Your first visit here is long on purpose. We set aside 60 to 90 minutes, because we’d rather understand what’s going on with your teeth, what’s bothering you and what you’re hoping for before anyone talks about treatment.
How long it actually takes depends mostly on paperwork. If you fill the forms out online before you come, it usually runs closer to an hour. If you’d rather do them here, that’s fine too, and the time is there either way.
Our reception area. The landscape photographs on the walls were taken by Dr. Sandquist.
What happens at your first visit
We’ll show you around and introduce you to everyone. Then you’ll sit down with the doctor and talk about why you came in, before anyone takes a single X-ray.
After that we take a full set of records: digital X-rays, photos of your teeth and a 3D scan, so we have a real baseline to compare against in the years ahead.
The 3D scan takes a few minutes and replaces the old trays of putty. It also becomes the baseline we measure against years from now.
Next comes the exam. Dr. Sandquist will look at your whole mouth, not just the tooth that’s bothering you: the teeth, the gums, any older dental work, and how your bite comes together.
Then we sit down and go through what he found, in plain English, with the photos and scans in front of you. We decide together what makes sense and in what order. For a lot of people that just means keeping up with regular cleanings. For others it means sorting out what needs attention first and what can wait. Either way, you’ll know why before anything starts.
Going through what we found, on the screen, with you in the chair. You see the same pictures we do.
Who you’ll see
For a comprehensive new patient visit, that’s usually Dr. Sandquist.
If you’re coming in for buccal massage or myofunctional therapy, your first visit is with Dr. Lee-Mirzayan, who does that work here.
Not sure where to start? Call us first
If you’re not ready to book a full visit, call 702-734-0776 and talk it through with our team. Tell them 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.
Dr. Sandquist has written about the different ways people end up here, and what each one gets you: emergency care vs. a treatment plan →
And if you’ve been putting this off because dental appointments scare you, it’s worth telling us. We wrote a page about exactly that: what we do and don’t offer, what you can ask for, and why we’d rather you were awake.
What to bring
A photo ID, your insurance information if you have it, and a list of any medications you take. If you have records or X-rays from a previous dentist, bring those too, though we’ll take our own.
One thing worth doing before you come: call the number on your insurance card and ask whether your plan has out-of-network benefits. That one answer tells you how your coverage will work here. More on that →
Insurance and payment
We’re not in any insurance network, but if your plan has out-of-network benefits, which most PPO plans do, you can still use it here.
You pay at the time of your visit. We send the claim to your insurance for you, and they pay you back directly. We can’t promise what your plan will cover, because that depends on your policy. If a claim gets denied or comes back short, we’ll resubmit it once. Past that, it’s between you and your insurance company, and we’ll give you whatever paperwork you need.
A few things that help with the cost:
- 5% off if you pay in full up front on a treatment plan of $1,000 or more.
- Financing through CareCredit or Cherry, if you’d rather spread it out.
- Doing larger cases in stages, so the work fits your budget.
- Our Optimal Dental Health Program: prepay a year of cleanings, exams and X-rays at a reduced fee, plus 10% off most treatment. Ask us about it while you’re here.
More on how insurance works here →
Finding us
We’re in the Commercial Finance Building at 2650 Lake Sahara, a two-story building that reads yellow in the morning light, with terracotta trim and green window frames. Our entrance is on the east side, ground floor. Look for the green double doors with our name on them, and the monument sign in the parking lot listing us at Suite 160.
These are the doors. Once you are inside, we are Suite 160, on the ground floor.
Our office hours:
Ready to come in? Tell us what’s going on and we’ll get your first visit on the calendar.