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Standard 4
Assessing your needs
All decisions on your dental care, including preventative care, will be based on a full assessment of your needs.
1. Before your treatment begins, a member of the dental team will take your medical history, to make sure as far as possible that the treatment is safe for you. This will include recording any current medication and asking about your current state of health. Medication may include prescribed drugs, as well as over-the-counter preparations, including aspirin and other remedies such as herbal preparations. You receive help, if needed, to provide this information.
2. If at any time your dentist needs to contact your own doctor for information about you that is relevant to your dental care and treatment, you will be asked to give your permission for this.
3. You are asked about your dental history. This is followed by a dental and oral examination, which includes looking for any signs of possibly serious disease in your mouth and surrounding areas that will need to be investigated further.
4. You will be offered any investigations that your history and examination show that you need.
5. You will be informed of the results of any assessment and investigations.
6. If you are assessed as needing urgent referral, the dental service has a system in place for this referral to be made as a matter of priority.
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