No surprises. Here is the whole thing.
Unknowns are what anxiety feeds on, so this page sets out the first appointment in order — including the parts most practices never think to mention.
If you would rather not read it, the short version is: you sit up, we talk, nothing is done to you, and you leave with a plan you have not committed to.
The hardest part is usually the booking, not the appointment.
- You can start in writing. If a phone call is the obstacle, send a message instead. Nobody will ring you back unexpectedly if you ask us not to.
- Say you are a nervous patient. Those four words are enough. They change how much time is booked and who you see.
- Tell us the specific thing, if you can. Needles, the drill, gagging, the smell, being told off, the state of your teeth. It goes on your notes so you never have to explain it twice.
- Ask for a quiet time of day. First appointment of the morning means no waiting-room build-up and nobody running late.
- Bring someone. A friend or family member can come in with you and stay in the room.
- Bring headphones. Your own music or a podcast is one of the most effective things you can do, and it is entirely under your control.
Roughly forty minutes, most of it talking.
A first appointment for a nervous patient is longer than a standard check-up and contains less dentistry. That is the point of it.
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Arriving
You check in and wait — ideally briefly. If waiting rooms are difficult, tell us and you can wait outside or in your car and be collected.
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Talking, sitting upright
In the chair but upright, or in a chair beside the desk if you prefer. Coat on, bag on your lap, whatever helps. We go through your history, your general health, any medication, and what you are actually worried about.
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Agreeing the stop signal
Before anything else: a raised hand, or whatever you choose. We practise it once. When you use it, everything stops immediately — that is not a figure of speech.
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A look, if you are ready
A mirror and a light. No drilling, no scaling, no injections at a first appointment unless you are in pain and you ask us to treat it. If you would rather not open your mouth today, we stop here and that is a perfectly good outcome.
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X-rays, only if needed and only if you agree
Sometimes necessary to see what a mirror cannot. Quick, and you can decline or defer them.
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The plan, sitting up again
What we found, in plain words. What needs doing, what can wait, what it will cost, and the order we would suggest — easiest first, so you get a good experience before a difficult one.
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Leaving
With the plan and the costs in writing. You can book, or think about it, or say you need a month. None of those answers is a problem.
The list people most want to hear.
Worth stating plainly, because quietly assuming the worst is what keeps people in the car park.
- You will not be lectured about brushing, flossing, sugar or smoking.
- You will not be told off for how long it has been.
- You will not have treatment sprung on you “while we’re here”.
- You will not be given a cost after the event.
- You will not be pressured into booking anything before you leave.
- You will not be held to a decision you made under stress in the chair.
- You will not be talked about over your head as if you were not there.
If you cannot get through the door at all
Some people need an appointment where nothing happens — sitting in the room, meeting the team, seeing the equipment, and leaving. That is a recognised way to begin and it is available on request. Ask for a “familiarisation” or “acclimatisation” visit when you get in touch.
Timings and steps here describe a typical first appointment for a nervous patient. Yours may differ — particularly if you are in pain, in which case getting you comfortable takes priority over the running order above.
Still the hardest email you’ll send this year.
We know. Two lines is plenty — what you are worried about, and how you would like to be contacted.