Dental Examination

If you were given a car at the age of 15 and that was your car for life how would you look after it?

You would probably listen to warning lights, get it serviced regularly, fix things when they broke, you might even make some cosmetic improvements.  This is how you should think about your teeth! You only get one set and you have them forever…... or until you don’t!

General dentistry focuses on the prevention, identification and treatment of common dental problems. Dr Houlahan and Dr Hauptfleisch perform virtually all of the general dental services you may need.

Your Comprehensive Dental Examination
As a new patient at FLOSS dental boutique, your first dental exam is much more than just a look at your teeth with X-rays!

So what’s included in your exam? A lot!

Here’s what to expect from your new patient dental exam:

• Introduction – Tour of the clinic and meet and greet with your key providers.
• Your Desires  – A discussion about any of your dental concerns, as well as your long-term oral health goals.
• Review your medical history – A review of your medical history, concerns, diet and medications.
• A review of your dental history.
• A set of digital X-rays – These x-rays will help us detect whether you have any tooth decay, cavities, bone loss as well as numerous other dental issues. Your x-rays will also show us your current tooth and root positions and serve as a baseline for future comparisons.
• Oral Cancer check – We will check for any signs of oral cancer in your mouth, neck, lips, tongue and throat. This examination is painless and fast. 
• A Dental Evaluation – This is where we look at your teeth to evaluate their condition, including any previous dental work you may have had, such as fillings, crowns, bridges, or dental implants. We will also examine each of your teeth for any signs of tooth decay, cracks or wear by checking the surface of every tooth.
• Assessment of your Gums – We will evaluate the health of your gums and look for any signs of gum diseases.  To do this we use a tiny measuring stick (periodontal probe) to measure and note down your pocket depths ( length of space between your tooth and the gum). We will also look for any signs of inflammation or gum recession.
• Intraoral and Extraoral Photos – Lights, camera, say cheese!  We take photos of your teeth and sometimes your facial features, like when you smile. Intraoral photos help us examine areas of your mouth and teeth that are otherwise difficult to visualize, like detecting cavities or cracks that an x-ray won’t often reveal. Extra oral photos are great to see your before and after pictures should you chose to have various dental procedures, like orthodontics ( braces),whitening, porcelain veneers, or other cosmetic treatments.
• An Occlusal Exam – Occlusion refers to the contact between your teeth when you bite your teeth together. This examination will check how well your teeth fit together
• Education - we also discuss relevant dietary tips for healthy teeth and how to have excellent home care.

As you can see, there’s actually a lot involved in your initial dental exam. Once you’ve completed your examination, we’ll have a good assessment of the overall health of your teeth and gums. This will help us determine the next steps along the path of your dental wellbeing journey.

Schedule your new patient dental exam today and discover for yourself why so many locals can’t stop talking about Kellie and Dan and what they’ve created with FLOSS!