Dentists - When You Need One

Love them, hate them or fear them, there is no getting away from the need to see a dentist. Ultimately who you see can go a long way towards making your dental appointments if not –fun- well then at least tolerable. In order to make the most of your dentist appointments though you will need to have a dentist that you like and trust. And despite the huge number of dentist that are in the phone book, it can be a daunting experience trying to figure out where to start in your search.

The phone book is one source to find dentists but it’s far from the best source. Phone books are very limited to telling you names and addresses and unless the dentist paid for a huge ad, telling you what they want you to know- you don’t really get anything else out of the phone book as a source. Using friends and family or co workers for a referral has always been a good stand by method to find a dentist or doctor but it to is a flawed method. For one thing you don’t really know if a friend’s idea of a good dentist is the same as your idea of a good dentist. And if you live in a larger metro area the dentist your co worker recommends might work for them geographically but may not be as convenient for you.

If you are searching for dentists, a more effective method is to use a consumer based web site to find a referral. Consumer based web sites are generally more accurate than any other source for a referral for several reasons. First, the reviews are posted by former or current patients and they are not anonymous postings which gives the review credibility. Secondly since the reviews are both written narratives as well as ratings of the dentist you can read and understand why the patient gave the dentist the good or bad review. Some things that could rate a dentist down to one patient such as hours or location might not be problems for you.

In the end this new method is allowing patients to find the perfect dentist for their needs without the hassle of cold
calling dentist or bothering everyone they know for a referral to multiple dentists that may or may not be a good fit.
Obviously while you are reviewing your potential list of dentists you need to know what you are looking for. Make a list of your top ten criteria such as location, hours, type of insurance accepted and other things that are important to you and use your list as your guideline base when going over reviews and ratings.

Once you make your final selection, you can rest assured that the dentist you pick will be your dentist for a long time to come because you won’t be in for any unpleasant surprises. And let’s face it; nobody wants to be surprised in the dentist chair.