So Many Dentists Where Do I Start?

OMG there are so many dentists! How do I decide where to go?

This is a dilemma most every person has faced in there life. As a child, it is easy. We either go to the provider our parents chose for us or we don’t go at all. As an adult, we either continue with the dentist we had growing up or we are faced with the task of choosing a new dentist. Where do we start? The first bit of knowledge we must know is the types of dentists there are and how the dental landscape is structured.

In dentistry there are general dentists and specialists. General dentists are licensed to perform all aspects of dentistry. Specialists limit their practice scope to certain areas of dentistry within which they treat basic to complex cases. As patients with autonomy you always have the choice to have work performed with your general dentist or at a specialists office.

Dental Provider Categories:

General Dentist: Focus on providing quality restorative, cosmetic, and basic surgical services and implants.

Prosthodontist: Focus on providing complex restorative and cosmetic services and implant therapy.

Orthodontist: Focus on correcting dental and skeletal occlusal disorders.

Endodontist: Focus on root canal therapy, root canal related surgeries, and implants.

Periodontist: Focus on treating gum disease and implants.

Oral Surgeon: Focus on complex dental surgical procedures, wisdom tooth extractions, pathology, corrective jaw surgery, and implants.

Dental Anesthesiology: Focus on providing in office deep sedation and general anesthesia.

Dental Office Categories:

1) Private

2) Corporate

3) Educational/Government

In a private office is locally owned by a dentist who is onsite. The patient is the customer and the dentist is focussed on providing quality care to the individual with any profit as byproduct of the natural flow of their work. The owner dentist is able to make decisions on quality of staff, instruments, and materials that benefit the patient directly. Private offices often limit insurances to those who’s reimbursements will cover more expensive materials and laboratory fees.

A corporate office is one that is owned by non-dentist business entity and includes multiple offices across many locals that often include different cities and states. Often the office is owned by a non-dentist business entity and shareholders of the corporation. The non-dentist owners and shareholders focus on increased quarterly revenue stream. The dentist is often paid based on production incentives.

The third group of offices are community health centers and educations institutions. Community health centers often focus on providing care to veterans, economically impoverished communities, or the medically compromised. They provide quality care but patients may need to meet certain criteria to qualify for care. Educational institutions will provided care to all patients at a reduced price but often at the cost of convenience and time spent.

So now you know the types of providers and types of offices. How do you determine which is right for you. You must weigh the differences and determine where you feel comfortable. Ultimately, regardless of office type or provider type you want a dentist who focusses on providing you with the highest quality care using the best materials and latest technology. We will go into what qualifies as quality dentistry and what technology is available as we move forward in different blogs so stay tuned.