First time in dentist in years-What to expect?

didntgotoplan

I have decided to book my first appointment to the dentist in about 5 years.

I stopped going to my local dentist as I was busy with college, part-time work and the college lifestyle! Plus I always seem to be broke so I was worried about affording the dentist.

My teeth are not great and I should of gone a couple of years ago but the worry of costs and the embarrassing condition of my teeth scared me. Now I can tell they are getting weaker and I want to stop them before I'm left with the worst teeth.

What I was hoping to find out is what happens at the first dentist appointment. Do they examine your teeth, advise what dental care plan I need and arrange an appointment for your first part of the plan? Or would they start working on your teeth then?

pmcd22

i was in the same boat, prob 10 yrs before i made my first appointment.

First thing she did is scan through each teeth and see what ones needed fillings and which ones were gone beyond repair.

She also gave them a clean that day, then every week there was a few fillings added. I became a regular that the dentist assistant thought i just came to see her. might be a bit of truth to that.


Ah its woth it in the end, no more pain, just keep brushing

jenny4385

hey i was the same i went last august after bout 7 years... just cleaned my teeth at first visit and looked at each tooth and marked what i needed done on computer.. i needed a LOT of work done but they brought me in a few times just to get me used to being in the chair and get the nerves down... im back abot every 2 weeks since getting various work done.. i ve had everything dental thing done at this stage id say except extraction.. best advice is just to get it over with... you ll feel 10 times better afterwards.... evem just after the first appt... just find the right dentist.. if you dnt feel comfortable go elsewhere//

didntgotoplan

Well thats put my mind a bit at rest for the moment. I'm glad i'm not the only one in this situation. I suppose the only thing that has forced me to come to terms with the condition of my teeth is that one of my front teeth has a slight crack in it and its noticeable.

I got 2 dentists that were recommended to me by friends so I'm going to call them on my day off this week to ask them about it.

From what I've read online, I think I'll need a lot of fillings, maybe a root canal and extraction on my wisdom teeth.

I (ashamedly) haven't been to a dentist since 1998. I never really thought about it much and haven't had any pain or discomfort, which would have made me go. I expect to get some stick over it whenever I do go next.

Oral Surgeon

Good work
Modern dentistry is all about getting you back to a state of oral health, cleans, fills and extractions
we try not to scare the life out of people so that they actually come back on a regular basis and maintain their oral health by spotting problems early...
Most patients should be able to accept treatment under local anaesthetic with no problems but maybe you should consider IV sedation for that wisdom tooth to avoid destroying all that good will you will have built up......

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Tidied you the off topic posts there, Chandler Bong read the charter please, Oral Surgeon welcome.

coylemj

I also neglected my teeth for several years, then about two years ago I got a thorough cleanup job done. Now I brush twice a day with an electric toothbrush and I do all of the gaps between my teeth with Tepe interdental brushes at night followed by a Listerine rinse.

The result is that every six months I spend no more than 10 minutes in the dentists's chair, he tells me that if I keep looking after them the way I am then I will still have them when I'm 90. It used to be that every time someone mentioned a dentist it used to bring a cloud of depression over me, now I am very pleased with myself. You do need to invest the time and money in looking after your teeth but believe me it does great things for your self-confidence.

It is well worth taking that step. Go to the dentist, get your teeth sorted out and ask him/her for advice on how to maintain them, then go back every six months to make sure that you're doing it right.