Dentist- Initial Appointment

HannahIOW

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Toothsmith

First of all - nomatter what, you have a right to absolute confidentiality, so not only should your partner not be in the same room as you (Unless you specifically want him there) but neither should any part of your treatment be mentioned to him (Or her - I'm assuming you're female and your other half is male!! )

An initial examination should - SHOULD - be a detailed evaluation of everything that's going on in your mouth. It should look at the teeth, their health, how they bite together, how they look. You should be asked if anything is giving you any problems - either through pain, or appearence wise.

The dentist should also look at the gums, assess the way you clean them and look for any signs of gum disease - scoring the gums for bleeding, tartar build up and any pocketing in the gums. (This will probably be numbers from 0-4 he'll be calling out). He should also look and feel for any unusual lumps bumps or marks around your mouth that could be early signs of mouth cancer (Very rare indeed, but you should still look for it). It may also be necessary to take an x-ray or two.

After all that, the dentist should discuss his findings with you. He should detail what he's found and what needs to be done to fix it. He should also discuss alternatives with you (Silver vs white fillings, big fillings vs crowns or inlays, root fillings vs extractions etc) giving all the cost implications of the different options. (Everything NECESSARY to get you healthy should be available on the NHS - but NECESSARY doesn't always equal best looking - so there may be some things that you will only get if you're prepared to pay a bit more.

There should be nothing essential that you need to pay privately for though.

The dentist should also be able to assess risk factorsyou have to decay and gum disease. (Teeth don't rot for no reason - it will be due to sugar somewhere in your diet) He should be able to suggest things you could do to cut down the number of problems you experience.

All this usually takes me about 1/2 hour.

It will be interesting to see what actually does happen with you.

HannahIOW

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brook2jack

You are having a nhs check up. 10 mins is about average although some practices schedule 5 mins for a check up.

A private practice check up is alot longer because you pay for the dentists time (this is generally true for all private treatments .. they are more expensive because you are having alot more of a dentists time.). On the Nhs there is a set fee and the only way to make it economically viable is to use the minimum time possible.

I would draw your own conclusions about what to expect from a nhs check up as opposed to what is expected in a private check up..

thevicster

Hey Hannah, I've just started going back to the dentist after a VERY long time and my initial appointment (with an NHS denist) was much as Toothsmith said. Think it took about 20 minutes although I was very nervous so it could have been longer. I've been very fortunate in that he is a young, keen guy who is prepared to spend a bit of time with me. I'm now almost halfway through my treatment. After the intial appointment I was given 2 treatment sessions, the first a week and a half after the first appointment and the next two weeks after that, my dentist thinks that treament should be finished after that with perhaps one more appointment following. He is also doing a thourgh (sp) clean himself, so your dentist may do the same? I hope this gives you a little more of an idea of what might happen at your appointment and hope you'll be okay as I know how terrifying it can be!! I promise you it really is worth it! Be brave and good luck!

Kandipandi

Don't worry, be relieved that you have finally done the hardest bit and got the ball rolling.
I have been in your shoes and my teeth are all sorted now. I would recommend that after you have had a good scale and polish use a good electric toothbrush to keep on top of it.

Good luck, it will be so worth it!

HannahIOW

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Charliezoo

Thanks for bringing this up - I haven't been to the dentist for years as I had so many bad experiences and basically gave up finding one I was happy with.

You're post has made me realise I must just go for it and make an appointment, thank you

HannahIOW

Yes definitely go for it, as frightened as I was I just closed my eyes and kept telling myself it would be over soon, and now I know what needs doing

HannahIOW

Also forgot to add that they took x-rays as well.

thevicster

Well done Hannah! You've done a really brave thing. TBH I thought I needed more fillings than I actually did before I went, but my dentist seems to think not so I'm happy to go with what he says as he's the expert! Hope you feel better now you've made the first step, you're really brave!! Let us know how it all goes xXx

Charliezoo - go for it!!!! Be brave and good luck!