A check-up is the cheapest appointment in dentistry and the one that prevents every expensive one that follows. In twenty minutes we examine every tooth, check the gums, screen the soft tissues, and take X-rays where they are needed to see between and beneath the teeth.
Most dental problems are silent until they are serious. Decay between two back teeth is invisible and painless until it reaches the nerve. Gum disease destroys bone without hurting at all. Both are straightforward to treat when found early, and both are expensive once they are not.
What a check-up includes
- Examination of every tooth for decay, cracks and failing fillings
- Gum assessment — bleeding, pocket depth and recession
- Soft-tissue and oral cancer screening of the cheeks, tongue, palate and floor of the mouth
- Bite and jaw joint check, including signs of grinding
- X-rays where clinically indicated, to see what the eye cannot
- A written plan with costs, in priority order — what is urgent, what can wait
Children
Bring children from the age of one, or as soon as the first teeth appear. The point of an early visit is not treatment; it is that the child gets used to the chair while nothing hurts. A child whose first ever dental visit happens because of toothache learns to associate dentistry with pain, and that anxiety follows into adulthood.
We also apply fluoride varnish and fissure sealants, which are quick, painless, and substantially reduce decay in the back teeth where it usually starts.
Oral cancer screening
Paan, chhaliya, gutka, naswar and tobacco use are widespread across Azad Kashmir and Punjab, and oral cancer rates in Pakistan are among the highest in the world. Screening takes two minutes and is part of every examination here. Any ulcer that has not healed in three weeks, any white or red patch, or any restricted mouth opening should be looked at without waiting for a routine appointment.