How To Choose A Dentist

Every so often I am asked by a patient that is moving from Austin, how they locate a good dentist where they will be moving soon.

I tell them to ask neighbors, friends and business associates about their experiences with the dentist they see. Do they hear the name of one particular dentist being mentioned most often? Does the dentist adhere to the majority of items listed below?

1. Does he or she and their staff spend time to get to know you and listen to your fears and concerns about your health? To be effective, a dentist needs to establish a long-term relationship with patients, to build an atmosphere of friendship and trust. They know that taking 10 or 15 minutes at the initial appointment to just talk with you, finding about your past dental experiences, dental treatment history, asking general health questions, will pay off handsomely in simplifying the long term task of keeping your teeth in your mouth. Beware of a dentist who is too rushed, too busy, or too nervous to take the time to establish a dialogue.
2. Do they take the time to do a very complete initial examination (excluding emergency appointments) so that no problems or potential problems are missed?
3. After dialoguing with you and completing the initial examination, do they help you set goals for you keeping your teeth for your lifetime?
4. Do they use operating telescopes? Operating telescopes are not to be confused with the magnifying loupes like those worn by jewelers. Operating telescopes are binocular or telescope looking devices attached to a standard frame. They magnify from 3 to almost 5 times and are essential to doing quality dentistry.
5. What size office does he or she have? Is there a large staff? The days of dental empires are over. Large DMO (discount dentistry) practices are the worst about hurrying patients through examination, restorative and hygiene procedures. One sign of a dentist more interested in the bottom line than in actually helping you keep your teeth is the number of staff he has. The larger the staff the greater the number of patients he can see (and must see to keep the overhead where it needs to be). How large is large? Three or four operatories are about the maximum for a single doctor. Group practices may have more operatories but are rarely easy to manage or be made efficient.
6. Are you checked for the signs and symptoms of periodontal (gum) disease at the first appointment and all subsequent hygiene appointments? The signs and symptoms of periodontal disease include tartar, bleeding from the gums, and pocket depth deeper than 3 millimeters. Each tooth needs to be measured: three numbers are recorded on the cheek side of the tooth, three numbers on the tongue side of the tooth; the dentist will call out numbers for his assistant to record in the record. Normal numbers are "3-1-3" and most will run in this range. Numbers like "5-2-4" are indicative of moderate gum disease and numbers like "9-4-11" are indicative of serious gum disease.
7. Before accepting any treatment recommendation, you should be clear as to why the treatment is needed, and what risks and alternatives exist. You should also be clear what happens if you decide not to pursue his or her recommendations.
8. Are the dental hand pieces (drills) autoclaved (high pressure, high temperature, steam sterilized) after each single use? Are the impression trays individually bagged in an autoclave bag? Is there plastic wrap over as much of the peripheral equipment (i.e. water/air syringe, light handles, x-ray tubes, etc) as possible? If you are not certain, YOU SHOULD ASK!

These questions and suggestions are simply the things that I being a dentist would want to be absolutely sure is part of the dental practice that I would allow to treat me or my family. These suggestions are not intended to undermine nor have you question the ethics of your current dentist.