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Medical condition. |
Your medical condition may affect the health
of your teeth and gums.
Many diseases or illnesses have symptoms that show in the mouth.
We need to know about your general health before any treatment to
check that your dental treatment will not affect your general
health. |
|
Your concerns or problems. |
Are
you happy or do you have things that discomfort or niggle? Are you
worried that your teeth will last? There is no reason why you can’t
have teeth for life. |
|
Aesthetics |
What are your feelings about your dental
appearance? Your lip support, colour and shape of teeth and
restorations, gum positions and shape. Shape of your smile. |
|
Jaw joint and muscle checks |
Any
clicking or difficulty opening or closing? Any signs or arthritis?
Any signs of overloading? |
|
Teeth |
Decay
and fractures. Restorations: fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures,
veneers, inlays, implants. |
|
Gum check |
Health of your gums. Any ‘pocketing’ or loss of gum ‘attachment’,
bone loss or bleeding? Are any teeth loose? |
|
Presence of plaque bacteria |
Plaque is the main cause of many dental diseases. |
|
General health inside your mouth |
Including soft tissue checks and screening for
mouth cancer. Visiting the dentist can literally save your life! |
|
Bite (occlusion) |
How
do your teeth meet together? How do they move across one another?
How does this relate to the shape of your face and jaw joint? Is
your ‘bite’ causing problems? |
|
Tooth wear |
Is
there evidence of wear? Is the amount of wear ‘normal’ or excessive?
What is the long term outlook? As we keep out teeth for longer, wear
may become an increasing problem. |
|
X-rays |
We
will normally do two ‘bite-wing’ x-rays every two to three years.
This allows us to see inside and between the teeth, underneath
restorations (fillings etc) and bone levels supporting the teeth.
X-rays often show any other problems or diseases such as cysts or
abscesses. |
|
Special tests |
Sometimes specific tests are needed to acquire additional
information, such as digital scanning, ‘electric tooth testing’,
models and ‘facebow’ recordings. |
