Before Your First Visit

Please print out the Welcome and Health History forms available on this page. If you can have these filled out and signed before your first visit, it will make things go much faster once you arrive. Also, read through the Financial and Privacy Policies so that you are familiar with our office procedures. If you cannot access these forms, please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time to fill them out.

Your First Visit

Each patient that is new to our office starts by having a comprehensive exam.   At this appointment, the doctors will first sit down with you to discuss your dental concerns, desires and history.  We will also review your medical history and medication list and perform a blood pressure screening.  We chart all of your teeth, restorations, and decay.  We do an oral cancer screening, a periodontal screening, a TMJ screening and assess your overall dental health. Intraoral pictures are also taken to help you see what we see. This is just another way we involve you in the treatment process.  Then, we will sit down and discuss your treatment needs and prioritize the timing of your treatment.

Precautionary Measures in Our Office

Dentistry as a profession has always believed in prevention, and the health of the patient. It has led the way in patient safety adopting regulations concerning infection control and protective measures.  Modern facilities and cleanliness were very important to us as we were designing our new office.  We feel that we have accomplished this in many ways.

During treatment, our entire staff follows procedures called “universal precautions.”  This means we treat every patient equally in preventing the transmission of disease.

Our self-contained water system ensures that you will always have clean, pure water used during your dental cleanings and treatment.  One of the safety measures we are most proud of in our office is our digital radiography system.  While traditional dental x-rays are safe, and have become even safer over the past decades, digital x-rays provide about 90% less radiation than traditional film.  This allows us to gather important diagnostic information while decreasing your exposure to radiation.  This system should make you feel more comfortable about radiation in our office.

We have worked very hard to make our office environment a safe and clean place, by following all of the OSHA and ADA guidelines concerning infection control.  Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have concerning this topic.  We will be happy to give you a tour of our office to show you the many steps we do for each patient to ensure your protection.

Dental Insurance

A dental benefit plan helps you pay for the cost of your dental care.  Generally, a dental benefit plan is a contract between your employer, or plan sponsor, and a third party (insurance company).  These contracts vary widely.  There are many ways in which dental plans are designed and how reimbursement levels are determined. You need to know how your dental plan is designed and its limitations.

Your dental plan is designed to share in your dental care costs.  It may not cover the total cost of your bill.  If you feel that dental insurance is difficult to understand, you are not alone.

In our office, we will make every effort to help you better understand and maximize your insurance benefits.  We will electronically file your insurance claims and pre-estimates as needed.  We have computer programs specifically designed to aid in determining benefits and submitting claims.  In order to ensure that you receive a higher level of attention and service, we have chosen not to belong to any managed care plans (meaning that we are not contracted with any PPO/DMO/discounted plans).  We believe that your freedom of choice in your dentist-patient relationship is one of the strongest factors in preventive dental care and in maintaining optimum dental health.  We remain committed to excellence in the quality of care that we provide to our patients.