What Should a Dental Consultation Include? A Patient's Checklist

The standards quoted in this article come from British bodies: the General Dental Council (GDC), the UK's dental regulator, and UK professional guidelines. They describe what good practice looks like; they are not rules that bind a clinic in Turkey. They are still a useful yardstick for what you can reasonably ask for anywhere.

What a good consultation covers

A consultation is where the dentist finds out what is wrong, what you want, and what the options are. It usually follows these steps.

1. Your history: Your general health, medicines, allergies, pregnancy, previous dental treatment, and what brought you in: pain, a problem you have noticed, or how you want your teeth to look or work.
2. An examination: The dentist looks at your teeth, gums, bite and the soft tissues of the mouth.
3. Advice on prevention: How to look after your teeth and gums: brushing, cleaning between the teeth, fluoride, diet, and smoking or alcohol where relevant.
4. X-rays, only if needed: Chosen after the history and examination, for your situation.
5. Diagnosis and options: What the dentist found, the treatment options, their risks and benefits, and what may happen if you do nothing.
6. A written plan: Before treatment starts: the proposed treatment and a realistic indication of the cost.
7. Time to decide: You can ask questions, take the plan away, and decide when you are ready.

X-rays: chosen for you, not taken by routine

X-rays show things an examination cannot, but they use radiation, so each one should have a reason. UK guidance on dental X-rays says the choice of X-rays should be based on the individual patient's history and a clinical examination¹, and that routine X-rays taken by a general approach rather than for the individual patient are unacceptable.

The same guideline says that everyone must have a history taken and an examination before a panoramic X-ray (the wide image of the whole mouth). It also states that routine X-rays without clinical signs or symptoms cannot be justified. That does not mean an X-ray is never needed when nothing hurts: your dentist may still advise one, based on your history and examination.

So it is reasonable to ask: why is this X-ray needed, and what will it show? If you have recent X-rays from another dentist, mention them.

The written treatment plan

The GDC requires dentists in the UK to give patients a written treatment plan before their treatment starts². The plan must include the proposed treatment, a realistic indication of the cost, and whether the treatment is provided under the NHS (or an equivalent public service) or privately. If the plan changes during treatment, patients must be told immediately and given an updated version in writing.

This matters for three reasons. You can see exactly what you are agreeing to. You can compare it with another opinion. And if something changes halfway, a new written version shows what changed and why.

A plan is not a contract to have everything at once. You can ask whether parts of it are urgent and which can wait, and you can say no to treatment you do not want. A change to the plan should be explained and agreed with you before it goes ahead.

Questions worth asking

This list is our own suggestion, not a regulator's requirement. You do not need to ask every question, but the answers should be clear enough that you could explain them to someone else.

• What exactly is the problem, and how sure are you?
• What are my options, including doing nothing or waiting?
• What are the risks and benefits of each option?
• What happens if I do not have this treatment?
• Which option do you recommend for me, and why?
• How many visits will it take, and what happens between them?
• How long can I expect the result to last, and what care does it need?
• What is included in the cost, and what could make it change?
• Is there any guarantee, and what does it cover?
• Who will carry out the treatment?

If you feel rushed, or the answers stay vague, it is reasonable to take time or ask another dentist for a second opinion before you agree.

Can a consultation be done online or from photos?

Photos, videos and online calls can be useful for a first conversation, and some questions can be answered that way. The GDC's position has two parts. It says that a range of interactions can be provided safely and effectively on a remote platform³, in full compliance with its Standards for the Dental Team, but that for other parts of care a face-to-face interaction or a physical clinical assessment will be necessary to ensure patient safety. For orthodontic treatment (braces and aligners) specifically, it states that at present there is no effective substitute for a physical, clinical examination.

If you are offered a treatment plan based on photos or a call, ask whether it will be confirmed after an examination in person, and what would happen if the examination finds something different.

After the consultation: how often to go back

Once any treatment is finished, regular check-ups keep problems small. UK guidance from NICE says the time between check-ups should be determined specifically for each patient⁴, based on your own risk of dental disease. For adults it ranges from 3 months at the shortest to 24 months at the longest, and it should be discussed with you and reviewed at each visit. These intervals are for routine check-ups. Reviews during treatment, care for gum disease and care of implants follow their own schedules; for implants, European guidance calls for a structured programme of regular checks⁵. Ask your dentist what interval they suggest for you, and why.

When not to wait for a consultation

A planned consultation is for decisions that can take time. Some problems cannot. Contact a dentist promptly for toothache or a broken tooth. Toothache with swelling of the gum, face or jaw, or with a fever, needs an urgent dental appointment: a dental abscess needs urgent treatment by a dentist⁶ and will not go away on its own.

Emergencies. Call 112 or go to the nearest emergency department if you:

• find it hard to breathe, speak or swallow⁶
• have a swollen or painful eye, sudden problems with your eyesight, or swelling in your neck⁷
• have a lot of swelling inside your mouth
• find it hard to open your mouth

Frequently asked questions