Tips and tricks for finding a new dentist

October 29, 2021 6:19 PM

I've been seeing the same dentist practically since birth. I'm tired of seeing him and I want to find a new dentist. How does one going about finding a GOOD dentist?

I've been seeing my current dentist since, forever. He was my parents' dentist, so I just ended up going to see him. (I've been seeing him since I was a teen, I didn't like him when I was a child, so he referred me to a children's dentist who I saw until I was about 13 or 14). Anyway, I don't have much of a frame of reference for dentists because I've only seen 2. (I'm located in Edmonton, AB, if anyone from here happens to be reading and could give a suggestion!)

Going to this dentist isn't really working out for me anymore. He's a really good dentist, BUT... I hate visiting him now. He sold his practice to some sort of local dentistry franchise (good for him!), but the thought of going to a dentist where like... they sell mugs and t-shirts in a display case just makes me feel very "icky." I can't put it into words, but it gives me a bad feeling.

He used to have a small staff with the same receptionist, same hygienist, etc. but now it's always a different hygienist or dental assistant, always a different receptionist. It was NICE having the same people get to know me and my teeth. Now it's always someone different. Last time I had a NEW hygienist and it was just awful. I know people have to learn somewhere, but it was so uncomfortable and she was so careless. And what can you say in that situation where you're literally powerless laying in a chair, with someone poking and prodding. Ugh. It was annoying. This week, I had to call the practice because I forgot what time my appointment was and the receptionist snickered at me for forgetting. Uh... Okay. I don't have an issue calling other places where I book appointments (stylist, therapist, optometrist, family doctor, etc.) to double check appointments EVER, but... it's too much trouble for the receptionist at the dental clinic to tell me when my appointment is without snickering? Sorry. I didn't have my agenda with me at the time!

Finally, he's obviously about to retire because he's only working 2 days per week now. This is super annoying for me. It's just HARD to schedule an appointment with him. My upcoming appointment actually clashes with the start date of a new employee I'll be hiring soon. Of course, he's booked the rest of the month off, so there's no way to re-book it unless I want to wait until December. I actually spent the drive home from work today, wondering if I should push back the start date of the new hire so I can go to the dentist. HUH? Why am I letting my dentist's schedule control my life?! Nope! This isn't happening. I need to see a dentist that actually has availability.

So, sorry for the rant, but how do you actually FIND a new dentist? What makes me nervous about finding a new dentist is that there ARE so many dentistry chains now. I assume their only purpose is to make money (duh) and that they're going to try to have me get all types of weird unneeded dental procedures done or whatever. Maybe it's a strange worry, but it's there. My current dentist, is GREAT about not recommending any unneeded procedures or unnecessary cosmetic dentistry, etc. I really *trust* him when it comes to my teeth.

Also, I can't deal with any dental shame. How do you find a dentist (AND hygienists/assistants) who doesn't SHAME patients for, I dunno, not flossing enough. For example, I have some sort of weird saliva (or it's the way my mouth is... I can't remember, something or other, the dentist explained it to me once) anyway, that just forms plaque and tartar more quickly, no matter how much I floss... I'll always need scaling!! I DREAD going somewhere where I am shamed for like bodily functions I just cannot prevent despite how much I floss and brush!!!

How do you find a good dentist? How do you find a trustworthy dentist? I'm going to ask around, but can do you a dentist meet & greet like some family doctors offer? I'm not sure where to begin!!

posted by VirginiaPlain to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

I also left a dentist we'd been going to for years, after he sold his practice. We found someone decent by asking around...but a couple years later I realized I was also dreading going to this guy. So I asked around again, and finally a friend said "We LOVE our dentist" and we've been happily going to her for 10+ years...and now she just stopped taking our insurance, so we're back searching again. I think the only thing to do is ask people in your circles until you find someone who really loves their dentist.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:59 PM on October 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

One tip I've heard is to look for a dentist with low rent. The thinking is this: All dentists (at least around here) charge the same for the same service. There's a pricelist and sure they can deviate from that, but if they do it will be by $10 or so. A unit of scaling costs X, drilling a cavity costs Y. Go to a dentist with a super-fancy office, in an exclusive neighbourhood, a giant staff, and free tooth-whitening for new customers, and well, they have to pay for that somehow. Expect lots more encouragement to do things that are/should be optional, especially if you have great insurance.

Before I got braces I was researching online and ran across a web site offering an ebook of business advice for dentists. They had a skill-testing question to get into the site (so non-dentists didn't catch on to your tricks), but I was able to google the answer (duh!). Anyway, one thing I remembered is that they suggested that when you tell a patient to come back for X, you should always say to the receptionist (in front of the patient), "Please schedule an appointment, it's urgent" because then the patient will think they really really need to do this thing etc. You were supposed to then have some secret code you could use to tell the receptionist if it actually was urgent.

Anyway, yeah, go somewhere low rent.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:23 PM on October 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

Just asking around seems to be the best way. Ask your coworkers, locals in your social networks, etc. People who love their dentists LOVE to tell other people about their dentists. (My beloved dentist just retired. I was referred there by a former coworker and have referred dozens of people to him; we're all coping with how we feel about Dr. New Guy.)
posted by desuetude at 9:47 PM on October 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

I found my current dentist by googling local dentists and picking the one that had the website with the least stuff about glowing white smiles and the most content about teeth as a part of the human body that sometimes need medical treatment. (And that had a section about dental anxiety, since that was an issue for me). It was not the slickest website.
posted by Superilla at 12:07 AM on October 30, 2021 [4 favorites]

My favorite heuristic has been to find a dental school, then book an appointment at the faculty clinic. This is NOT the low-cost/sliding-scale clinic where students are trained, but the clinic where faculty themselves work a few days a week. Maybe the University of Alberta has something like this?

This has worked great for me the two times I've lived in a city with a dental school. I value that the academic dentists will be up-to-date with current best practices and by definition they are used to answering questions and explaining their reasoning. Relevant to your other concerns, you're not going to encounter any branding/merchandizing, and more likely than not the facilities themselves will be a bit run down (neither appearances nor profits are likely to be the highest priority).

My other heuristic is to avoid anybody whose practice includes a significant focus on "cosmetic" dentistry. They tend to be in direct opposition to my more conservative wait-and-see / minimal intervention / nothing-wrong-with-my-metal-fillings preferences. They've chosen to specialize in unnecessary procedures, and probably have the sales pitch to match.

I've had poor luck with the "ask around" approach; 4 of the 5 worst dentists I've seen were found that way. Aside from the academic dentists, I did have good luck once but it was 100% luck -- the only clinic within walking distance of my office wound up being awesome.
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:14 AM on October 30, 2021 [2 favorites]

Here is my much repeated and reportedly successful advice on finding a dentist.

I searched and the AGD does include Canadian dentists, but my personal experience is exclusively US American.
posted by phunniemee at 6:11 AM on October 30, 2021 [1 favorite]