Medical History.
To ensure your safety, and so that we know about any conditions which may affect your mouth, we will ask you to fill in a comprehensive medical history.

Cancer Screening.
Examining your mouth carefully for cancer and signs of any other illnesses allows early detection. This ensures that prompt treatment can be given which greatly improves any outcome.

Gums.
We test for gum disease using a special instrument and we record our findings using a World Health Organisation classification. If you have bleeding gums you have the first stage of gum disease!

TMJ (jaw joints).
Problems with the TMJ are very common and can lead to pain and headaches. We will assess you for this condition.

Missing and Crooked Teeth.
If you have missing or crooked teeth this very often leads to other problems such as TMJ dysfunction, gum disease, and increased tooth wear.

Tooth Wear.
This is an increasing problem especially in young adults and the elderly, but if detected early we can do a lot to alleviate it.

Decay (Caries).
We carefully examine all tooth surfaces and around existing restorations for decay. Just because you cannot feel a problem doesn't mean to say there isn't one!

X-rays.
To enable us to assess many of the above conditions it is standard practice to take X-rays from time to time depending on the condition of your mouth.

Planning treatment
After we have recorded all of the above, we will then tell you of our findings and discuss what needs to be done. We welcome your questions and comments about what we can achieve for you.