Making a good impression is one goal of good dental health. Fresh breath, bright smile, healthy teeth — they all combine to make you look great. Appearances also affect our patients’ view of the care we provide at the Placerville Dental Group. That’s why our dentists and staff do our best to provide a clean, friendly and calming office. We want our patients to receive the best dental care possible and feel comfortable and confident at the same time. So our staff prepares every day to help you by dressing appropriately, grooming well, and avoiding the “Garlic Special” during lunch. Can our patients return the favor? Can your approach to an office visit make a dental assistant smile? Yes, indeed! So we have some suggestions to help you get ready for an dental appointment at the Placerville Dental Group that will make the experience a positive one on both sides.
Planning Ahead for your Dental Visit
Sometimes an ordinary dental exam becomes something more serious. The discovery of a cavity or cracked tooth should ideally be dealt with immediately. So it’s best to leave some time on the back side of your dental visit. If you can create a gap of an hour between the expected end of your dental appointment and the start of your next obligation, we can handle the unexpected and still get you where you need to be on time.
Children and Your Dental Appointment
We are happy to see your children and to meet their dental needs. When you have a dental appointment, however, it’s important to remember that your children cannot come to the exam room with you. In our experience, children panic at the sight of dental instruments being applied to their parent’s mouth. They also tend to move around a lot, and the last thing you want is your child bumping into staff while we have sharp, pointy instruments in your oral cavity. To put it simply, if your child cannot stay in the waiting room alone, they are best left with a trusted care provider at home.
Personal Matters and Your Dental Appointment
You would think it unnecessary to say that patients should always brush and floss their teeth before a dental appointment. You would think. Nevertheless, it is unfortunately common for patients to leave this task undone before they arrive. Brushing your teeth, and your tongue, in advance of your visit is important. You can note any concerns, any bleeding gums, and pay close attention to making a good impression regarding how you care for your teeth. While we realize that not brushing your teeth may be the reason why you’re visiting the dentist in the first place, since gum disease does not take a vacation, if you’re not in the habit we’d rather you made an exception for your visit.
Mouthwash is a Plus
While mouthwash is beneficial for your oral health, it also makes your breath smell pretty good. Dental assistants really like mouthwash. If you do have a bad breath problem, we’ll be able to tell even if you use a mouth rinse, just by looking at the condition of your teeth and gums. Discuss the problem with us and we’ll present a solution, but mouthwash before a dental appointment is appreciated all the same. Think of it as after shave or perfume for your mouth!
Those Hairs Show Up in the Most Interesting Places
The typical dental appointment position is laying down with your head back. That’s the perfect alignment for looking right up your nose. As you can guess, a clean nose is a good thing. Our dental assistants also appreciate patients who trim their nose hairs. Which brings us to the ears! What works for the nose, works for the ears, since we see them up close and personal too. Clean ears hear instructions better anyway, so we hope yours can be ready for us!
So What Did You Have For Lunch?
Two things don’t go so well for a dental visit: really powerful food odors and overpowering alcohol fumes. Some patients drink so much before their visit that the assistant should have to post a sign warning of fire hazards and inhalation inebriation. If drinking helps you get through the stress of a dental exam, try our sedation dentistry program instead. It’s far more effective for you and much more pleasant for the hygienist.
Makeup is Glamorous
But it does not look good on our dental tools. Heavy makeup, especially lipstick, has a way of getting all over everything in a dental office. Trust us when we say that we think you look beautiful without it! OK, eye makeup we can manage, but anything else and we may both end up having a major clean-up job afterwards.
We Don’t Have Workout Towels
Some patients like to work up a sweat during lunch. Working out is good for your health and so is regularly visiting your dentist. We just hope that you don’t combine the two. Wiping the sweat off a patient’s chair after the visit is something we can do, but it’s not exactly an expected task for the assistant. We’re all in close proximity during a dental exam, so we appreciate it when patients smell their best all over!
The Most Important Thing is That You Come In
We really do want to see you, no matter what your condition. Regular dental visits are an important part of keeping your teeth and your health. As medical professionals, we recognize that things happen, people forget appointments until the last minute and sometimes you just can’t help going to get an ice cream right before your teeth get cleaned. So if your day finds you having problems with any of the above, come in anyway. We certainly have spare toothbrushes and toothpaste available. What’s more, we’ll make sure your teeth look their best and are a lot healthier when you walk out the door.
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