Occasionally someone comes in already knowing exactly what they want — “I just want veneers,” booked and ready to go. We still start with a consultation first, every time, even when the case looks completely straightforward from the outside.
What a consultation actually catches
A consultation isn’t a formality before the “real” appointment. It’s where we find out whether what someone’s asking for is actually the treatment that solves their problem — and surprisingly often, it isn’t quite. Someone asking for veneers sometimes just needs whitening. Someone asking for whitening sometimes has a shape issue whitening won’t touch. Neither is obvious without a proper look.
The cost of skipping it
Committing straight to a treatment plan based on what a patient assumes they need, without checking, tends to produce one of two outcomes: a bigger, more expensive treatment than was actually necessary, or a treatment that technically gets done but doesn’t solve what the patient was actually unhappy about. Both are avoidable with fifteen extra minutes upfront.
What we actually do differently
During a consultation, we look at the specific thing you want to change, show you realistic previews of a few options, and talk honestly about which one gets you there — including, sometimes, telling you the treatment you asked for isn’t the best fit. No treatment is scheduled in that first conversation.
Why we’re not going to change this
It would be easy to offer a faster path that skips straight to booking treatment. We don’t, because the extra step reliably prevents both overtreatment and disappointment — and because a plan that’s actually right for your case, decided with you rather than for you, is worth more than a faster first appointment.