If the patient is 20 years or younger, they are scheduled directly on the hygiene schedule and will have their teeth cleaned, an initial exam from the dentist and, if appropriate, fluoride treatments and x-rays.

While a child's mouth usually has had very little dentistry, an adult mouth usually has had more. For that reason, our office first schedules adult patients, who are 21 and older, for an initial oral exam with a doctor. This appointment takes place prior to scheduling a cleaning.

At this appointment the doctor and his assistant will chart existing fillings and other dental work, such as crowns, bridges and missing teeth. This provides a base line charting of what has been done previously for the patient. Also noted at this time are any areas of concern; which may include decay, cracked teeth or fillings and condition of the gums. A full mouth probe determines the health of a patient’s gum tissue and documents any areas of periodontal concerns.

There is also an oral cancer screening.Once all the information from the initial oral exam is collected, the dentist will discuss any recommended restorative appointments needed, and what kind of dental cleaning is appropriate. Most often a cleaning is all that is required, but under certain circumstances, such as evidence of the beginning of gum disease or a long interval since the last cleaning, more than one cleaning appointment is likely to be recommended.

For both age groups, we do request a transferral of records from the previous dental office before the initial appointment at our office. Generally, the records shared between dental offices consist of x-rays only. The reason for that is each office has a different method of creating a patient chart, with some being digital and some on paper. Certain x-rays are desired at this first appointment, to provide information that cannot be gotten by any visual exam.

An explanation of the four most common types of dental x-rays can be found as a separate item under Patient Information. Our office is most interested in two types of these; a panoramic or full mouth series and a current set of bite wings. If these x-rays have been done recently by another office, we are happy to accept them rather than take new ones. The form to request them is located under New Patient Forms section.

A separate form should be used for each office, general and specialist. If treatment has been provided by an oral surgeon, periodontist or orthodontist, there are often more current x-rays there than might be at a general dental office.  Should a previous office have taken recent x-rays, we are happy to accept them, rather than take more.