Say Hello: how to reach this guide
How to get in touch with this guide
We do not publish an email address, a telephone number or a postal address for this guide. This page carries no contact form, so there is no inbox to write to from here. No reply or response time is promised, and nothing on the site implies that a message will be read. The help this site offers is the helper on the resources page, the community FAQ and the newsletter. Each of those is written to be used before a conversation with a dentist, not in place of one.
Bring the question to the dentist, not to this page.
Start with the helper before you book a visit
The helper on the resources page works only from the answers you give it. It asks six questions about the tooth problem, one at a time, and every answer is optional. It prints no prices and no success rates. It produces a list of treatment families, the reasoning for each, and the questions to bring to a dentist. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere, because the helper runs on that page alone.
Watching an implant procedure before you ask about one
This medical animation from Gebrüder Betz Medical Animation, shared on YouTube, walks through a dental implant from placement to crown. It explains the general steps and does not show any particular mouth. The animation is a general explanation, so it cannot tell you whether an implant suits your jaw. It can, however, help with the vocabulary a dentist may use, such as the healing period before the tooth is fitted. Watch it before the appointment, and bring any term you do not follow to the dentist.
What to have ready for the dentist
One question, in writing
Write one line that says what you want to know, such as which options exist for this tooth. A question written down beforehand is easier to ask than one remembered in the chair. Keep it to one question, so the dentist can answer it directly. If the plan lists several options, the line can name the one you are unsure about. Read the line aloud at the start of the appointment.
The procedure name, copied
Copy the exact name from the plan or estimate, such as root canal retreatment, apicoectomy or implant-supported crown. A name you can search is easier to check against the public sources on the resources page. Offices word their plans differently, so the copied wording is the one to ask about. Write down any code printed beside the name, if the plan includes one. Keep the copy with your notes so the name does not drift between visits.
What the dentist said about waiting
Note the reason the dentist gives for each option, in their words where you can. Note what the dentist says would happen if the work is delayed, and over what period. Those two notes line up with two of the three questions the resources page asks. The third question, what happens if the work fails, is one to ask directly. A note of what the dentist did not address is useful too, because it tells you what to ask next.
What this guide cannot see
This guide cannot see your teeth, your x-rays or your health history. Nobody on it has examined you, and it does not claim to know your mouth. Read the helper's treatment families as questions to put to a dentist, not as answers about your own mouth. The sources, rules and figures on the resources page are general, and each one carries its link. The dentist who has examined the tooth is the one who can say what applies to you.
