Your Comprehensive Dental Examination
As a new patient at North Seattle Dental, your first dental exam is much more than just a look at your teeth with X-rays! It’s a thorough 1 hour exam and consultation with one of our skilled dentists in addition to your getting X-rays.

So what’s included in your exam? A lot! Here’s what to expect from your new patient dental exam:

• Your Dental Goals – A discussion of any of your dental concerns, as well as your long-term dental goals.
• Review Your Health History – A review of your health history, concerns, diet and medications.
• A review of your dental history.
• A full mouth set of digital X-rays – These x-rays will help us detect whether you have any tooth decay, bone loss, cavities, as well as numerous other dental issues. Your x-rays will also help us map your current tooth and root positions.
• Screening for Oral Cancer – We will check for any signs of oral cancer in your mouth, neck, lips, tongue, throat and gums. This examination is quick, painless and may or may not include a Velscope – this is your preference. Learn more about Velscope and oral cancer screening.
• A Dental Evaluation – This is where we look over your teeth to evaluate the health of your teeth, including any previous restorative dental work you’ve had, such as fillings, crowns, bridges, or dental implants. We will also examine each of your teeth for any signs of tooth decay, checking the surface of every tooth.
• Screening for Gum Disease – We will evaluate the health of your gums and look for any signs of periodontal diseases, disease of the gums. This exam includes using a tiny measuring stick (periodontal probe) to measure and chart your pocket depths. We will also look for any signs of gum recession and other signs of periodontal disease.
• Intraoral and Extraoral Photos – Lights, camera, pictures! We also take photos of the inside of your mouth, as well as 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 can’t often reveal. Extraoral photos are great to see your before and after pictures should you chose to have various dental procedures, like Invisalign, porcelain veneers, teeth whitening and other cosmetic dental services.
• An Occlusal Exam – Occlusion refers to the contact between your teeth when you bring your jaws together. This examination will check how well your teeth fit together by examining your bite and jaw.

As you can see, there’s actually a lot involved in your one hour 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 what type of periodontal treatment you’ll need, so that we can then schedule your appropriate type of teeth cleaning with one of our hygienists.

Schedule your new patient dental exam and discover for yourself why North Seattle Dental is consistently voted as one of the best dentists in Seattle.