Cleanings & Exams in Westchester

The cleaning-and-exam appointment is the least dramatic visit in dentistry and the one the rest of dentistry depends on. It is where cavities are caught while they are still fillings, where gum disease is measured before it becomes bone loss, and where every honest treatment plan in this office begins. At PhD Dental in Westchester, at 6907 La Tijera Blvd, Suite A, Los Angeles, CA 90045, new patients start with an exam and a full set of x-rays for $69 together, and a regular professional cleaning starts at $125, including fluoride. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM — weekday appointments that fit before a shift, after school, or on a day off. Call (310) 893-6304.

What happens at a cleaning and exam?

Two halves, one visit. The exam comes with detective work: the dentist examines your teeth, gums, and any existing dental work, reviews your x-rays — which reveal what eyes cannot: decay between teeth, infection at root tips, bone levels around teeth — and measures the pockets between your teeth and gums, the measurement that separates healthy gums from gum disease. The cleaning is the hygienist’s craft: plaque and hardened tartar are removed from above the gumline, the teeth are polished, and fluoride is applied. You leave knowing where your mouth stands — what is healthy, what needs watching, what needs treatment — with any recommended treatment explained and priced in writing before you decide anything.

How much does a cleaning cost without insurance?

A regular cleaning with fluoride starts at $125, and the two are bundled together. The number deserves one honest asterisk: the cost of a cleaning is set by the doctor’s diagnosis at your exam. If the exam shows healthy gums or early gingivitis, the regular cleaning is the treatment. If it shows periodontal disease — an infection of the bone around the teeth — a regular cleaning cannot reach the problem, and a deep cleaning is what’s needed instead; a full-mouth deep cleaning can cost up to a few hundred dollars, and our Deep Cleaning in Westchester page explains that treatment. Either way, the diagnosis and the price are in front of you before the cleaning begins. The exam itself — with a full set of x-rays — is $69 without insurance, as a package that cannot be unbundled: the price is $69 even if you bring recent x-rays of your own.

How often should I come in?

For most adults with healthy gums, every six months keeps the rhythm: tartar is removed before it builds deep, and changes are caught while they are small. Two schedules differ, and both are worth knowing. Under Medi-Cal, adults are covered for one exam, one cleaning, and fluoride once every 12 months — the twice-a-year schedule you may have heard about is the children’s schedule — though you can always come in sooner and pay for the visit yourself. And if you have been treated for gum disease, your interval is shorter by design: periodontal maintenance runs every three to four months, because the bacteria that cause the disease rebuild below the gumline on that rhythm. Your dentist sets your interval from your gum measurements, not from a calendar template.

Does insurance cover cleanings and exams?

Cleanings and exams are the most reliably covered services in dentistry. PPO plans — we accept Aetna PPO, MetLife PPO, Delta Dental PPO, Cigna PPO, Guardian PPO, UnitedHealthcare PPO, Anthem Blue Cross PPO, Blue Shield of California PPO, Humana PPO, Principal PPO, Ameritas PPO, United Concordia PPO, Sun Life PPO, Lincoln Financial PPO, Unum PPO, The Hartford PPO, Renaissance Dental PPO, Premier Access PPO, and Health Net PPO, and we are in network with Delta Dental at all eight offices — typically cover preventive visits at high percentages, often in full. Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal cover the adult preventive visit once every 12 months as described above, and more during pregnancy, when Medi-Cal dental coverage expands considerably. We do not accept HMO plans. Whatever your coverage, we verify your benefits before your appointment — and if you are a Medi-Cal member, call ahead and we will also check your assignment, since some members are assigned to a specific dental plan or dentist and the assignment has to point here before we can treat you under it.

We accept Medi-Cal. We accept Denti-Cal.

Common questions about cleanings and exams in Westchester

I have not been to a dentist in years. What should I expect?

A welcome, not a lecture. Years away is one of the most common starting points we see, and the appointment is built for it: exam and x-rays first, a plain-language map of what we find, and a plan sequenced by urgency — what needs treatment now, what can be scheduled, what can simply be watched — with written costs for each stage. Nothing about the visit requires you to commit to the whole list.

Will the cleaning hurt?

For most patients, no — a routine cleaning is pressure and vibration, and the polishing is the easy part. Tender or inflamed gums can make parts of it sensitive, which is itself information about your gum health; tell the hygienist and the pace adjusts. If a deep cleaning turns out to be what your gums need, that appointment is numbed — it is a different visit, explained in full before it is booked.

Do I really need x-rays at every exam?

Not necessarily at every visit — the interval depends on your risk and history — but a new-patient exam needs a full set, because so much of early disease is invisible without them: decay between teeth, bone loss, root-tip infection. X-rays are part of the $69 package here, and your dentist will tell you plainly when the next set is and is not due.

How do I start?

Call (310) 893-6304 or book online, and ask for a new-patient exam at the Westchester office — $69 with full x-rays without insurance, benefits verified ahead of time if you have a plan. Walk-ins are welcome.

Cleanings and exams in Westchester and the communities around us

Cleaning-and-exam patients reach our Westchester office from Kentwood and Westport Heights first, and from Ladera Heights, View Park-Windsor Hills, Hyde Park, Lennox, Playa Vista, Culver City, Mar Vista, Inglewood, Playa del Rey, and El Segundo beyond them. Weekday hours — Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM — are when preventive care happens here, and six-month recalls are booked before you leave so the rhythm holds itself.

Book a cleaning and exam in Westchester

Call (310) 893-6304 or book online, and ask for a cleaning and exam at the Westchester office. We are open Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM, at 6907 La Tijera Blvd, Suite A, Los Angeles. We accept PPO plans and Medi-Cal/Denti-Cal; we do not accept HMO plans.