Nine years since your last check-up? What actually happens when you come back

Roughly a third of the people who register with us have not seen a dentist in more than five years. Plenty are past ten. Almost every one opens with a version of the same sentence — “I know, it’s been ages” — said like a confession.

Here is what we think when we hear it: nothing. It is Tuesday. You are the fourth person today.

The gap is not the problem

What matters is not how long it has been. It is what has been happening in your mouth during that time, and that is a question with an answer. Knowing is a much better position than wondering.

What the first visit looks like

The new patient exam is forty-five minutes and costs £59. It goes like this:

• A few minutes sitting upright, talking. What is bothering you, what worries you, what you want.
• A full look around, tooth by tooth, with photographs.
• X-rays if they are needed, shown on the screen next to you.
• A written plan, in order of what matters most, with a price beside every line.

Nothing is treated on the day unless you ask. If something hurts, we can deal with that first.

What it tends to cost

Most people who come back after a long gap need a hygiene visit or two and a small number of fillings. A typical first year looks like £59 for the exam, £144 for two hygiene visits and two or three white fillings at £145 each — somewhere around £500 to £650, spread over as many visits as you like.

Some people need more. If that is you, you will know the full number before anything starts, and anything over £500 can be spread across ten months at 0%.

The honest part

A long gap sometimes means a tooth cannot be saved. When that is true we say so plainly, show you why on the X-ray, and price every option — including doing nothing for now.

Book a new patient exam or read the new patient guide first.