COMPREHENSIVE EXAM

A comprehensive exam lays the foundation for excellent dental care.
Here you will experience the easy, gentle way to painless dental health.

       The American Dental Association recommends “comprehensive dental exams” for all patients that are new to a practice and for “established” patients, those who are already in the practice, every three years.

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     The American Dental Association defines a comprehensive oral exam as an extensive evaluation and the recording of all extraoral, intraoral and soft tissues”. 

    A.D.A. define a “periodic oral exam” as an exam that is done on established patients to determine any changes in dental and health status since a previous comprehensive or periodic evaluation. A comprehensive exam lays the foundation  for the “routine (periodic) oral exam” and is much more than just a cleaning.  

 The mouth is really a window into the body.  Medical conditions may be discovered by a comprehensive dental exam before symptoms show up elsewhere in the body.  Some examples are:

By doing a comprehensive exam, we can together devise a strategy for long-term health and comfort

Cavities are one of the few diseases that can be totally prevented with good oral health care.

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     The comprehensive exam involves the following:

                   Visual and digital examination of lymph nodes in front of the ears; behind the ears; jaw area; beneath the chin; and neck area looking for pain, tenderness, and flexibility of the nodes 

                   Visual and digital examination of the lips (inside and out); inside the mouth including: hard and soft palate, behind the molars, floor of the mouth, lips, borders, frenum, surfaces of the checks, tongue size, color, shape and position.

1. Bad bites that include teeth that are crooked, crowded or spaced too far apart.

2. Overbite which is when the upper jaw is too far in the front of the lower jaw or the upper jaw is too far back

3. Underbite or "bulldog" jaw occurs when the lower jaw is too far in front or the upper jaw is too far back.

4. Open bite occurs when the back teeth contact and the front or side teeth do not which can lead to excessive wear of the teeth or damage the jaw joints.

5. Crossbite occurs when a tooth or a series of teeth are in opposite placement to the normal causing chewing problems.

6. Wear of teeth

7. Chewing problems

8. Pain in joints and jaw areas

9. Mouth opening abilities

10. Checking for TMJ/TMD

Video Examination is taken with our intra-oral camera*.  This is a video camera the size of a pen that allows you to see your mouth tooth by tooth  to check for the presence of cavities, microcrackes, defects in tooth structure, faulty fillings and crowns, and to help determine gum tissue health.

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     The “routine oral exam” known as the periodic exam or recall exam is a maintenance exam done every 6 months after the comprehensive.  This exam is done to aid in prevention of tooth decay, gum disease or other dental disorders that could develop during this time.   These exams are like maintenance visits to help keep your teeth for a lifetime.

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     Remember A.D.A. recommends bitewings for children at least every 6 months, also cleanings and fluoride treatments are recommended routinely every 6 months (please keep in mind how important fluoride treatments are due to the lack of fluoride in our drinking water).

* Intraoral Cameras Help Predict and Prevent Tooth Loss, Goldstein, Contemporary Esthetics and Restorative Practice pg 16-19 October 2001.