Tallahassee, FL Routine Exams
Dental Exams in Tallahassee, FL
Exams are a vital part of the treatment process. Everything we might do for you — a filling, a crown, a whitening plan — starts with somebody looking properly and telling you what they found. An exam is the half hour that decides whether a problem is caught while it is small or met later, when it is expensive.
At McQuary Dental an exam is not a glance on the way past the hygienist. A dentist looks at every tooth, at the gums around them, at the soft tissue of your mouth, and at what the x-rays show between and beneath the surfaces nobody can see. Then you hear what was found, in plain language, with the options ranked and priced.
If it has been a while, or if you have just moved to Tallahassee and need a dental home, this is where to start. Call 850-404-7462 or book online and we will find you a time.
Two Kinds of Dental Exam
Dental exams range from a full comprehensive exam for new patients to a limited exam in cases of trauma or oral pain. Which one you need depends entirely on why you are coming in.
Comprehensive Exam
The full picture, and what every new patient gets on their first visit. It is also repeated periodically for patients we have seen for years, because a mouth is not the same place it was five years ago.
- A full set of x-rays, read with you on the screen
- Every tooth charted — decay, wear, cracks, old restorations
- Gum measurements around each tooth
- Oral cancer screening of the tongue, cheeks, palate and throat
- A look at how your teeth meet and what that is doing to them
- A written plan, in the order things should be done
Limited Exam
Focused on one problem, for when something has happened: a tooth broke on a popcorn kernel, a filling came out, one side of your jaw has been aching for three days.
- Targeted x-rays of the tooth or area in question
- Diagnosis of what is causing the pain or damage
- Whatever can be done the same day to make you comfortable
- A clear next step, and the cost of it, before you leave
If you are in pain right now, do not wait for a routine appointment — our emergency dental care is same-day.
What an Exam Actually Catches
Almost everything on this list is painless at the stage we want to find it. That is the entire argument for coming in twice a year rather than when something hurts.
- Decay starting between two teeth, where no brush reaches and no mirror sees
- Gum pockets deepening, years before a tooth becomes loose
- Cracks in teeth carrying old, oversized fillings
- Leaking margins around crowns and restorations placed decades ago
- Wear facets and fractures caused by night-time grinding
- Bone loss visible on an x-ray long before anything is visible in the mirror
- Abscesses forming at the root of a tooth that still feels fine
- Changes in the soft tissue that need a second look
How Often Do You Need One?
For most people, twice a year — paired with a professional cleaning, so the exam and the clean happen in the same visit and you make one trip rather than two.
Some patients need to be seen more often, and we will say so rather than leaving you to guess. That usually applies if you:
- Are being treated for gum disease, or have been in the past
- Get cavities easily despite good habits at home
- Smoke, or have a dry mouth from medication
- Have diabetes, which changes how gums respond to bacteria
- Are partway through implant, aligner or crown treatment
Going the other way — skipping years — rarely saves money. The filling that would have fixed a small cavity becomes a crown, and the crown sometimes becomes a root canal. Nothing about that sequence is unusual; it is simply what happens when decay is given time.
Frequently Asked Questions Dental Exams in Tallahassee, FL
A comprehensive exam, x-rays, and in most cases a cleaning in the same visit. Allow about an hour and a quarter. Bring a list of your medications and your insurance details, and tell us at the desk if anything in particular is worrying you — we would rather start there.
You will leave knowing what condition your mouth is in, what needs doing, what it costs and what can wait. If nothing needs doing, you will hear that too.
No. Bitewing x-rays, which show decay between the back teeth, are usually taken about once a year for a patient with a healthy mouth, and more often for someone who is prone to cavities. A full series is taken far less frequently than that.
Digital sensors use a fraction of the radiation film did, and we take what the diagnosis needs rather than what the schedule says. If you have had x-rays taken elsewhere recently, ask that practice to send them and we will use those.
Exams and cleanings are preventive care, and most dental insurance covers them at or close to 100% twice a year. We are in-network with most PPO providers and file the claim for you.
Without insurance, two exams and two cleanings a year are included in our in-house membership plan, along with routine x-rays and 20% off any treatment you go on to have here.
Feeling fine is not the same as being fine. Decay does not hurt until it reaches the nerve, gum disease is painless until teeth start to loosen, and an abscess can be developing under a tooth that gives you no trouble at all.
By the time something hurts, the cheap options are usually gone. An exam is how you stay in the part of the story where a small filling is still the answer.
No. We are locally owned, with no corporate targets to hit, and you will see the x-ray or the photograph of whatever we are describing. If something can reasonably be watched rather than treated, we will tell you that and note it to check next time.
When there is more than one legitimate option — and there often is — you get both, with the trade-offs and the costs, and the decision stays yours.
Usually, yes. We are a family practice and we will do our best to put everyone’s appointments together when you book, so one trip covers the household.
Children are welcome from their first tooth. Early visits are short and friendly — counting teeth, a ride in the chair — because a child who is comfortable at six is an adult who still comes in at thirty.