HOW TO CHOOSE A DENTIST
Finding the right dentist is important.
After all, they will be caring for your oral health for years to come. You want
to have a relationship built on trust and respect. However, it can be hard to
make that decision, especially if you live in an area with multiple dentists.
How are you supposed to know which one to choose? Let’s look at how to select
the dentist who can best meet your needs.
WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I ASK MYSELF WHEN
CHOOSING A DENTIST?
Here are a few questions you can use as a
starting point when selecting a dentist:
Are their office hours convenient for your
schedule?
How easy is it to get to the office from
work or home?
What are the dentist’s qualifications?
Is the dentist in your insurance network?
What is the office’s policy on missed
appointments?
WHAT SHOULD I ASK MYSELF WHEN VISITING THE
OFFICE?
If you’re visiting a dentist’s office,
there are a few things you should consider, such as:
Does the office look clean?
Is the staff friendly and eager to answer
your questions?
During patient treatment, do the dentist
and staff wear gloves, masks, and other protective gear?
WHAT IF I HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS?
If you or someone in your family have
special needs, then it’s crucial to find a dentist who can effectively and comfortably
treat you. There are a few extra things you need to do, such as:
Let the dentist know about your condition.
Ask the dentist if he or she has any
special training or interest in treating patients with your specific condition.
Ask if the dental office is accessible to
patients with disabilities.
Find out if the office is part of your
insurance plan.
How to Choose the Best Dentist
Educational Background
The first thing every patient should check
when shopping for a new dentist is a solid formal education. To see their
training, go to a dentist’s bio page on their website to see where they went to
school. You can also see how long their training took, and what they’ve done to
keep up with modern techniques. Pay attention to whether the dentist regularly
attends continuing education courses, seminars, and workshops that focus on
new, improved dental practices. Partnering with a dentist who believes in a
lifelong commitment to education can help you to receive the most up-to-date
dental care.
Professional Organization
Professional organizations, such as the
American Dental Association, specialize in offering valuable information to
dentists. They also set strict practice guidelines to keep patients safe. Ask
your potential dental office if the dentist is a member of professional dental
organizations. The Academy of General Dentistry or the American Board of
Pediatric Dentistry are good examples. Professional memberships show a
commitment to important industry standards and safety protocols
Services Offered
Before you start shopping for a new
dentist, think about the types of dental services you might need. Look for a
dentist that offers a wide range of services, so that you don’t end up hopping
from specialist to specialist to get the care you need. If you want to have
general work done on your teeth but also want teeth whitening, look for a
dentist that specializes in cosmetic dentistry.
Patient Reviews
After you’ve narrowed down your potential
dentists, look for patient reviews describing recent experiences. Pay attention
to what services the patient needed, how the staff interacted with them, and
their general experience. Besides checking the dentist’s website for reviews,
look for other review sources, such as Google reviews. Viewing opinions from a
range of different sources can help you to form a more complete picture of what
it is like to visit that particular office.
First Impressions
First impressions matter, which is why it
is worth it to visit the practice in person. Pay attention to how the building
looks, how the staff greets you, and whether the team seems eager to earn your
business. Pay attention to signs that the business is professional and
organized. Look for typed sign-in documents, informational brochures, and
policy and procedural information. You should also look for patient amenities
that would make your dental appointments easier, such as places for kids to
play. Also keep an eye out for signs of neglect or an outdated office. These
kinds of details might seem small, but they can say a lot about the state of
the practice.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Dentist
It’s a simple fact: if you like your
dentist and the office staff, you are more likely to return for your check-ups,
follow their advice and keep your beautiful smile. It’s very important that you
find a dentist that you trust. This person will be your ally in creating a
healthy mouth that will allow you to enjoy everything from eating your favorite
foods to laughing with your friends for years to come.
Make sure the dentist understands your
needs. You want a dentist who will take the time to ask questions to understand
any issues you may be having. Are you sensitive to hot or cold foods, for
example? You may have come in for a cleaning, but a good dentist will make sure
he or she identifies and addresses any concerns you may have.
Make sure the dentist offers treatment
options that address your needs and your budget. At Coast Dental, every patient
is given a treatment plan for review before any procedure is started. You
should feel comfortable asking questions so that you can understand the options
and the consequences of the health decisions you make
Make sure the dentist is up-to-date on the
latest dental technology and techniques and is using high-quality products. The
dentistry field is changing constantly, Dr. Gibbs said. Does your dentist use
advanced technology for oral cancer detection? Does your dentist incorporate
laser technology when appropriate? You should always feel comfortable asking
questions about the dentist’s experience and the number of times he or she has
performed a procedure
Make sure the dentist understands your
medical history. You would be amazed at what can influence your oral health,
including conditions like diabetes and heart disease, certain medications, and
allergies. Always look for a dentist office that asks you to complete a
comprehensive medical history form.
How to choose the right family dentist
While having a pearly white smile is
important, there is much more to your oral health than just the gleam of your
teeth. Truly healthy teeth and gums are
imperative, and to maintain great oral health it is necessary to make regular
visits to a Bakersfield dentist.
Research their qualifications and
experience
Dentists must attain certain qualifications
to practice, but that does not mean that all dentists are created equally. Look
for a family dentist with a high standard of care to ensure that you find a
practice with the experience to give you the best dental care. Feel free to ask the office staff, hygienist,
and dentist how long they have been working and what their specialties are-
they should be more than willing to give you all of the information you want.
Look at the services they offer
Not all family dentists offer a plethora of
services. While it is important to find a dentist who can perform a good
cleaning, you should also look for a practice that offers a wide variety of
services so they can help you and your family with all of your dental needs.
Make sure to find a dentist that offers everything from teeth whitening to
periodontal care so your family will have a dentist to call regardless of the
situation. In times of dental emergencies, the last thing that you want to do
is go from office to office or specialist to specialist. It is far better to
build a positive relationship with one family dentist that can cover all of the
bases than to have to bounce all around the city to fulfill your needs.
Reviews are important
Current and past patients are the best
resource when searching to find the right family dentist for you. Check reviews
for a number of different offices to see what prior patients have to say about
the services, dentist, and overall experience. If you see mostly positive
reviews for a family dentist, you should feel confident that they will offer
you the care and attention you need. There are many places people review their
dentists: Facebook, Google+, Yelp, HealthGrades, and several other websites.
Although reading through pages of reviews may seem a bit daunting, spending the
time now will help save a mountain of headaches in the future.
Check out the office culture and atmosphere
The culture and atmosphere of the office is
important in choosing your family dentist. Before you decide on a particular
Bakersfield dentist, you should go into the actual office to see how it feels-
is the waiting room comfortable, are the staff friendly, is the office clean,
etc. If you and your family feel comfortable inside, you will be less likely to
miss or skip dental appointments. Making sure that your children have a
positive experience with their dentist when they are young will help set the
foundation for their future dedication to their oral hygiene.
How to choose the best dentist in your
area?
You are definitely aware of preventive
dental care and you also know that visiting a dentist every 6 months is a part
of preventive dental care. But still many people neglect this simple
cost-efficient dental care step and invite greater complications. The human tendency
nowadays is to look for the required things/services only when the NEED arises
and same goes with a dental clinic or a good dentist, as generally seen.
Let us assume for a moment that you have
shifted to a new area or altogether to a new city and in such a scenario
looking out for a good dentist is very important and especially if you land up
in a dental emergency, you may not have so much of time to look out for a good
dentist which will provide for the right treatment in the golden hour. In the former
situation if you shift somewhere else how will you look for a good dental
clinic housed with a good and experienced dentist? While to handle the latter
situation, it’s better to be informed about the questions like “dental clinic
near me” or “best dentist near me “to tide over such dental emergencies
Ask family, relatives and friends
Family, relatives and friends could be a
good option to source this kind of information but be specific and ask about
the hospitality, treatment, and how was in short the experience to arrive at an
inference which will aid you in your decision to draw down on a good dentist in
the area. You must also ask for the particular treatment availed by the member
as to whether it was just an elementary/basic treatment like scaling/filling or
more advanced treatment. This must be done since it may happen that the member
may not be able to describe the ability, quality or expertise of the dentist’s
skill or judge the treatment in totality.
Do your homework – Browse/surf the net
With the advent of the internet and
technology, there is a sharp increase to empower you with correct information
and there are many medical service aggregators to bridge this gap like Lybrate,
Practo, 1mg and others which makes the process of finding a good doctor
smoother and easier on the internet. Still, you need to be very careful here
since they are not doing any social service, at the end of the day they mean
business which is practically like the number of leads or patients that the
aggregator generates for the doctor or any other medical service provider for
e.g. diagnostics center.
In such a case, people are always on the
reviews or ratings given by the other patients on their app or their website,
but still they are not a good way to come to a conclusion, as they can boost
their image through fake reviews too. If at all, you want to rely on reviews,
look for Google Reviews and make a judgement. Google reviews are very much
genuine and it’s difficult to cheat Google with fake reviews. With the help of exceptionally
complex algorithms Google recognizes fake reviews. This will help you to find a
good dentist near you and a good dental clinic also.