Frequently Asked Questions

We are accepting new patients and with multiple providers in our practice, we can schedule your appointment with minimal wait time.

The answer to this question is different for everyone. As a general rule, every six months should be your goal, but some people may need to see the dentist and/or hygienist more frequently due to overall dental health or other special conditions. Your dentist or your hygienist will work with you to set a schedule that is custom designed to fit your dental needs.

We visually screen for oral cancer at every hygiene check up. You may be more prone to cancer if you have high risk factors for oral cancer including family history of cancer or alcohol or tobacco use. Seeing your dentist regularly is an important tool in the early detection of oral cancer.


We are a general practice providing most oral surgery procedures. After consultation, if your doctor feels that you require specialized care, then we will make the appropriate referral to an oral surgery specialist.

We recommend that your child have their first dental exam at age 1. However, if you see something of concern, you should promptly consult your dentist regardless of your child’s age. We love working with kids and have a very active pediatric patient base. Schedule your child’s appointment for exam.

Your teeth may feel fine, but it’s still important to see a dentist regularly because problems like gum disease and cavities can exist before you feel pain. Gum disease and cavities can progress without any pain and by the time there is pain it might be too late to save the tooth.

• Regular cleaning.
  • A regular cleaning is known as a prophylaxis in dental terms. The American Dental Association describes a prophylaxis as removal of plaque, calculus, and stains from the tooth structures. This deposit removal is performed on tooth structures that have not been affected by bone loss; typically the crowns of the teeth. A regular cleaning is recommended for persons who do not have any bone loss, periodontal disease, or infection around their teeth. There should also be no bleeding, mobility of teeth, receded areas where the gums have pulled away from the teeth, or gaps where the spaces around the roots of the teeth are exposed. In other words, the mouth should be healthy, with no gum and bone problems.
• Root Planing.
  • Root planing procedure removes bacteria and their toxins, tartar, and diseased deposits from the surfaces of tooth roots. Scraping or scaling is required the full length of the root surface, down to where the root, gum, and bone meet. Root planing is typically one of the first steps in treating gum and bone disease (periodontal disease). Periodontal disease is very common, but does not always have distinct symptoms. It is an inflammation and infections of the supporting structures of the teeth (gums, bone, ligaments, root surfaces) that eventually results in the loss of your teeth. You may notice that your gums bleed easily, that you have a bad taste in your mouth, that your gums appear red or swollen, that your teeth appear longer or have shifted. Or you may not notice anything at all.
• Periodontal Maintenance.
  • If you have periodontal disease, you may require root planning to remove diseased deposits from the roots of your teeth. Other treatment, including surgery, may be required. After the disease process is under control, a regular cleaning is not appropriate anymore. Instead, you will require special on-going gum and bone care procedures, also known as periodontal maintenance to keep your mouth healthy. The American Dental Association describes periodontal maintenance as a procedure instituted following periodontal therapy which continues at varying intervals, determined by the clinical evaluation of the dentist, for the life of the dentition (life of the teeth) or any implant and includes the removal of plaque and calculus from the supragingival and subgingival regions, site specific scaling and root planing.

A periodontal maintenance procedure is not the same treatment as a regular cleaning even though a hygienist may perform both services. A periodontal maintenance procedure includes: gum and bone examination (periodontal probing around each tooth to check for bone loss, scaling and root planning, as needed, gums and picket irrigation with medicine, as needed. Typically an interval of three months between appointments is effective, but more frequent appointments may be needed. As in many other chronic conditions, successful long-term control of the disease and prevention of tooth loss depends on continual, and possibly life-time maintenance.

That depends. If you have no immediate problems, at your first visit to our office, you will have a comprehensive exam and consultation with the doctor and we will take x-rays. The hygienist and the doctor will go over their findings with you, suggest next steps and treatment options and answer any questions that you may have. However, if you have an immediate problem or an emergency, our doctors would be happy to address that issue first. Your comfort is our number one concern.

Generally, no. We believe that it is important for you to have a comprehensive exam including periodontal charting and a consultation with the doctor prior to the commencement of any non-emergency work, including cleanings. We offer different types of cleanings depending on your specific dental needs, and we want to make sure we understand any underlying issues beforehand and schedule an adequate amount of time with one of our hygienists.

The doctor needs to know everything that may help him diagnose problems or treat you appropriately.

Tell us about:

• Your fears (if any) about dental treatment and going to the dentist. Many patients have fears of the dentist dating to childhood. Pain control and treatment options are constantly evolving. The things you fear from childhood may no longer exist or there may be new and improved (and less painful and invasive) ways of dealing with them. Or maybe you’re a candidate for dentistry while sedated. We have many fearful patients and we pride ourselves on our ability to find the right treatment solutions for very patient.
• Your overall health. We need to know if you’ve been diagnosed with a disease or a condition or if you are taking any medications (whether prescription or over-the-counter). Even diseases or conditions that are unrelated to the mouth may impact your treatment or require that we take a different approach. Please be honest with us. You are only hurting yourself if you don’t tell us all relevant facts about your health
• Your dental health and any concerns you may have. We really do want to know if you think you have a cavity, your teeth have become sensitive, or you think you feel a lump in your mouth or something else just doesn’t feel right. Remember, you and your dentist are partners in your dental health and by telling us about symptoms you have, you may help us make an early diagnosis.

Our dentists have been voted as Top Dentists in New Hampshire consecutively since 2012. Our patients often remark on our ability to immediately put even the most phobic patients at ease. In addition, every aspect of our state-of-the-art dental practice has been designed with patient comfort and care in mind. Patients tell us that they love our super friendly and talented office staff, beautiful office and comfortable treatment chairs, chair-side televisions, high tech dental equipment, in-office wifi and our new and improved website and phone app. We treat you like family from the moment you step through our front door. Make an appointment and experience our high quality, personalized care for yourself. We can’t wait to meet you!

We offer several payment options for our patients. Cash, personal check and credit cards are happily accepted. We accept many types of dental insurance and we will process your claim for you upon receipt of any co-payment owed to our office. We also offer patient financing through CareCredit®; if you qualify, we offer interest free options from 6-12 months. Make an appointment and our friendly office staff would be pleased to go over your individual insurance benefits and payment options with you.

We are participating providers with Delta Dental; however, we accept, and will submit claims on your behalf, to all other insurance plans as well. Our front desk staff is happy to discuss your individual insurance benefits with you. Our main goal is to help you take good care of your teeth. We will file claims with your dental plan as a service to you, however, will require any deductible and/or co-pay to be paid at every visit. Any part of your bill not covered by insurance is your responsibility.

Having dental insurance or a dental benefit plan can make it easier to get the dental care you need. But most dental benefit plans do not cover all dental procedures. Your dental coverage is not based on what you need or what your dentist recommends. It is based on how much your employer pays into the plan. When deciding on treatment, dental benefits should not be the only thing you consider. Your treatment should be determined by you and your dentist.

Almost all dental plans are a contract between your employer and an insurance company. Your employer and the insurer agree on the amount your plan pays and what procedures are covered. Often, you may have a dental care need that is not covered by your plan. Employers generally choose to cover some, but not all, of employees’ dental costs. If you are not satisfied with the coverage provided by your insurance, let your employer know.

We offer evening hours on Tuesday and Thursday. We also offer twenty four hour emergency care for all our patients. Please call our office to schedule an appointment.

We offer both silver amalgam fillings and tooth-colored composite resin fillings. Amalgam fillings are silver in color and darken with age; they are a mixture of mercury, silver, copper, and zinc forming a hard alloy filling. Composite fillings are tooth-colored white fillings and are a mixture of glass filler and acrylic and hardens by exposure to light.

Yes we fabricate and repair full and partial dentures. Repairs are usually done same day or within 24 hours.

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. At your initial consultation at our office, the doctor will go over all of your concerns and make recommendations based upon your individual circumstances. Sometimes there are multiple ways to approach an issue and our doctors will make sure that you understand all of your options and the pros and cons of each. Our office offers cosmetic dentistry including crowns, bridges, veneers, implant restorations and teeth whitening. Make an appointment today and find out which of these options is right for you.

Cosmetic Dentistry may be less expensive than you think. Every case is different so come in for a consultation and find out your options and the associated costs. We offer interest free financing for dental procedures through CareCredit® if you qualify.

Every insurance plan is different, but partial coverage may be available for cosmetic dental procedures in certain circumstances. Our friendly, knowledgeable front desk staff will go over all of this information with you prior to the start of any treatment.

No. Porcelain veneers and porcelain laminates both refer to a lab made porcelain façade that is bonded to your existing teeth.

Composite resin bonding is a stock material that a dentist bonds to your teeth and then shapes by hand chair-side. Although composite resin bonding is initially a cheaper option and can look great when it is first placed, over time the bonding can stain and chip and bonding is not as durable, strong or as aesthetic as porcelain veneers. Replacing old bonding over and over again and will cost more than choosing the porcelain veneer option from the beginning.

We only remove a small amount of tooth when we prepare for veneer placement. Typically you will feel little to no discomfort during this process.

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. Everyone’s smile is different and many factors go into this determination. Make an appointment with our office and the doctor can discuss all of the relevant factors with you and help you design a beautiful smile.

Some tooth stains just do not respond to whitening treatments. Whitening may not work for you if you have a previously root canaled tooth (no tooth pulp), antibiotic or fluoride stains, or prior trauma to a tooth. In these cases, veneers may be your best option for a gorgeous, white smile. Also, whitening is not necessarily a permanent solution for stains (they can re-occur).

There are many causes of tooth discoloration. The most common causes are aging and the consumption or use of staining substances such as colas, coffee, tea, tobacco, red wine etc. When teeth are forming, the consumption or use of tetracycline, certain antibiotics or excessive amounts of fluoride may also cause tooth discoloration.

Almost anyone can benefit from teeth whitening and there are several options for whitening. However, treatment may not be as effective for some patients as it is for others. Make an appointment with our office and the doctor can determine if you are a viable candidate for this procedure through an oral exam, including a current shade assessment of your teeth.

A dental implant functions as the root of a new tooth. Made out of titanium, only a few millimeters long, and carefully engineered, this small screw is placed in your jawbone by your dental provider and serves as the foundation for your new tooth. Advances in biomaterials and computerized production can provide you with an individually customized high strength restoration designed to provide long term function and fulfill your appearance expectations.

Almost everyone is a candidate for dental implants whether you have one tooth missing, any teeth missing, or all teeth missing. Schedule an exam with one of our doctors to choose the best option for you.

It is possible that your existing dentures can be retrofitted to work with implants.

Because implants can help support dentures, many foods you used to avoid eating are now back on the menu.

The All-on-4® treatment concept or “Teeth in a Day®”refers to all teeth being supported on four or more dental implants for total rehabilitation of patients who either have all teeth missing or who have badly broken down teeth, decayed teeth, or compromised teeth due to gum disease. Since this restoration is delivered on the day all the teeth are extracted and the implants placed, this leads improved patient satisfaction with regards to function, aesthetics, speech, and self-esteem. We are one of the few offices in the area that can provide this treatment. Call our office to schedule an evaluation to see if you are a candidate for this procedure.