What to Expect at a Dental Visit
Do you have an upcoming appointment booked? Or are you looking to schedule an appointment for the near future? If so, you may be wondering what to expect at a dental visit. Below is helpful information about general expectations for a routine visit to the dentist.
What Should I Expect at a Dental Visit?
What you should expect at a dental visit will depend on the reason for the visit. For a dental cleaning and examination, there are a few common expectations. If it is your first time visiting, you’ll be asked to fill out paperwork. This will include your medical history, general information, and possibly insurance information. Once the provider is ready, you will be led back to the patient area and assigned a chair. Your hygienist will perform an examination, which may include X-rays. This is particularly likely if you haven’t visited the dentist in a while and/or they don’t have any recent X-rays available. From there, your hygienist will clean and polish your teeth using special tools. Finally, your dentist will perform an examination and make any recommendations for additional treatment services.
The entire visit often takes less than one hour from start to finish.
What Services Does a General Dentist Provide?
Your general dentist may provide a variety of different services. These often include:
- Dental Cleaning: A cleaning involves a dentist using specialized tools to remove tartar, plaque, and debris from their patient’s teeth. This is a step above what can be done at home, which makes it particularly important to undergo regularly.
- Examination: A thorough, professional examination helps a dentist to not only understand what a patient’s current oral health looks like, but also what it may look like if the patient has issues that need to be addressed. Catching oral health issues early on can greatly improve treatment outcomes.
- Fillings: Dental fillings are an extremely common treatment for cavities. While this is a routine procedure, it’s best to avoid cavities by taking proper care at home and visiting the dentist regularly.
- Extractions: Extractions aren’t common (except in the case of wisdom teeth). A dentist may have the ability to perform an extraction, but will generally avoid doing so if at all possible.
Other services general dentists sometimes provide include:
- Deep teeth cleaning (scaling and root planing)
- Root canal therapy
- Dental bridges
- Dental crown placement
- Dental implants
- And more
Contact Us
If you have an upcoming appointment and have further questions, or if you don’t have an appointment scheduled and would like to schedule an appointment for a cleaning and examination, reach out today. We’d be happy to discuss upcoming availability and schedule an appointment for you to meet with our experienced, friendly team of dental professionals.
Related Article: How Often Should You Go to the Dentist?