Searching for a new dentist isn’t all that much different than searching for your soulmate.
Sure, there are obvious differences on the surface – the odds are pretty good that you won’t be spending too many late nights with your dentist, after all – but when you really think about it, your choice of dentist is going to almost always lock you into a long-term relationship.
And if you want that relationship to be beneficial (for both of you), and to move forward through the years as smoothly and as effortlessly as possible, you’re really going to need to take some time to make sure that you are working with the best of the best around.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t really take the time to find the perfect dentist (which shouldn’t be all that surprising – most of us don’t take the time to find the perfect soul mate, either!). But if you want to make sure that you aren’t making any mistakes this time around, hopefully we’ll be able to point you in the right direction and give you a little bit of inside information into what you should be looking for from the very perfect dentist to upgrade your smile.
What kind of dentist are you hunting for, anyway?
There’s a world of difference between trying to find a long-term world healthcare provider and a dental specialist, so you’ll need to get square about exactly which kind of dentist you’re looking to work with in the first place before you even think about starting the search process.
Long-term oral healthcare partners are a lot like general practitioners. These are the kinds of dentists that you’re going to be visiting for your regular checkups, as well as the kind of dentists that you’re going to visit first when you’re dealing with a dental health issue.
Specialists, the other hand, are just like specialists in the medical field. These are the dental experts that your long-term oral health care partner is going to point you in the direction of when you need specialized care. These are the kinds of professionals that are going to help you to continue to enjoy a picture-perfect smile, but they’re also the kinds of professionals that will help rebuild or overhaul your smile if necessary.
Once you know which kind of dentist you’re looking for, you’ll be able to start looking into different details like:
- What kind of office hours do they have and whether or not they are going to fit your day to day schedule
- Whether or not their office is centrally located or easy to get to
- Whether or not they provide emergency services outside of traditional dental office hours
- The kind of education and training that they have received or continue to receive
- The kinds of financing options that they make available
… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
A dentist’s professional reputation is absolutely everything
Anytime you’re talking about moving forward with a professional service, you have to understand that you aren’t going to be able to objectively determine whether or not someone really is the best of the bunch until AFTER you’ve actually received the service itself.
This puts you in a sticky situation.
After all, no one wants to be misled into believing that they’re working with the best dental professional in their area before their dental work is performed, only to find out that nothing could be further from the truth.
Sadly, it happens all too often – and a lot of it has to do with the fact that people just aren’t investigating a dentist’s professional reputation as thoroughly or as in-depth as they probably should be. This is crazy, considering the fact that we all have access to the web and can quickly research pretty much any professional in record time and understand exactly what they’re all about and what their community relationship is before moving forward.
Of course, if you know anyone in your social circle (your friends, your family members, or your coworkers) that have worked with a particular dentist in the past that you are interested in you have to ask them about their experience. They’ll be able to provide you with an unbiased and honest inside information that you never would have had access to otherwise.
Remember, these are the people that care most about you and not the bottom line of their business. They are going to be interested in pointing you in the right direction, as opposed to trying to convince you that their dental services are the best of the best without ever really backing it up.
Take 15 or 20 minutes a night for about a week or so and look into all of the different dentists available in your area. The odds are good that you’ll find one with a sterling silver reputation that sticks out from the rest of the pack – that’s the office to move forward with!