Dental Health
Dr. Matt Bynum, Bynum Aesthetic Dentistry
Starting Over… Finding a New Dental Home
So you’ve moved and have settled in a city where you know no one. That means new house, new friends, new roads and a new dentist! That’s right, finding new health care professionals to care for you is one of the most stressful parts of moving. Who do you see? Will they be like my “old dentist”? Will my new hygienist be too rough? All of these are legitimate concerns when re-establishing dental care with any move. While it may be stressful and you have nowhere to turn for answers, let me help by offering some ideas and suggestions.
In most people’s minds, a dentist is a dentist. I mean they are all the same aren’t they? Absolutely not! Dentistry is not a commodity like in days of old. There is a huge variety of types of dental practices and finding the one that fits your goals and ideals is key. For instance, in the last ten years the model for dental practices has been completely altered by corporate America. The current trend is for a conglomerate of corporate executives to fund multiple dental practices by using big financial backing to build and support dental practices where the model is to offer fairly inexpensive dental treatment in exchange for higher volume of dental patients moving patients in and out as fast as they can. Often times in doing so the quality of care is compromised for the sake of time and money. The push for dental treatment becomes priority and patients sometimes feel pressured to act or move forward. Often in this type of practice there are several dentists who all see the patients which means you never know which you will have checking or working on you.
In contrast, what once was the standard of dental practice, there exists the “mom and pop” style dental practices where they are owned and operated by the dentist or dentists working inside. In these instances the relationship between dentist and patient is often the priority. With this relationship, quality care and preservation of wants/needs is prioritized over the money. Time is taken to not only treat but also to better explain and give detail. After all, how do you build trust and long term friendship without it? Of course not everyone is looking for this in a new dental home. Some want whatever their insurance will cover and to use their benefit every year and are simply not concerned with the relationship that comes with it.
Here are a few suggestions to choosing your new dental home to take into consideration:
- Ask any local friends, family and neighbors who their dentist is. Direct referral is often a great indicator of happiness in the dental office.
- Call around. Pay particular attention to how you are greeted by the person on the other end of the phone. Are they kind? Friendly? Inviting? Are they interested in you or are they interested in filling a schedule? While you cannot see a smile through the phone, you certainly can feel one!
- Choose to visit a few offices in person. Take in how the office looks both inside and out. Is it clean? Does the office look and feel “dated”? Are the people happy? Friendly? Does it feel like a “waiting room” or is it more like a “reception area” when you walk in? Does the office smell like a dental office or not at all?
I know some of this may seem crazy, but in today’s world with so many things at our disposal to allow us to create an experience unlike the one growing up, patients deserve better. Most people “hate” going to the dentist so why accept going to an office where the first thing that comes to mind is something negative or strikes fear into your entire body? There are alternatives and there are dental offices who honor your decision to choose them. I encourage everyone in this situation of finding a new dentist to think about what you want out of your new dental home and consider a true dental “experience” over just a dental appointment. Happy hunting and remember to always keep smiling!