After 31 years, Im convinced about and dedicated to the Specialty Education I received because of the practical experiences and results I have witnessed through its uses in our office. I fill in the Missing Information that people wish they had, after they have had a bad dental experience, usually related to a bad outcome.
The experience will ALWAYS be BETTER when the patient and dental team work together with a shared understanding of the existing condition, options, goals and desired results, before any treatment is begun.
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.
Our Mission: To meet the person where they are on their dental journey and share our expert, evidence-based findings to co-create the best immediate and long-term plan to meet their individual goals based on their current or future unique desires and resources.
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 cant (or dont) evaluate all that we know about today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.