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Good Questions, Good Answers
We want you to receive the oral health care you need and deserve. Healthcare professionals are here to help you, but they don't always receive enough information. It is always a good plan to ask questions during your office visits. Sometimes it is hard to know what exactly to ask. Missed opportunities can become a headache for you and your dental team. To help you, we have put together some sample questions.
What is the recommended procedure?
You will be told the name of the procedure and a description of what typically happens while it's performed. Because some procedures take more than one appointment, you will be better able to plan your schedule. Having this discussion will reduce the chance of surprise, and it may also bring to mind other health issues that you might want to tell us about.
For example, if you were having a bridge, you must know why you need the bridge and its advantages and disadvantages as well as alternatives to a bridge. Plus, you will know how to take care of your new bridge.
What are my alternatives for controlling discomfort?
Many people are surprised to learn that modern dentistry is generally pain-free. We can offer a variety of methods for avoiding pain, discomfort, and anxiety. Some of these include nitrous oxide, anesthesia, and some oral medications. We will also talk with you about treating any discomfort after the procedure. Your comfort is very important to us because it helps ensure you get the treatment you need.
What results do should I expect from the procedure?
The answer will explain the benefits of the procedure. You will be told about how your teeth and mouth will look and function, discomfort that will be relieved, and any future problems the procedure will prevent.
What are the alternatives to the procedure?
Depending on your oral health needs, we can usually offer a variety of solutions. Sometimes the best choice depends on the conditions in your mouth, time requirements, financial situation, or general heath. For example:
- A missing tooth can often be treated with an implant, a bridge, or a partial denture, whichever best fits your situation.
- Early periodontal disease can be treated with scaling and root planing, while a more advanced infection may require medication or surgery.
- Discolored teeth can sometimes be treated with bleaching, but if you would also like to improve the alignment of your teeth, you might prefer veneers, crowns, or a combination of bleaching and braces.
- You also have the option to do nothing and to know the outcome of that non-treatment choice.
What are the risks or complications of the procedure?
All healthcare procedures have some risk. However, our training, professional standards, and the regulations we follow make sure that we act to keep you safe. We do this through measures like wearing masks and gloves to control infection, using rubber dams to protect your mouth and throat, prescribing antibiotics for some patients prior to certain dental procedures, and finding out about health information that might affect our treatment plan.
Considering the risks or complications of each treatment can help you decide on the best one for you, especially when we are offering you several alternatives for treating your condition. For example, when weÕre replacing missing teeth, we may offer either an implant or a traditional bridge. Both choices will restore your mouth. An implant, because it is anchored in the jawbone, helps prevent the bone loss that occurs when a tooth is missing. On the other hand, a traditional bridge is anchored to nearby teeth, not the jawbone, so the loss of jawbone could continue. We may also need to reduce the body of the good neighboring teeth to make an anchor for the bridge.
How soon should I have the procedure?
Depending on the circumstances, some dental problems need treatment right away. In others, treatment can be delayed for a short time. It all depends on how advanced your condition is, your general health, the thoroughness of your homecare routine, and other factors. We don't advise permanently putting off dental treatment because problems in the mouth can become more serious, requiring more extensiveÑand expensiveÑtreatment and costing you more time and money. Here are a couple of examples:
- If a tooth gets a cavity that is left untreated, that cavity can grow and infect the tooth root, leading to root canal therapy. If an infected tooth root is left untreated, an abscess could grow around the tooth root, causing pain and a potential spread of infection to other parts of the jaw and face.
- If the gums become inflamed with untreated gingivitis, periodontal disease can develop. This infection can then cause the affected teeth to become loose and have to be removed.
What is the recovery process and what are the post-procedure instructions?
We give you specific post-procedure instructions to speed your recovery and protect your health. We also let you know how recovery from the procedure typically goes, so that you can let us know if your recovery proceeds differently than we expect.
We are here to help
The dental team is the expert about oral healthcare, but you have the right to participate in the decision-making process about your dental care and treatment. It is up to the team to provide you with the information you need to make a good decision.
We want you to feel comfortable about decisions and will never pressure you into having a treatment that you do not feel is right for you. And remember-there is no such thing as a silly question!
It is important for your good oral health to keep the lines of communication open. A healthy patient is a happy patient.
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