Choosing a Dentist

Choosing a dentist is not the same as finding a life partner or even a business partner. Some people will go to the dentist near their home or office. Others will scour the yellow pages. Today, many dentists advertise in every media from bowling alley score sheets to cable television. Fortunately, most dentists are good at what they do. Here are strategies to use when searching out and evaluating a new dentist. 

Understand dental advertising. While 1-800-DENTIST is a free service to patients, it is a very expensive advertising service for dentists. Welcome wagon, Super coups, register receipts, magazines and newspapers are all different ways that dentists use to build their practices. 

Is there anything wrong with dentists advertising? No. People expect dentists to advertise. Advertisements say a lot about a dentist and their office. Look for office hours, procedures, insurance acceptance, and even parking availability. Look at the style of the ad. Dentists want their ads to reflect the style of their office. 

Since most dentists will take good care of their patients, the odds favor choosing a good practitioner. Therefore, any advertising medium or referral source is likely to produce the name of a good dentist. Will the dentist who advertises on a bowling alley score sheet be the dentist for you? Well, you found their name on the sheet. That doctor tailored that ad for bowlers, because his office is nearby, and he feels that he can help you. A next step could be to ask friends and neighbors if they know this dentist. Did they have a good rapport with him? Would they recommend seeing him? Use the same technique to evaluate other dentist advertisements.