Are you in pain? Did you just have a tooth break? Do you need a check-up to get your dental needs taken care of? Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth?
It is always a challenge to find a dentist for an immediate need or to establish a long term relationship. Now for the more frequent situation of finding a dentist to take care of you or your family on an ongoing basis. Where do you turn?
As in Do You Want To Be A Millionaire, you can ask a friend, do it on your own or do the 50/50. What are you looking for? There should be basic expectations of what you can expect from any dental clinic.
Your dentist should be competent, answer all your questions and create a treatment plan that answers your needs and is accessible. When you find a dentist you should feel that you have found a dental home. Would it be too much to ask for a place that is OK maybe even pleasant to go to where you are greeted as a friend, were they remember your name, know about your family and are looking forward to share the events in your life? The dental team should feel like they are part of your extended family but maybe with less privileges.
At your dental home, you must feel that treatment has been explained and that you have been given options for possible treatment. You have arrived at what is called informed consent. The treatment is understood and explained and you have been made aware of costs and are ready to proceed with treatment.
The dentist should also be surrounded with a warm friendly and caring staff who could be the receptionist, the CDA or the hygienist. If you have had an especially rough appointment, it is always nice that there is a follow up call the next day.
A clean well maintained office would not be a bad thing either. If you have complex dental work done you could ask what laboratory the Doctor uses with CSA approved materials. Not all labs are created equal and some labs use grey market or poorer quality materials.
The ability to stand behind the work they do is also important. If anything fails within the year, you need to feel confident that they will repair, redo or refund without any questions.
Now you have found your perfect clinic.
