After years of neglect and abuse, the on-again off-again pain of my wisdom teeth has inevitably led me to the decision to visit a dentist to assess the damage and perhaps have them removed.
I have dental insurance through my employer, but I haven’t the foggiest idea on how to go about choosing a dentist. Short of opening the phone book and randomly choosing one, picking the one closest to my home, or just polling passer-by’s, does anyone have any advice?
Ask your friends and co-workers if they like their dentists.
I called 1-800-DENTIST. Really. I had a throbbing, excruciating toothache for 2 days, and then I called 1-800-DENTIST. And then I got a root canal! :eek:
Luckily, they sent me to a very nice dentist.
The best way to choose a Dentist is to call three Periodontal offices and three dental labs and ask for recommendations. Depending on how large a city you live in, there should be some names that are duplicated on the list…and believe me…NO ONE knows who is actually a good Dentist better than Periodontists and dental labs. Choose the one named the most times by all of these places.
Asking your friends and co-workers isn’t actually a very good idea, (sorry, Ringo dear) because most people like their Dentist for all the wrong reasons. “He is gentle, he is nice, he doesn’t hurt me…” All of which is nice, but…you can be a totally CRUMMY Dentist and all your patients might love you…for the above reasons. The quality of the work that is done has nothing to do with how nice you are. Email me if you want to discuss this further.
BTW…I work in dentistry and have seen some of the worst dental work EVER in the mouths of patients who LOVED their previous Dentist.
I am so glad you ended up with a good Dentist, Kat…but it should be noted that 1-800-DENTIST is a service where a Dentist PAYS to be included on their list. They do not have any realistic qualification requirements. And although I am sure that there are a great many GOOD Dentist’s who are on their list, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to ask for a referral from a place that lists Dentists who are desperate enough for new business that they are having to pay to get referrals. And…when you call them, you get the “next” names on their list of people in your area who meet your requirements. (Do you want Nitrous Oxide? How far from home are you willing to go? That sort of thing.)
As I said, I am sure that there are wonderful Dentists on their list. Especially new Dentists who haven’t been in practice long enough to get a good reputation for quality work and need to build a practice. It is the lack of screening that bothers me the most.
i joined the careington dental plan, which is a discount plan. I chose a dentist at random who was easy to find on a map.
Is your insurance a PPO or indemnity? If i were you, i’d combine a dental discount plan & your insurance. You can save 75%-85% on dental bills that way.
You might want to go to a specialist if you are worried about quality, an oral surgeon would be the specialist who removes wisdom teeth.
And listen to Scotti; she manages a dentist’s and knows far more about it than I. If Scotti was my friend ( 
), I could follow my advice and probably do OK.
Though I knew not the exact reasons, I immediately distrusted options like 1-800-DENTIST. It just seemed to be a little too convenient.
I’m also trying to avoid just asking someone I know about theirs because I realize that many people form sentimental attachment and judge on qualities other than level of quality and service.
I’ll look into calling Periodontal offices and dental labs Scotticher, thank you for the recommendation. I live in the second largest city in my state, but that doesn’t mean much considering the state I live in (and I don’t mean confusion), so I’ll see what I can find.
Do you suggest that I just ask whomever answers the phone for a recommendation, or is there someone with a specific title I should ask to speak with? Are there any keywords I should be listening for or any specific questions I should ask?
It seems to me that asking the receptionist would be equivalent to asking random passers-by.
The Calculus of Logic, my dental plan is actually pretty good. I selected it fully expecting to put it to this exact use, so I’m not concerned about the cost at all. (Ask me in 6 months though and I may have an entirely different outlook). I’ll also look into a discount plan
It’s been so long since I’ve been to the dentist, but I imagine it works much as when I go to the MD in that I can’t just go to a specialist like an oral surgeon, I’d need a referral.
My current dentist was recommended to me by my previous dentist who moved to a different city to start his own practice. Both dentists have the same manner of dealing with patients, so I am happy with my current dentist.
i went to an oral surgeon w/o a reference, they still took me.
I moved to Ontario in September for collegeand got in a bike accident a month later which required some dental work (3 temp fillings, a root canal, a cap, and another root canal+cap to come). I needed to see a dentist that day, but most of the university recommended ones were either unavailable for a week or too far away (I ended up taking cabs to my current dentist anyways). One of the dental offices that was busy recommended me to my current dentist, which was available that day. I think I was lucky because so far he’s been pretty good – I’m also lucky that my student insurance is covering 80% of the bill.
So basically: after being turned down by around 5 dental offices (even the emergency dentist!), I took the first recommendation.
I just noticed that you live in Eastern Washington. Are we talking about MY Washington? I live in Bellingham. If you are talking about the PNW WA, then I might be able to help you more.
My dentist’s ad in the yellow pages said in big bold letters:
** We cater for COWARDS.**
Good enough for me.
Well, my wifes insurance is better than mine, so I went to her dentist:)
The only thing I don’t like about him is that he’s a bit younger than I am, and he makes me feel somewhat old.
My dentist happened to be a firehouse buddy. Who else can you call on their off day when you really need a root canal, who will say, meet me in a half hour. He shows up in plaid shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, with beloved dog Casey, aka Beanhead and proceeds to take care of me without anybody else there. Beanhead lovingly rests his head on my thigh and I softly pet him throughout the procedure.
Find me a better dentist than that.
Scotticher, yes, the PNW Washington. I’m in Spokane actually. Been here a few years and am only now starting the process of finding a dentist. Typical I suppose; don’t worry about it until it hurts like a mother…
BTW, I really really like Bellingham 
danceswithcats, do you think he’d make a housecall up to my neck of the woods? 
I think I like Scotticher’s idea. I have used the “poll the co-workers” approach, asking folks who live near me. Throw in a quick verification to see which names are on my PPO (nice and cheap!), and the list gets shorter.
I will add one crucial point for me: I want an older dentist. I want a dentist who’s been around awhile and knows what’s important to fix and what to leave well enough alone. I had unpleasant experiences with a fairly young dentist who wanted to fix everything perfectly, using the latest technology, with no regard to $$$. That’s not for me.
I might be able to help you, since you are so close. (Relatively speaking, that is… )
If you’d like, email me and I will get you some names.
I used the ask a co-worker approach and found a great dentist. I’ve been going to him for about ten years now. I’ve since referred almost twenty people to him.
Haj
When I moved to NY, I randomly picked a dentist near my house. When that method proved disastrous, I used the “poll your friends” approach. Five or six people had glowing recommendations. I chose one based on proximity to my office. So far, I’m very happy, but as Scotticher points out, this is not necessarily a reliable method.
Oddly, I used the PDAL approach (Pure Dumb Ass Luck)
… and, he’s been not only the best dentist I’ve ever had, but just plain the best Doctor of any kind that I’ve ever had. I’ve now followed him through three office moves to his own practice.
Every so often, PDAL works out.