Centennial Dentist Center of Boise, Idaho
A Dental Exam is the First Step to a Healthy Smile
- gum disease
- teeth extractions
- root canals

Why Visit the Dentist Twice a Year?
Patients sometimes wonder why they need to have their teeth checked and professionally cleaned twice each year. It’s not an arbitrary number. Six months is about the length of time it takes plaque to harden into tartar to a degree in your mouth that it should be removed. While brushing and flossing remove plaque every day, that same plaque hardens into tartar if you don’t brush enough and also in some places such as the inside of your lower teeth (where everyone builds up tartar). Tartar can only be removed by a professional hygienist using dental picks. When you get beyond six months, tartar can begin to creep under your gumline, and that spells the beginning of gum disease.
What's Involved?
We Take X-rays
We’ll Check Your Mouth
Before Dr. Koeltl sees you, your hygienist examines your mouth. He or she will first look for signs of tooth decay and any areas of softening enamel. This is an early sign of decay. Next will come measurements of the pockets around your teeth. These measurements tell us if your gums are receding and whether gum disease is causing bone loss. Finally, your bite will be evaluated. Again, this check is important for children with rapidly developing teeth.


We’ll Screen for Oral Cancer
Both your hygienist and Dr. Koeltl will check for signs of oral cancer during your check up. We’ll examine your head, neck, and lips, along with your mouth tissues including your tongue. This is when we pull on your tongue, push on your glands below your jawline, all of that. The reason we do this is simple —oral cancer treatment is very successful IF it is caught early.
We’ll Scale and Clean Your Teeth
We’ll scale your teeth, which means we’ll use picks and other dental tools to remove all of the tartar that has formed on your teeth. We’ll then polish your teeth with a special gritty paste that removes stains and polishes the enamel. See our dental cleaning page to learn more.

We May Apply Fluoride or Sealants.
If we’re dealing with our younger patients, our final step during a exam will be to apply fluoride, long proven to effectively protect teeth. And if we haven’t done so already, we’ll apply a resin sealant to the molars to prevent bacteria and food debris from getting down into the deep cracks in the molars.
Fill out our contact form so we can answer any questions you may have about dental check ups in Eagle, Boise, Meridian, and surrounding areas of Idaho.
