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What to Expect on Your First Visit

Woman smiling at her first visit to Chesapeake Dental Arts

You’re not just a patient at Chesapeake Dental Arts, you’re our guest! The moment you arrive, our receptionist will greet you. She will confirm that we have received your paper work. (You can download our New Patient Forms and Financial Agreement Form prior to your appointment. If you haven’t yet done that, please arrive early enough to complete those forms in our office.)

A Thorough Examination

Your first appointment is a comprehensive examination that may be more thorough than any you have previously experienced. You’ll be spending quality time with the dentist. Allow an hour and a half for this. After the examination, we’ll schedule your cleaning and any needed treatment. If your treatment needs are complex, we’ll schedule a separate consultation appointment to go over your needs and discuss your treatment options.

This comprehensive exam begins with one of our hygienists bringing you back into a treatment room. The hygienist will spend an hour with you taking any needed x-rays, taking intraoral photographs, screening for anything that might need the doctor’s attention, and probing to determine the health of your gums. Either Dr. Esposito or Dr. Yap-Encomienda will then come in to review what has been found and complete your examination.

During this first visit, we want to get to know you and allow you to meet us and understand our treatment philosophy. This first visit includes:

  • A full mouth set of x-rays, if needed
  • A comprehensive examination for decay, failing old dental restorations, or other problems with your teeth
  • A screening for TMJ disorder
  • A screening for signs of sleep apnea
  • A periodontal probing to assess the health of your gums
  • A screening for gum recession, possible bone loss, or infection

X-Rays

The full mouth set of x-rays is generally taken once every 3-5 years and it allows us to detect cavities, infections and bone loss. Children or young adults may need a panoramic x-ray to evaluate growth, development or the eruption of wisdom teeth.

Your Cleaning

A dental cleaning is treatment. Ethically, it should be preceded by a diagnosis. That’s why we like to schedule your cleaning after we complete our comprehensive exam. As we do that exam, hopefully we find that your gums are healthy and we can schedule you with one of our hygienists for a routine cleaning.

If we find the beginning stages of gum disease called gingivitis we can set up your appointment for a deeper cleaning that addresses the infection. Should we find signs of bone loss and tooth pockets the hygienist will schedule you for two separate appointments for scaling and root planing with anesthesia. These generally are around an hour and half long. If you are anxious we can discuss laughing gas or other light sedation options.

Other Possible Findings

We also look to see if you have wear or erosion that could be coming from habits like clenching or acid reflux. Teeth can be breaking down from infection or a bad bite. We can show you pictures of our findings with our intraoral camera. Should you need minimal dental work our front desk staff can often help with your benefits and scheduling that day. If you have more extensive dental needs the doctors may recommend returning to spend more time with them for additional records.

Advanced Technology

a photo of the Vatech CBCT 3-D x-ray machine
Our CBCT 3-D x-ray unit

We provide you with state-of-the-art dental care. Some of the technological advances you will find in our office are:

  • Electronic medical records
  • Digital x-rays
  • Intraoral cameras
  • Medit and Trios optical scanners for digital impressions instead of messy gels
  • CBCT 3D scanner for precise diagnosis and error-free placement of dental implant fixtures
  • A 3-D printer

We look forward to meeting you at Chesapeake Dental Arts! Call us if you’re ready to schedule an appointment or fill out our appointment request form.

Here are links to some COVID-related information: