• When you attend for your appointment, you will first be greeted at reception. The receptionist will ask you if you have the completed forms with you. This is to enable us to load your details on to the computer before you enter the surgery. If there is any delay in the surgery you will be kept informed. You may also be asked what you would prefer to be called when attending the practice, i.e. by your first name or by your surname.
• The nurse who is working with Dr Dickerson will introduce herself to you and then escort you to the surgery.
• Dr Dickerson will greet you in the surgery and will then proceed to go through your medical and dental history with you. At this point you will also be asked about the dental menu so that we can understand your dental needs more clearly.
• Before looking inside your mouth you will be asked if you have any problems or concerns about your teeth/mouth at present and an external examination will take place on your neck, jaws etc. This is so that Dr Dickerson can detect any abnormal swelling or tenderness.
• An internal examination of your mouth will then take place. Firstly a good look at the soft tissue in your mouth i.e. your gums, cheeks etc. Your teeth will then be examined and a full charting will be given to the nurse, this states what you have in your mouth and what treatment needs to be done.
• Dr Dickerson may then need to take some x-rays, usually this involves two small x-rays taken inside the mouth and one large one taken outside of the mouth.
• While the x-rays are being processed, an examination will be carried out on your gums, some measurements will be taken and then recorded on the computer.
• Once the x-rays have been processed, the findings will be discussed with you and Dr Dickerson will then go through what treatments are necessary based on all of the information he has gained from this appointment. An explanation of the procedures will be given and an option on what treatments and materials are available. The nurse may spend some time with you to explain some treatments in more depth.
• Once you are satisfied that all of your queries have been answered you will be escorted back to the reception where future appointments and financial arrangements can be tailored to your needs.
• No other treatment will be carried out at this appointment, so there will be no surprises!

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