliminating paper where we can.

I’ll come into the consultation room to meet you and talk with you a bit about your medical and dental history, your goals, and anything else that needs addressing. I hope to use this time for us to become familiar with one another and to give you the opportunity to share anything that has ever come up with your dental experiences- good or bad- that you feel comfortable sharing. Getting to know patients on that level is important to me as I wish to make your dental experience as enjoyable as one can. Knowing your goals, fears, setbacks, and more matters to us. We are always looking for ways to tailor to each patient in order to keep them comfortable and motivated to prioritize oral health care.

Next, you will be seated in one of our beautiful, relaxing Treatment Suite’s where I’ll do an exam and share with you aspects of your oral health that I find. I’ll also perform an oral cancer screening and a TMJ screening by looking at your head and neck muscles first, then looking at your teeth and gums. We will take routine dental x-rays to check for cavities and any other pathology that might be lingering. We ensure you only receive the x-rays you need for your individual risk factors, and we utilize digital x-rays and shielding to give you the lowest possible dose of radiation possible. One of our digital x-rays is about the same radiation you get from eating a banana! My team will also take a digital scan (3-D pictures) of your teeth, they will note what dental treatment you already have in your mouth. and will put a plan together that takes everything we’ve talked about- goals, concerns, anxieties, time, money, etc.- into account and break it into phases so we can get you to a place of health.

I start your dental health journey with a routine exam and plan first before I jump into treatment options like cleanings or fillings. This helps me ensure that we address the root causes of your individual needs or conditions so you don't end up wasting time or money getting procedures you don't need. When many people move to a new dentist, one of the first things they say is “I’d like to come in and just get my teeth cleaned.” This is an understandable point of view from a patient perspective. However, it is important to note that there are several different types of cleanings. When you are new to a dental office, your dentist must complete an exam to determine exactly what type of cleaning you require and will benefit most from to ensure your time and money does not go wasted and is utilized appropriately.

My goal for you is that once we’ve completed treatment and you go into our “recall / maintenance” phase with regular cleanings, you no longer experience dental disease (cavities, tooth pain, infection, etc. are all disease processes that should not regularly occur in a healthy adult!). I look forward to seeing you and using dentistry to help improve your overall quality of life!