Returning After a Long Gap
After a long gap, making the appointment can feel like the hardest step. This is what the first visit involves, what usually turns up, what it costs, and the ways we ease the pressure.
It's Been Years Since I Saw a Dentist. What Will My First Appointment in Broughty Ferry Be Like?
At our Broughty Ferry practice, a new patient examination including X-rays costs £70, and the first part of it is a conversation, not the chair. When you feel ready, and not before, your dentist looks at your teeth, your gums and the soft tissues of the mouth, takes X-rays only if they will tell us something useful, and then writes up your options with a fee beside each one. Nothing is treated unless you ask for it, and there will be no lecture.
The Reasons People Stop Going
There is nearly always a cause, and it is hardly ever laziness. A bad experience as a child. A dentist who was dismissive. A dread of injections, or of gagging. A few lean years when money had to go elsewhere. Or simple embarrassment, which gets heavier the longer the gap, until even lifting the phone feels impossible.
The difficulty is that the gap feeds on itself. Every year that passes makes the next call harder, while small problems that could have been fixed quickly keep growing. Whatever your reason, you are far from alone. People from the Ferry, from across Dundee, from Monifieth and Carnoustie and beyond come to us who haven't seen a dentist for a decade or longer. Our job is simply to pick things up from where they are today. Nobody at the practice is going to ask why you left it so long.
Getting Ready for the Appointment
- Make contact however feels easiest. A WhatsApp message to 07984 709110 is perfectly fine, and a partner or friend can send it for you if that's easier.
- Let us know what worries you. Your dentist then knows in advance, and you're spared explaining it in the chair.
- Fill in the forms at home. A secure link for your medical history arrives by text, and completing it on your phone takes only a few minutes.
- Pick a convenient time. Our hours are Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm. Closed at weekends.
- Jot down the medicines you take. A photo of the packets does the job just as well.
- Eat before you come. And keep the coffee to a minimum, since it tends to sharpen nerves.
Begin with a Message
A single line will do. Say it's been a long time, and we'll pick it up from there.
Inside the Surgery
There is no rush at a new patient examination. The first part is a chat with you sitting upright: what has brought you in, whether anything is painful, how you'd like your teeth to look, and any medical matters we should be aware of. Only once you're ready does it move to an actual look:
- Your teeth and existing fillings, looked at with a small mirror, together with the way your bite meets
- Your gums, gently measured for pockets
- Your tongue, cheeks, lips and palate, our standard screen for mouth cancer
- X-rays, where needed, to see between the teeth and under older fillings
- Photographs, which let us point things out to you on the screen
We then explain what we've seen in straightforward language. If you'd prefer to leave it at the conversation and return for the examination on a different day, that is completely acceptable.
What Tends to Turn Up
The findings after a long break follow a familiar pattern. Hardened tartar and sore, inflamed gums. A bit of decay, or fillings that have fractured or worn away. A tooth that has chipped or broken. Now and then, one that is beyond saving.
Written out like that it can look daunting, yet it is seldom as bad as people imagine, and each of these problems has a fix. Even advanced gum disease can usually be brought under control with deep cleaning carried out in stages. Decay is dealt with by a filling, or with an onlay or a crown if a large part of the tooth is missing. Root canal treatment can often rescue an infected tooth. And if a tooth does have to be removed, replacing it can wait; a bridge, denture or implant can be arranged further down the line. We'll separate everything into what needs attention soon, what is important, and what is purely optional.
How We Make It Easier
- Each step is explained before it happens, with a warning before any noise
- A stop signal, such as a raised hand, that we always act on
- Numbing gel on the gum ahead of any injection, followed by a slow, careful injection
- Short early appointments that lengthen as your confidence builds
- Headphones and your own music, if that helps
- A consultation that is talk only, if an examination feels like too much just now
- For treatment, IV sedation at £500 a session, where anxiety is severe or there's a great deal to do
Each of these is explored further in the dental anxiety guide.
The Cost of the First Appointment
A new patient examination with X-rays costs £70. 1 Any treatment that follows is costed in the written plan you receive before anything begins.
On the NHS question: Children and adults are registered and treated on the NHS, with every dentist at the practice, and private care is there if you'd rather. Locally, NHS dentistry is overseen by NHS Tayside. Where NHS care is available, many patients combine it with private treatment for the extras. Our complete price list is on the fees page.
Once the First Visit Is Over
You'll go home with a written plan listing each option, its fee, and the order we'd suggest tackling things in. Nobody expects you to book there and then, so take the plan home, read it at leisure and mull it over. The fee quoted for each item stays the same whenever you decide to go ahead.
You can also set your own pace. Sort out anything urgent first, then spread the remainder over the months ahead if that suits your nerves or your budget. A hygiene appointment with our hygienist is where some people prefer to start, as it's a gentle way to ease back in and leaves the teeth clearer to assess and plan. Once a routine is re-established, a dental plan starting at £24.10 a month keeps examinations and hygiene visits ticking along, with the next appointment arranged before you leave.
Finding Us
The practice is at 196 Brook Street, Broughty Ferry DD5 2AH, in Broughty Ferry. You'll find directions on our getting here page. To book, call 01382 477350 or WhatsApp us on 07984 709110. If words fail you, "It's been years and I'm nervous" tells us everything we need to know.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.