Treatments — Fernbank Dental (example)

Check-ups

Forty minutes rather than the ten you may be used to. We look at the teeth, the gums, the joint and the soft tissue, and you get told what we found in plain words. If everything is fine we will say everything is fine and send you away.

Hygiene

A scale and polish, and — more usefully — being shown where you are actually missing when you brush. Most gum disease is reversible at the stage nobody notices it, which is the entire reason the appointment exists.

Fillings

White composite, matched to the tooth. We will show you the photograph before and after. A small amount of decay caught early is a twenty-minute filling; the same tooth ignored for two years is a root canal, and that gap is the whole argument for check-ups.

Crowns and root canals

When a tooth is too far gone for a filling but worth keeping. Root canals have a reputation built in the 1970s — under proper anesthetic it is a long appointment rather than a painful one.

Extractions

Only when the tooth genuinely cannot be saved, and we will tell you honestly which category yours is in. We would rather refer a difficult one to an oral surgeon than struggle with it.

Whitening and bonding

Custom trays you use at home over two weeks, or same-day composite bonding for chips and gaps. The consultation is free and you will get an honest answer about whether it is worth doing.

What we will not do

We will not tell you that you need work you do not need. If something can safely be watched for another year, that is what we will say, even when replacing it today would be an easier sell and a better invoice.

Nobody here earns commission on treatment, which removes the only real reason a practice has to over-treat.