Pre-Operative Instructions
- Please call 574-393-9858 for the first appointment if your referring office has not already done so. While convenience is important, we do not compromise our exacting standards. We are proud our office is quality oriented but striving for excellence takes time and patience. 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.
- An endodontic consultation will be completed prior to the initiation 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.
- 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.
- Your physician’s 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, on blood thinners, used diet drugs such as Fen-Phen, have heart problems such as mitral valve prolapse, or any other major medical illness that requires further information. Usually your cardiologist will have the needed information, or sometimes your family physician.
- Please take your other medication(s) as directed but avoid alcohol and non-prescription medications that cause drowsiness.
- If you have Dental Insurance, bring your information such as name and address of your insurance, insurance and group number, plus insured’s SSN or ID#.
- In office temperature is usually 68-70°. A sweater or jacket is recommended for comfort. Endodontic therapy is usually completed in one or more visits after the consultation.
- Chair time involved for an endodontic procedure is typically 1 hour with an average of 1.5 hours in our office. For a consultation or re-evaluation it is usually 15-30 minutes.
- When you arrive, please ask to use the restroom, if needed, after checking in.
- If you have been advised to take an antibiotic pre-medication for Mitral Valve Prolapse, Prosthetic Joints, Heart Attack, Rheumatic fever etc. please make sure you are on the appropriate antibiotic for your appointment with us.