New Patients
What the first visit involves, what to bring, and how payment works.
Your first visit
If you are coming to us because dental appointments are difficult, the first visit is deliberately not a treatment appointment. It is a conversation: what has been happening, how long it has been, what specifically worries you, and what you want fixed.
If you are comfortable being examined, we will examine. If you are not, we will not — and that is a genuine option, not a polite one. Either way you leave with a written plan setting out what treatment is needed, in what order, with which sedation option, and what it costs. Nothing is scheduled before you have that.
What to bring
Practical items
- Photo ID and your dental insurance card
- A complete list of your medications, including over-the-counter and supplements
- Any recent x-rays or records from a previous dentist, if you have them
- The name and contact details of your physician, if you have ongoing medical care
Things worth telling us
- Any medical conditions, especially heart, lung, liver or kidney
- Allergies, and how you reacted
- Previous experience of sedation or a general anesthetic, good or bad
- Whether you are or might be pregnant
- What specifically frightens you about dental treatment
Insurance and payment
We accept all major dental insurance plans. We verify your specific plan before treatment rather than after, so that the figure you are quoted is the figure you pay.
Sedation is worth checking carefully, because plans differ significantly in how they treat it. Some contribute where there is a documented medical or behavioural need; many classify it as elective. Our cost and insurance page explains what drives the price and when coverage is more likely.
Where insurance does not cover the full amount, flexible financing is available through CareCredit and Cherry, which spreads the cost over time. This matters particularly for patients who have avoided care for years and therefore need more treatment than average — being handed one large figure is its own reason to walk away, and splitting it is often what makes treatment actually happen.
If you are nervous about coming in at all
You are allowed to book an appointment where nothing happens. Come in, sit somewhere other than the dental chair if you prefer, meet the team, see the room, ask your questions and leave. For patients whose fear is severe, that visit is frequently what makes the next one possible.
You can also just call and ask. (313) 385-4500 — you do not need to book anything to have a conversation, and you will not be pressured into scheduling treatment on the call.
Read more about how we work with anxious patients on our dental anxiety page, or start with are you a candidate for sedation?