Our Truly Comprehensive Oral Exam

All of us are more than the sum of our parts.  No one can achieve total health and wellness without looking at the whole body as a set of systems with parts that work together, and no one can ensure total dental health just by checking for decay and having “just a cleaning.”

All exams should be thorough.  As time has gone by, we have learned so much more about dental health than we ever knew before.  A Truly Comprehensive Exam either takes multiple visits, or a very long first visit that is usually overwhelming, or you just can’t (or don’t) evaluate all that we know about today.

A Truly Comprehensive Exam will include an evaluation and discussion of the following dental areas:

• Tooth issues (decay, unhealthy wear, cracking and breaking and or broken areas).
• Periodontal (gum) Disease assessment (swollen bleeding gums and permanent bone loss).
• Head and neck oral cancer screening (both soft and hard tissues).
• Appearance (tooth alignment, whiteness, gummy smile, and overall smile).
• Function (your oral airway, bite, muscles, joints (TMJ), unusual headaches, and migraines).
• Oral airway obstruction (sleep apnea).
• Growth and development (for children).

Since most people are familiar with a 60-minute exam every six months, a lot of dentists try to fit their new patient exam and a cleaning into 60 minutes or hopefully at least 90 minutes.

Without a complicated medical history, and without a lot of current restorations to evaluate, and definitely without a lot of questions that the patient would like answered, it is possible to squeeze in the evaluation of all of these area, even if partially, but not thoroughly.

Unless it is an emergency exam, all medical doctors do it in at least two parts.  One visit to gather information, and a second visit to fully discuss what was discovered and what it means to delay treatment or treat with options.

Usually it takes time for the doctor to review the information and time to digest and think about it before the second visit, so that they are best prepared to help their new patient.

For that reason, a lot of dentists do “Immediate Needs Exams.”  It covers tooth decay, gum disease and hopefully an oral cancer screening. 

While it may be called a “Comprehensive Exam,” it is usually limited to fit the type of visit patients are most used to having – a periodic exam or “Cleaning Appointment.”  This appointment was originally designed to review the patient’s dental health plan, to see if things are getting better, staying the same, or getting worse and then adjusting the ongoing plan as needed.

Everyone needs a plan.  Even if it is to monitor current or previous conditions to prevent unexpected problems and bills later.  Usually the plan is designed to make things better over time, to have the most comfortable, beautiful, predictable and long lasting smile and dental health as possible.

At Dentistry by Design of Cary, while all of this is available, it does not all have to be done all at once.

Depending on what you prefer, or what you are “used to having,” we will schedule the amount of time you desire to address your concerns, with either a Truly Comprehensive Exam as described above, or a shorter Traditional New Patient Exam.  We prefer to offer our patients different choices to fit their needs and expectations.

Treatment Planning – The Best Dental Care For You

This is by far the way our office is different from most.

What does the EVIDENCE tell us?  Do we need additional time and additional tests to learn more about what we have found?  We believe it is a process of co-discovery of the conditions, and an investment in the time to agree on the nature of the conditions and potential problems if nothing is done before we move toward any solutions.

Then and ONLY THEN we discuss your options and timing to achieve the type of health you would like to have based on your personal goals and resources.  Everyone is different, growing and changing over time, so no simple or quick generic answer will help everyone the same way.  Not every condition needs to be treated and not usually all at once.  A good plan is a process that unfolds over time, with careful re-evaluation of the progress that is made along the way.

In the past, this was the part of the visit that usually took the least amount of time with the doctor, and the least involvement of the patient to pick what insurance may or may not help them to address, only treating what they were aware of in their oral health.

*Ask about our “Tour of Your Mouth,” with one of our two dental cameras and 55 inch TV monitors and how we can tailor your exam and discussion to your specific needs to make sure that you have the amount of information you want and need to be comfortable about making decisions for all of your dental health, not just part of it.

We choose to do it this way because we care about people, not just their teeth.

Coaching Visit for Better Health (formerly the “hygiene or checkup” visit)

Over time your teeth and the rest of your mouth have changed, and so has our knowledge and understanding of dental health care.  Today we know more and can-do things that we could not do in the past.  Today it is so much more like internal medicine than ever before, and with all this new information, it does feel more complicated and confusing.

We are honored to have both the privilege and responsibility to acquire, organize and keep track of all of this information and to present it to you at the pace and amount of detail that best fits your desire to make a good and comfortable decision about the conditions you have, allowing you to treat your health as you prefer, when you prefer, and without judgement.

More than a “checkup and cleaning,” we can give you the missing details about how you can take control of your health, with our involvement in the part that you cannot do for yourself.