Meeting someone new is often a bit stressful, but if that person is to be your new dentist you may be wondering what to expect.

The practice is in a nice old building in a conservation area facing the trees and flowers of the village green. We have made this small surgery a welcoming environment we hope. Pleasant decor and carpets, nice pictures and flowers, a variety of papers, books and magazines to read, all contribute to a friendly atmosphere.

There are toilet facilities available on the ground floor, but we are unable to offer full disabled access at the present time.

Check In

The receptionist will check you in, please make yourself known to her if she is helping someone else when you first arrive. She will need to take some details and will give you a questionnaire to fill in which gives us a lot of useful information. As well as your general health it will ask you about your dental experiences, feelings and any problems. Sometimes people have had a bad time at the dentist in the past and it may help to tell us about that.

Your dentist will then see you and have a chat about the information you have provided before looking at your teeth.

Gum Score

After that a careful examination of your mouth follows, with special reference to any problems you may have mentioned. We measure the gums at each check-up and if the gums are not stable or improving you may need treatment to remedy this.

For new patients we need to check some other things too. We ask you about risk factors and check for nasty lumps and bumps. This examination is repeated yearly unless there are special risks. We look at the jaw joint and the way the teeth bite together because this sometimes causes problems. Many people have clicks and funny bites, usually no treatment is needed.

Hidden Decay

We will generally take x-rays for a new patient. These give valuable information about the areas under old restorations, around roots and between the teeth. We follow the guidelines of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners for when and how often to repeat these. Fluoride strengthens teeth, but decay may get through in one place and spread unseen inside a tooth. We are always happy to show you why we recommend treatment.

If you have pain or an urgent problem we will try to give some temporary help, but the definitive treatment will usually be done at a subsequent visit. Often the results of x-rays are needed and the time needs to be planned for the specific procedure. Please tell the receptionist when you book the appointment if you have an urgent problem.

Treatment Plan

When the examination is complete the dentist will give you an indication of what is being recommended for you, but this may change after the x-rays have been studied.

Your nurse will then make up for you our information pack which includes an individualised print-out of your teeth, treatment plan, useful leaflets and cost estimate. We aim to follow this up by letter with a summary of our findings.

Then you can plan your next visit. Our early and late appointments are in demand, so if you can come at other times you will have more choice of dates and times and be seen sooner.