I know I’m not supposed to drag up a two-month old thread, but I have the same question as the OP. I just moved here to (Essex County, NJ) and as no one in my family really has ‘friends or coworkers’ to ask for recommendations. I tried picking a dentist pseudrandomly off those listed by our insurer (Delta Dental), cross-matched to a list supplied by the ADA, but wasn’t very satisfied by the result. I’d like to repeat soulmurk’s question as well:
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?
I chose my dentist because I broke a tooth late Thursday night/early Friday morning, and he was the first one I found who a)was even in the office on a Friday and b) was willing to work me in in less than a week. So far he seems to be pretty good. He and his staff listen well, and explain the benefits and drawbacks of all my options. They never push me to have work I don’t want or can’t afford, but they’re always willing to hassle with my insurance to get as much stuff covered for me as they can. So far, the quality of his work seems to be just fine.
I go to a dentist who has a reputation of being the most technologically advanced and the best in my area. They also are the official dentists of the local hockey team, the local junior hockey team, and some of the kiddy hockey teams, which is a big plus.
My dentist was a client of my dad’s firm (financial advisors), and works in my home town. I insisted we change to him when I found out I needed teeth extracted for orthodontic work. Our former dentist was in his 70s and I didn’t trust him much, mostly to do with the disturbing art in the waiting room and the antique drill he kept as a “conversation piece”.
Best decision ever. The new guy is painless, charming, has all the latest gadgetry (Ozone therapy for cavities, mouth cam etc) and has got my parents onto a dental insurance plan, which means they can finally get their teeth sorted out.
So what made me change was going from a dentist’s waiting room with 13th century woodcuts of people having teeth pulled and bull-fights, to one with seascapes and a box full of toys in the corner.
I had a pretty similar experience. My bridge came loose, and I went to the first dentist I found who would work me in that day. I was impressed by his patient skills, one of which was that he gave me a list of treatment options along with the approximate prices, benefits, and drawbacks. About a month later, he sent me a holiday newsletter in which he mentioned that one of his hobbies was making miniature warships. So apparently he ENJOYS doing fine detail work with his hands…I think this is a GOOD thing in a dentist! I’ve gone back to him several times, and intend to continue to go back to him. I have no idea what the quality of his work is, though he has mentioned once that he really hated to remove an old filling to get to some recurrent decay, as the old filling was apparently a work of art.
I don’t care how technically competent a dentist is…I want one who will give the painkiller enough time to numb me thoroughly, one who will explain the risks and benefits to various procedures, and one who just plain makes me feel comfortable. A dentist who is only mediocre in technical skills but fantastic in making me feel comfortable is much more valuable to me than one who can do a fantastic job technically, but who doesn’t, say, make sure that I am completely numb before working. No matter how good a dentist’s technical skills are, if I am not comfortable with him (and I’ve never gone to a female dentist, don’t know if there even are any around here) I won’t go back. There’s one guy who specializes in root canals around here, who is highly recommended by just about every professional organization, he wins all sorts of awards, but I won’t go to him. I had him do a root canal on me once, which took several sessions. In each session, he was on his cordless phone throughout the entire procedure. Now, he does a gazillion root canals and I’m sure that he can do them in his sleep, but I don’t want him doing one on ME when he’s on the phone with his stockbrocker, or his florist, or any of the other people that he called up (yes, he initiated some of the calls) while he was working on my tooth. I think it’s dangerous and just plain rude.
OOPS…I was on a SDMB break at the time you asked this question, my apologies for not answering. I wasn’t ignoring you. I just found this thread for someone, and saw that you had asked me your questions. I am sure that you have already found someone, but I’ll answer you anyway.
If you call at least three dental labs and three periodontists for a recommendation, you shouldn’t have a problem. Whoever answers the phone SHOULD have a list of dentists they routinely recommend. If they don’t, call another periodontist, or lab. As for key words, just ask for a recommendation for an excellent dentist. It is a little known fact that you can sue the periodontist if they refer you to a lousy dentist (not that you would, but still)…so they are not likely to be sending you to a dud. As for the dental labs, they know who does the best crown and bridge work. So they wouldn’t give you any names of duds either.
Once again, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner.
My original dentist retired. I tried one of the associates he had recommended, but that guy was too rough and it hurt too much. I tried my folks’ dentist and he was much nicer and gentler. I’m still with him. Referrals from family and friends are usually good leads.
I’d gone without a dental checkup for WAY TOO LONG (over ten years) and was paying the price so I looked in the phone book, saw there was a dentist who was the older brother of two guys I went to high school with & figured I’d try him out since his brothers & Mom (who taught me in Jr High) were good people. Great decision. He’s a thorough, calming & painless dentist.
He didn’t beat around the bush when analyzing the condition of my teeth. He asked me one simple question, “Do you want to keep your teeth?”. I said yes. He replied, “Then let’s take a look at get a plan in motion.”
That was in October 2001 and I haven’t regretted it a bit. His hygenist is great. If I say “stop it hurts”, she stops and tries a different way of doing whatever she is doing so that it doesn’t hurt, but gets the job done. He has done all the work on my teeth except the removal of one wisdom tooth (it had come in sideways and to be surgically removed.). All the other procedures (three wisdom teeth removed, a root planing, and two cavities filled) resulted in virtually no pain.