Ten years. Twenty. Sometimes longer. People often tell us how long it’s been before they’ve even sat down, and it usually comes out as an apology.
There’s no need. Here’s what I tell them:
“We can’t go back in time. We can only look to the future, and today we’ll hopefully be able to give you an idea of what that future can be.”
You’re far from the only one
Staying away from the dentist is common, and so is feeling bad about it. In a 2023 Delta Dental survey of adults 50 and older, 60% said they worry about being judged on how their teeth look, and more than one in three said they smile less than they did when they were younger.
Nobody here is keeping score. The only thing that matters at your first visit is what’s going on now and what can be done about it.
Delta Dental, Senior Mental and Oral Health Survey, 2023: online survey of 1,016 US adults 50 and older, conducted by Atomik Research.
What we usually find
It’s mixed. Often it’s gum inflammation and early gum disease, and those are the easy ones. Why gums bleed, and what turns it around.
Sometimes it’s a full-blown disaster. Most people have either gum disease or decay. The hard cases have both, and those are the ones heading toward dentures or a full arch of implants.
Which one you are is exactly what the first visit finds out. And because bone lost to gum disease doesn’t grow back, the sooner we look, the more options you keep. The three ways teeth are lost.
What the first visit is like
- We talk first. You sit down with me and talk about why you came in before anyone takes a single X-ray.
- Then a full set of records: digital X-rays, photos and a 3D scan, so there’s a real starting point to measure from.
- Then the exam, of your whole mouth, not just the tooth that’s bothering you.
- Then we go through it together, in plain English, with the photos and scans in front of you. You see what we see, and we decide together what makes sense and in what order.
Plan on 60 to 90 minutes. More on what your first visit involves.
If fear is part of why you stayed away, tell us. We wrote a page about exactly that: what we do and don’t offer, and what you can ask for.
Derek’s story
Derek hadn’t seen a dentist in a long time.
A long time away, and a fresh start
The ask: After a hard stretch of years, Derek got his life back on track and went to a periodontist to get his teeth fixed. He expected All-on-X, and he thought losing all of his teeth was his only option.
What we found: The periodontist thought some of his teeth could be saved and sent him to us for an exam. Derek was in his early thirties, and neither of us wanted to remove all of his teeth if we didn’t have to.
The plan: We built one plan together: the decay was restored and his upper six and lower six front teeth were kept, and implants replaced the teeth in the back.
Not ready to schedule? Call first
You don’t have to schedule a full visit to start. Call 702-734-0776, tell our team what’s on your mind and ask whatever you want to ask. They’ll help you figure out the right first step, and nobody will push you onto the schedule. Or tell us what’s going on.
General education, and not a substitute for an exam.