Regular Dental Exam and Checkup Expectations

Generally speaking, all patients can expect most of the following procedures during a six-month checkup:

• Initial evaluation-An overall review of your teeth, gums, cheeks, tongue and palette to immediately see if anything is abnormal.
• A current set of x-rays- To give us the ability to monitor the health and condition of your teeth and jawbone below the gum line. This identifies any root decay. It will also identify tumors, cysts and abnormal growths. The x-rays are crucial in building an oral history of your mouth as you age.
• Existing Restorations- With specialized tools we will inspect restorations; like fillings, crowns and other tooth replacements or restorations for conditioning.
• Oral Cancer Screening- a close scrutinization of tissues looking for any signs of cancer that would need to be investigated further.
• Surface Deposits- We would work to remove any deposits or stains on the surface of the tooth.
• Teeth Cleaning- The best part of the dental exam and checkup. We will scale all of your teeth removing damaging plaque that has stuck to your teeth. We will work on the hard to reach areas in the back of your mouth and the surfaces between teeth.
• Deep Cleaning-If we see the onset of any gum disease the scaling may need to go below the gum line to remove the plaque that is infecting the soft tissue.
• Fluoride Treatment- We will determine together if you would benefit from this simple and quick treatment.
• Self-care demonstration- By the condition of either your teeth or gums we will be able to make suggestions on how you can either introduce or improve some of your hygiene habits at home. For example, you brush well but are not fond of flossing so we can see the additional plaque between the teeth. We can suggest other small tools to use instead.