What to Expect on Your First Visit to a Dentist’s Office

What to Expect on Your First Visit to a Dentist's Office

Being a patient of any sort is a pretty scary thought.

And if it’s your first experience with some doctor, then you do get shaky knees.

You get the same feeling when you’re visiting a dentist’s office for the first time. It might give you panic attacks, but if you know what to expect from this visit and how can it possibly turn out to be, then maybe you won’t get so frightened.

Most of the first visits to a dentist’s office are similar. So let’s discuss what you should expect on your first visit to a dentist.

Initial Paperwork

This is a routine procedure a patient has to go through. The attendant in the dentist’s office will ask you to fill out the forms that enquire your personal information, health insurance details that will cover your medical expenses and your medical history so that the dentist understands your case.

Comprehensive Exam and X-Ray

With the help of your dental history and your complaint the dentist will be able to understand your problem. However, for further surety and in order to decide on the suitable treatment, the dentist will ask you to get an x-ray so that there are no ambiguities and errors in assessment. Next, would be a comprehensive exam to understand the condition of your teeth, jaw bone, gums, and in some cases the roots of your teeth.
Following things are incorporated in a comprehensive exam:

  • Evaluating patient’s oral hygiene
  • Checking for any problems related to the patient’s jaw or bite
  • Evaluating if there’s any need of tooth replacement or extraction
  • Checking whether the teeth of the patient are at risk of decaying or not
  • Checking if the patient has any gum disease or not

Oral Hygiene

Dentists make sure that the patient understands the importance of dental hygiene. So they brief you about the kind of measures you must take in order to ensure personal dental hygiene. These measures are based on the results of the comprehensive exam. The dentist might stress upon the importance of having a brushing and flossing schedule. The dentist might also recommend some antibacterial mouth wash for enhanced dental care.

Necessary Treatment

Based on the results of the comprehensive exam and the x-ray the dentist will now propose what needs to be done to solve your problem. This dental procedure might require you to go through some preparatory steps for several days. For instance, the dentist might recommend you to start an antibiotic before root canal or tooth extraction.

Future Appointments

Then the dentist will brief you about how many visits you will have to make in order to get done with the dental service that is required. The dentist will provide you with a detailed schedule that should prepare you for your future appointments.

The necessary care prescribed by the dentist is must. This might include the use of medications, mouth wash or fluoride toothpaste. Some dietary restrictions over tea and coffee might be imposed on you for the time being. Maybe you’ll be asked to quit smoking until the recommended treatment is completed.

If you’re looking for an experienced dental service, but you’re afraid because it’ll be your first visit, then don’t stress yourself anymore. Contact Philip Younts DDS today. We make sure that our new patients develop faith over our service and leave with full confidence.

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