Good, Honest Dentists…How to Seek and Find Them!
Of all the many things that SODA wants to teach you, this single concept is what we hope most of you take home and cling to…It’s the concept that SODA was founded on…here it is:
It is better to go to an HONEST dentist, WITHOUT dental insurance, than go to a DISHONEST dentist, WITH dental insurance.…..
Let us say that again….
It is BETTER to go…..to an HONEST dentist…..WITHOUT dental insurance…..
than go……to a DISHONEST dentist….WITH dental insurance…
This is the main passion and purpose of SODA, encouraging people to seek out honest dentists and not get taken advantage of by dishonest ones.
So bless you for seeking out this answer. You will save yourself and your family so much money, hassle, and dental visits in the end. You’ll keep your teeth as pristine and natural as you possibly can.
There is ONE, EASY way to find that honest dentist. It will require about 30 min of research, depending on how much of a talker you are. :)
Here’s the sad bottom line: People love money. Many people love money more than anything else.
Dentists happen to make money off of your mouth. So what have we found that MANY dentists do? Sadly, they charm you, and then they LIE to you…
They tell you that you have cavities that aren’t actually there. They tell you that you need to get a “deep cleaning” when over half of you don’t.
They show you “cracks” in your teeth with their super magnified intra-oral cameras, cracks that are just lines that your teeth naturally have. Just picture how you feel when you look at your face in a magnifying mirror…it’s the same situation when things are magnified in your mouth…
After they scare the daylights out of you, they make you sign your life away to some long treatment plan, which you can’t understand a word of, before they will clean your teeth…
THEN, once you DO finally get your teeth cleaned, you either get a “deep cleaning,” they tell EVERYONE that they need a deep cleaning, or you get a quick “10 minute cleaning.”
Sometimes they use the “fancy” ultrasonic scaler that sprays water all over your face but still SEEMS to do the job…
If the office we’ve just described is the kind of office that you have experienced recently, that’s not the way it should be. Not at all. The rest of this article will help you choose wisely from here on out and guide you into making the best dental decisions possible for yourself and your family.
Soon, you’ll find your way straight into the hands of an HONEST dentist who will tell you the TRUTH. . . one who values YOU…one who still values PEOPLE, over money. Soon, you will be able to rest at ease and trust your dentist.
Rule 1: DON’T RELY SOLELY ON YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, or COWORKERS.
This is the first thing that everyone does, but there’s one problem…Much of the time, these people don’t really know if their dentist is good or not. All that your friends and family know is that the dentist is nice, charming, and may SEEM to be honest!
Some have taken the time to do their research and homework, but many people don’t TRULY know if that dentist is honest. They don’t know if that dentist does good dental work. They don’t really know if that dentist designs crowns and fillings that are well done with beautiful margins and color.
Unless they make a really good case or have carried out some pretty legitimate research on their own, your friends are only telling you if their dentist is nice and makes them feel good.
Always remember this: Liars are gooooooood at what they do.
There are many “dental liars” out there who will schmooze you, scare you, tell you that your mouth is a disaster zone, and then smile as you swipe that plastic card on the way out the door.
They’ll rub their hands together as they send that dental bill to your insurance company. The Insurance never truly knows if you had those cavities in the first place or if you honestly needed that crazy expensive deep cleaning.
Insurance companies have their ways of trying to prevent this. Still, dishonest dental offices have found their ways around these barriers.
Sometimes dishonest dentists even bill insurance companies for EXTRA charges that they didn’t even put into your mouth. It’s true, it’s sad, and we would love to see it stop.
More often than not, what happens is this: People get a SHOT in their mouth, get DRILLED on for an hour or more, on a perfectly GOOD tooth that did NOT even have a cavity, to begin with. It should have been left alone. We are not kidding. This happens….A LOT!!!
Keep this in mind: “The best dental restoration is NO dental restoration,” and the dentist that you find should agree with this statement.
Hey, if you have a cavity, there’s no doubt that you’ve got to address it and have it fixed.
But if you DON’T have a cavity, you DON’T have a CAVITY! Teeth should never be drilled on for no reason.
A few sad stories to tell, before we let you in on rule number 2…
-A patient came into our office for a second opinion. She was 26 years old and had never had a cavity in her life.
She was told by another office that she had 14 cavities, and they all needed to be fixed. They also told her that she needed a deep cleaning which would require anesthesia and 4 appointments.
Well, guess what? Our exam found that she had ZERO cavities…. ZERO! We cleaned her teeth THOROUGHLY in an hour and 15 min, with no anesthesia, and with only one normal cleaning charge.
Granted, she needed a more THOROUGH cleaning. We ran late into our next appt., but this patient needed nothing more than a good hygienist to catch her back up after being overdue.
Worst of all, the other dentist would have drilled 14 times in her mouth when NOTHING was needed! (my blood is starting to boil)
-Another patient of ours moved to Texas. She had her teeth cleaned and a checkup with us before she left. All looked great, and we wished her lots of happiness on her new adventure.
She found a new dentist in Texas, like a good girl should, and was told that she now had 5 cavities…..In 6 months, she formed 5 cavities? She wasn’t going to be fooled. She flew back to California, had us check her teeth, and nope…..ZERO cavities in her mouth. ZERO. (blood is boiling over!)
Don’t let them get you!
Okay, I’ve regained my composure…back to our subject again. . .
Rule 2: The Process
Call three or more specialists in your area. Heck, call ALL of the specialists!
“Specialists” are dental experts who have gone through extra schooling, beyond general dental school, to become Endodontists (root canal specialists), Oral Surgeons (think-wisdom teeth, etc), Orthodontists (Braces) ,etc.
Find the phone numbers for three or more of these specialists, call them, and get three or more “general dentist” referrals from each of them.
Introduce yourself to the front desk receptionist. Explain to them that you are looking for a good dentist in the area. Tell the receptionist that, as a specialist office, you understand that they deal with multiple dentists regularly. You trust that they have the best knowledge as to which of those “general dentists” are honest and who does good, honest work.
Ask them who THEIR family goes to, maybe? Bottom line, who would they recommend?
After calling these various specialists, you should see the same names pop up….. THOSE are your good, honest dentists in your area. That is where you want to go!
Rule 3: Top Three
Try out the top dentists that those specialists recommend.
Get your X-rays and records from the office that you are questioning, or if you can’t get them, allow the first “good office’” that you choose to re-take x-rays and do their thorough exam.
If an office ever doesn’t want to give your records to you, that is a telltale sign that they are an office you want to run from. They should have nothing to hide and should be confident in you seeking a second opinion.
Be persistent until you get the records, though. You paid for those x-rays, and that treatment plan is yours. If you can’t win, just take a deep breath and move on. Let an honest office re-take your x-rays and assess you from there. It’s worth the hassle and the bit of extra radiation and money.
Make these “second opinion consultation” appointments at three of the recommended dentists, or however many you wish. Go to each appointment with your x-rays and records. There may be a consultation fee at each place, but it shouldn’t be too much. Our office charges $45 or so. It’s worth paying. It’s worth paying three times over. It will save you loads of money in the end.
See what these offices tell you. Feel the dentists out. Who feels best to you? You should feel pretty secure and confident with at least one of these offices.
You can add your friends’ recommended dentist to this list as well. There are always honest dentists out there that aren’t super close to the specialists but are still amazing.
**At the end of the day, the name of the game is to try different dentists out and get second opinions until you are comfortable and secure.
Rule 4: Dental School
It’s also a great idea to look into what dental school each dentist went to.
Look on the regional or state dental board exam websites for stats on how the dental schools rank. What percentage of their students pass their dental board exams. You could look on the dental school websites for information as well.
I know that around us, various schools have varying reputations. ;)
And that’s it! This method should get you much closer to finding an honest dentist than simply choosing from your dental insurance list.
Again, we commend you for seeking out the answer to this question. You will save yourself so much money. You will keep your teeth as pristine as possible.
You will save yourself and your family from enduring unnecessary drilling and filling. The extra time and effort put into finding an honest dentist will save you so much! You’ve got this!
The BEST FILLING is NO FILLING! That’s your goal! Find that honest dentist who will only tell you that you need something done when you truly need something done!
It may be helpful to read the SODA we spilled for you about how dental insurance works as well. You will be amazed…
Best of Luck!
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. Nobody knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
Thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Be sure to browse around and follow us for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
