What to Expect During My Dental Appointment:

Completing a medical history questionnaire

At Westgate Dental Centre we normally ask you to arriving 10-15 minutes before your first appointment so you can relax and fill in a medical history questionnaire.

It’s quite important to provide details of any medications that you are currently taking and any major illnesses or operations that you have had in the past. If you are taking a few different medications it might be easier to bring the list with you. This may feel insignificant to you, but it may have an important bearing on any medication that the dentist might want to prescribe for you. 

Consequent visits wont require you to fill in the form again, but if your health condition changes, it is important to notify your dentist about them.

Regular checkups (ideally every six months) will help your teeth stay cleaner, last longer and can prevent painful problems from developing.

Meeting your dentist

The dentist or nurse will invite you in to one of our rooms. They will talk to you to find out why you have come to see them and explain what they would like to do during the appointment. This is your opportunity to discuss your fears and give your input.

Visual check

The dentist will to do a visual check using a small mirror and air flow. The dentist will also visually check your gums as well as your teeth. This is to check for any gum disease and any other potential problems that you should know about which are important for your health.

Dental charting

During a check-up appointment, the dentist will check your teeth and make a note of any fillings that are present, any teeth that are missing and any small holes in your teeth or areas that they want to keep an eye on.

Loupes

Some dentists use special glasses with a mini microscope attached to it, this is so they can have a really good look at your teeth  without sticking their head in to your mouth.  

X-rays

X-rays are still an important part of any dental examination to help diagnose any problems under the surface or around the foundations of the teeth.

These are usually taken by having you bite on a small tab while the dentist positions the x-ray beam so that they can take the picture. The x-ray beam looks exactly like a telescope. It’s usually on the end of a mechanical arm so it can be adjusted to get it close to the x-ray film for the best picture. It’s because the x-rays travel in a straight line that often there’s no need to wear heavy lead aprons any more. The x-ray tab that you hold in your mouth aren’t terribly mouth shaped and some patients find them uncomfortable, but they’re usually over fairly quickly. To hold the digital in your mouth the dentist will ask you to gently close your teeth together on to a small plastic holder whilst the tab is in your mouth.

Our digital x-ray will come up on a computer screen. The radiation dose is much smaller than film dental x-rays (even though the dose of radiation of normal x-rays is low too).

We also have an x-ray machine that can take a picture of all your teeth at once (panoramic x-rays). This involves sitting or standing still whilst the machine slowly rotates around your head. It will not touch you at any point. The picture it provides is a useful overview of your teeth and bones but is no substitute really for the smaller close-up images.

Periodontal Probing

As part of a routine check of your mouth, the dentist will also want to have a look at your gums. You may notice from time to time when you are brushing your teeth that there is a little bit of blood when you spit out. This bleeding may indicate the presence of gingivitis or gum disease.

The dentist has a small plastic probe with a special tiny ball on the end of it. This is used to gently probe around the necks of your teeth where they meet the gums. By doing this check, the dentist can identify any areas where gum disease is present. Oftentimes just telling you where you may have been missing the gum during brushing will solve this problem.

On some areas of your mouth you may have a build-up of calcium deposits on the teeth. This is called calculus or tartar. If left in place the gum can become inflamed under the calculus area, so the dentist will make a note of this and may recommend visiting on-site dental hygienist.

Other areas of your mouth

Your dentist will want to have a general look around the skin of your mouth. This does not involve probing, and should be a purely visual check to make sure everything is healthy.

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Results

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Having most of the information that the dentist needs now, he can give you a run-through of his findings, and answer any questions that you may have. The dentist should be able to give you a rough idea of how many appointments you will require and estimate a cost for your treatment, if any.