Make an Appointment With Austin Dentist, Dr. Jarett Hulse

To assist in providing a convenient visit, we provide our paperwork for you to fill out from the comfort of your own home!

 Download New Patient Paperwork:

What to expect at your first appointment

At your first appointment it is time for you to get to know our office and to decide if we will be a good fit to be your oral health providers.  Likewise, we get to meet you to decide if you will be a good patient for our dental family. 

We start off by gathering your information on an Ipad unless you submitted it online previously.   We also take a photo to go with your chart. 

What you were scheduled for dictates what will happen next.  New patients come to us for four different reasons. 

1.   They "just want a cleaning".    We understand this is the main concern for a lot of people.  But, until we meet you and examine your mouth, we don't know what type of cleaning you need and qualify for.  Is your mouth very clean and healthy and only needs a regular cleaning that will take 20-30 minutes?  Or, has it been a few years, you've missed 4 or 5 cleanings, you don't floss, you may or may not have gum disease/gingivitis and it will take 2 hours to clean your mouth properly.  If your last cleaning was 6 months to a year ago, and you brush and floss everyday, there's a good chance you will need a regular cleaning.  We try to bring these patients in with our hygienist and get them a cleaning, xrays and comprehensive exam all in the first visit.  But if that's not you, then very often your first visit is a comprehensive exam and xrays, but not a cleaning. Then, you will come back for your cleaning or gum treatment at a different time, so that we can spend the time to give you the treatment you need and deserve.   Unfortunately, we can't book 3+ hours for every new patient, just in case you have more extensive problems.   We try to gather information before you come in, but we can't examine your mouth over the phone.  And, of course, we want to see you as soon as possible.  If you see the dentist first you will NOT be getting a cleaning the first day.  WE ALWAYS TELL PATIENTS ON THE PHONE WHEN THE APPOINTMENT IS MADE IF THERE IS A CHANCE THEY WILL RECEIVE A CLEANING THEIR FIRST APPOINTMENT.  We emphasize this point, because we don't want our patients to get upset when we remind them that day they will not get a cleaning in their first appointment. We are trying to avoid disappointment. We love happy, satisfied patients and do everything we can  to treat everyone fairly.

2.  Some patients call us and know it's been a long time since their last appointment and know they have many issues.  We try and schedule these people with the dentist, not the hygienist.   When these people come in, they start off by meeting one of our amazing assistants.  You discuss with them why you are here. Then, they take a full series of digital xrays, which is 18 digital scans of your teeth.   We only take this many xrays the first time we meet someone, and then about 3-5 years later.  The doctor requires it to be able to diagnose your oral health.   The assistant also takes a series of photographs, that we beam to our Ipads, so that we can show you the inside of your mouth. You can see the same things the dentist sees!

Then, the dentist comes in and meets you.  Dr. Hulse likes to treat people, not just teeth! He wants to find out what YOU want.  After that, he will examine your mouth.   Once the information is collected, he will sit you up and start going over what he sees, he will also discuss why these problems occurred and what we can do to prevent further issues.  Together you and the doctor will come up with a plan that works for YOU.  We work at your pace and never do anything without explaining it first. Then, we go over our various, flexible payment options and schedule you to come back and begin restoring your oral health!

3.  Some people come to us because they are in pain or have a "dental emergency".  We will try to get emergencies in as soon as possible!  Often when you come in you will first speak to one of the assistants.  The assistant will take a couple xrays of the troubled area.  The doctor will come in and meet you.  Sometimes we can fix the issue right there, if it is a small problem.  But often if there is pain, you will need to be on an antibiotic before we can treat it, in order to treat the infection. Some emergencies take 5 minutes to fix, some can take hours.  While it is understandable patients want their problem fixed NOW, we can not tell over the phone how much time we will need to help you with your problem. Even though a patient might be able to tell us during the call, "I had a filling that fell out", or "I chipped a front tooth," without an examination we can't know how long it will take to treat you. BUT WE TRY EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO HELP YOU THAT DAY! Sometimes this means giving antibiotics, a prescription mouthwash and prescription strength ibuprofen until the infection is smaller and we can help you without pain. It is the office policy that we don't give out narcotics to new patients before treatment is done.  There are many offices that have this policy. We will give narcotics after treatment only when necessary, but studies show that antibiotics with a combination of prescription strength ibuprofen and over the counter tylenol alleviate pain more effectively than narcotics.

4.  Some people just come in for a consultation.  This is not a complete exam. This is just a quick meeting with the doctor to see if they like the office and we can help them.  Dr. Hulse loves meeting new patients, and he's always happy to answer any questions.  This is very common for people who are interested in Dental Implants, The Bioclear Method, The Inman Aligner and Six Month Braces in Austin, TX. 

We hope this answered some of your questions and we look forward to seeing you soon!