A small practice, four chairs
We work in stages instead of marathons: one long first appointment, a written plan you take away, and visits sized to the work in front of us. Nothing gets started before you have seen it on the screen.
Where to start
Pick the one that sounds like you. Every route begins with the same short request, but what we put in the diary is different.
Route one
Exam and hygienist paired into one morning, so you leave with everything done.
A check of teeth, gums and soft tissues, photographs for your record, then a scale and polish straight afterwards. If nothing needs doing we say so, and set the next recall before you go.
What that includesRoute two
Longer appointments, a hand signal that stops everything, and no treatment on a first visit.
The first booking is a conversation and an exam, nothing more. We go through what we found with the photographs on screen, then agree what happens next and in which order.
How a first visit runsRoute three
Two chairs are kept clear between 8am and 9am, Monday to Friday, for pain and breakages.
Send the request and mark it urgent. We settle the pain first and keep the definitive repair for a later, unhurried appointment rather than forcing both into one visit.
Urgent chair hoursTreatment index
The useful question is rarely what something is called. It is how many appointments it takes, and how long you will be in the chair. Here is both.
A full check of teeth, gums and soft tissues, then a scale and polish in the same slot.
One visit · 45 min
For decay, chips and worn edges, shaded to match the tooth beside it.
One visit · 40–60 min
When the nerve inside a tooth has been damaged and the tooth is worth keeping.
Two visits · 60–90 min each
Rebuilding a tooth with too little structure left to hold a filling.
Two visits · three weeks apart
For teeth that cannot be saved, or to make room before aligner treatment.
One visit · 30–45 min
Gradual straightening for crowding and spacing, planned from a digital scan.
Reviewed every 8 weeks
Trays made from your own impressions, worn at home over two to three weeks.
Fitting visit · then at home
For grinding and clenching, and for protecting work already done.
Impressions · then a fitting
Anything we cannot do well here — surgical extractions, implant placement, complex orthodontics — we say so at the planning stage and refer you on, rather than stretching to it.
Your first visit
Most people putting off dentistry are avoiding the unknown rather than the treatment. So here is the whole sequence.
The request below is five fields. Say whether it is routine, urgent, or something you have been putting off, and we book accordingly.
Forty-five minutes: history, a full exam, photographs, and X-rays only where they would change what we do.
You leave with the findings and the options in writing, in priority order, so you can decide away from the chair.
Three, six or twelve months depending on gum health and risk, rather than the same reminder for everybody.
Chair hours
Worth knowing
The first hour of every weekday is held for urgent appointments. If you are in pain, send the request early and mark it urgent instead of waiting for a routine slot.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings are for people who cannot take time out of a working day. They book out furthest ahead, so give us a second preference as well.
Saturday mornings are hygienist visits only. No fillings, crowns or plan reviews are booked then.
Questions
Yes, on a rolling basis rather than a waiting list. We open a set number of new-patient appointments each month so existing recalls do not get pushed back. If the month you ask for is full, we offer you the next one.
A conversation about your history and what you want from your teeth, then a check of every tooth, your gums, your bite and the soft tissues of your mouth. We take photographs for your record, and X-rays only where they would change the plan.
Nothing is drilled, filled or removed at a first appointment unless you are in pain and ask us to treat it that day.
No. Long gaps are ordinary here, and the reason is almost always a bad past experience rather than not caring. We will tell you what we found and what it would take to sort out, in the order it matters, and then the pace is yours to set.
Yes. Family appointments are booked back to back in one morning or afternoon so you only make one trip. A child's first visit is usually a look, a count and a polish, which tends to be enough for one day.
Not on site. What we do instead is longer appointments, thorough numbing with time to take effect, a clear stop signal, and treatment broken into shorter stages. Where sedation is genuinely the right answer we say so and refer you to a practice that provides it.
Reply to your confirmation email. Two working days' notice lets us offer the slot to somebody waiting for urgent care, which is the whole reason we ask for it.
Yes, if one of the morning urgent chairs is free. We deal with the immediate problem and give you a written summary for your own dentist, or you can come back and register with us afterwards.
Request a time
Tell us what you need and roughly when you can come in. We reply by email with the appointment we think fits, and how long to allow for it.
If you are in pain right now, choose “Something hurts” and a weekday morning. Those requests are read first.