Before your exam, evaluation, or consultation

visit to our office

	1.  Please call (480) 483-9001 for the first appointment if your referring office has not already done so.  In this fast paced world, it seems convenient appointment times have become more important to some individuals then quality of the endodontics and the experience.  While convenience is important, we won’t compromise our exacting standards.  We are proud our office is quality oriented but striving for excellence takes time and patience.  Not every endodontic office is the same.  If you want the shortest, most convenient appointment time, you may be better served at another office.  We provide caring, individualized, state of the art, superb dental care, all of which take time!  Please bring your referral information with you to your appointment.
	2.  An endodontic consultation will be completed prior to the initation of any treatment.  No Pain Medication or anti-inflammatory drugs should be taken 8 to 12 hours prior to your appointment.  Unfortunately, diagnosis can be difficult and pain medications, either prescription or over the counter medications can skew testing.  We recommend you refrain from them, even if you think you’re sure, otherwise it may delay diagnosing the culprit tooth.  Please take your other normal medications, just not your pain medications.
	3a.  Your health is of utmost concern.  Please bring a list of all prescription, nonprescription, natural or herbal medications along with the dosage and frequency for each medicine.
	3b.  Your physicians name and telephone number may be needed so have it handy.  In some cases we will need to contact your physician prior to dental treatment.  While you may or may not have taken certain medications prior to dental treatment in the past, the guidelines change every few years.  We use the most recent recommendations within our office.  We will need to contact your physician specifically if you have or had a heart murmur, used diet drugs such as Fen-Phen“Phen-fen” Diet, Pondimin fendluramine), Redux (dexphenfluramine), or have heart problems such as mitral valve prolapse.  Usually your cardiologist will have the needed information, or sometimes your family physician.
	4.  If you have Dental Insurance, bring your information such as name and address of your insurance, insurance and group number, plus insured's SSN.
	5.  In office temperature is usually 72-78°.  A sweater or jacket is recommend for comfort.  Endodontic therapy is usually completed in one or more visits after the consultation visit.
	6.  Time involved for an endodontic consultation is typically 1 – 2 hours with an average of 1.5 hours in our office.   For a recall and re-eval it's usually 30 - 60 minutes.

My Dentist already said I need treatment,

Do I have to have another examination?

Yes!  While your dentist is probably right, we must verify that the tooth does in fact requires endodontic treatment for both medical and legal reasons.  We are responsible for making sure that treatment is warranted.    We will test your tooth to check if it is temperature sensitive to cold and possibly heat and/or electricity (sounds terrible but it's not so bad -- I have had it done to myself).   Other tests that we routinely complete include:  tapping on your tooth to see if inflammation is present, rubbing the gum area near the end of the roots for sensitivity, and measuring your gums to check the periodontal health of the area.  Sometimes we have you bite on a stick and/or use a fiber optic light to check for cracks or fractures which go through your tooth.  Usually we will take x-rays at various angles.  Not only are we looking for an abscess but also the anatomy of your tooth.  Since you are 3 dimensional and X-rays are 2 dimensional we lose information that we attempt to make up by taking specialized angles.  X-rays alone are not sufficient for diagnosis.  Just because there's nothing on the X-ray's does not mean there is not a problem.  Early stages of pulp degeneration and some small abscess are not visible on the X-rays.  Hence, the reason we perform other tests!

Please refrain from taking over the counter and prescription pain medications at least 8 hours prior to your endodontic examination.  Pain medication skews our testing and if taken within hours of the examination,  may cause false testing necessitating an additional visit(s) at a later date for accurate testing! 

Please take your other medication(s) as directed!

Why Does the Examination Take so Long?

 Many things occur during your consultation visit to our office.  You will have some forms to fill out such as a health questionnaire.  We will take your blood pressure, obtain  radiographs (x-rays), ask about your endodontic problem, solicit symptoms, complete an  examination of the area in question along with endodontic testing and discuss treatment options available to you.  Also we will investigate your insurance and  provide a pretreatment service estimate.   The length of time in our office varies since any of these maybe complex.  Many cases are referred to us because they are more difficult.  The bottom line is we are very thorough during the consultation process and we take the time to do it to the best of our ability!

Will Insurance Pay for the Exam?

It depends.  Some insurance companies only allow 2 examinations per year or have limitations.  They may not pay for an examination if you have exceeded your maximum number for a year or for some other reason which is dependent on your plan.  We will not bill your insurance for the consultation unless we complete treatment.  Payment for the examination will be expected at the time of service (except Delta).  A receipt suitable for submission to your insurance will be provided.  We don’t keep cash to make change in the office, so please bring exact change if paying by cash.  We accept most payment methods except American Express.

 Will Insurance Pay for Endodontic Treatment?

Usually.  We call and verify with each insurance company prior to treatment when possible so bring your dental insurance information with you.  We will provide an estimate of services before initiating any treatment including an estimated out of pocket.  Please understand that dental insurance rarely pays all and commonly we estimate 50% of the procedure will be the out of pocket expense.  Also, your insurance company routinely states that benefits are not guaranteed.  Thus, if your insurance company does not pay the expected amount, you are responsible for the balance.  For more information, see I have Insurance

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Joseph S. Dovgan, D.D.S., M.S., P.C.

Practice Limited to Endodontics
10585 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite D-132
Paradise Valley, Arizona 85253 USA
480-483-9001

"Where caring, skill, will and technology intersect while striving for endodontic excellence."

Serving Phoenix, Scottsdale & Paradise Valley, Arizona

Copyright 2000-2004 Joseph S. Dovgan, D.D.S., M.S. All rights reserved.

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