Nearly all American adults care about how their smile looks. Nearly 99.7% say having a good looking smile is important to their social life and standing. Three-quarters of people in the United States say that a bad looking smile can hurt someone’s career. This could be one reason that products that whiten teeth have increased by at least 300% in the past five years. During that same time period, veneer use went up by about 250%. If you need to see someone about your teeth, here is how to find a local dentist.
- Talk to your friends, family and coworkers. When you are are looking for someone to care for your teeth, you may need to know how to find a local dentist and the best way to find great local goods and services is to get personal recommendations. Ask everyone you know. The best thing is when more than one person gives you the same recommendation independent of each other. Ask what people like about the dentist they recommend. Is it the dentist they like? The dentist office? Ask how they found their dentist.
- Call your insurance carrier. If you have dental coverage, you should call them. They can tell you how ot find a local dentist. Talking to your insurance carrier can narrow down your options as there may be only a few dentists that are in your plan. They may also have more information about the dentists that they work with. This can be really helpful. If you need specific things, like a dentist for kids, they can probably point you in the right direction or give you a list.
- Talk to your primary care physician. Do you have a primary care physician that you trust and like? Your oral health has a direct link to your physical health in other ways. Your primary care doctor may have suggestions for how to find a local dentist. They may have suggestions, dentists their patients or their staff have recommended or dentists they know personally. If you find yourself needing extensive dental treatments, you should tell your primary care doctor because of that link between your dental health and general health. An infected tooth can cause you a host of other medical problems that your primary care doctor can help treat. For instance, some people need to take antibiotics before any dental procedure. You need to let your physician know when you are doing this.
- Look online. There are a lot of resources available online to help you find a good dentist in your area. You can check on Facebook, for example. Many cities, towns and localities have Facebook groups or pages that are devoted to promoting local businesses, goods or services. If there are no posts about local dentists, you can post one yourself asking the question. You will get some response. Often, people love to give their opinion about just about everything. You can also check Angie’s List and Google for reviews and other information.
- Find a few local dentists and research them. Once you have gotten a list of dentists together, look them up online. Are there reviews on Yelp? Are there testimonials on their practice website? Look into all of that. There is one caveat to looking at reviews online, especially if the reviews are anonymous. People are much more likely to complain rather than compliment so take some of the complaints with a grain of sand.
- Talk to a few dentists. Many people are afraid of going to the dentist so this step is really important for you. If going to the dentist fills your heart with dread, you should talk to a few dentists and let them know what your fears are and what makes you feel uncomfortable when you go in. Dentists understand that many people do not go to the dentist every six months, as they recommend, because you are scared of going into dental offices. Because of this, there are things they can do to make the experience less scary.
The bottom line is that when you need to learn how to find a local dentist, you have a lot of options.
