Are there any tips patients should know about for finding a good dentist?

Answer 1

Here are a few:
1. Be very wary of dentists with ads in the yellow pages...especially those with large ones.
2. Ask friends if they like their Dr.
3. Find one that practices preventive dentistry.
4. When you go into the office for the first visit you should fill out a very comprehensive health history.
5. Your first visit should include a full mouth series of x-rays or an "x-ray scan" plus bite wings.
6. Your first visit should not include a cleaning....this should only be scheduled after the doctor has had a chance to evaluate your mouth.
7. Either the doctor or the hygienist should be checking you for gum disease [a little probe is placed under the gum around each tooth] and oral cancer.
Guess that's enough to get you started!

Answer 2

"docgobbler" gave very good tips. Here's another:
Watch and listen to the staff. Good doctors tend to attract happy staff members and keep them for a long time. Engage the receptionist and assistant in conversation and ask how long they've been with the practice. If they love the doc, they will rave about him/her.

Of course, that's something you can only do once you've arrived. Asking family and friends is the best way to find a new dentist.

Answer 3

Ask 10-20 people at work, in your neighborhood, church or other places where you might meet people, who their dentist is and why they go there. After a while, you will realize that you are hearing at least one name over and over again. This is the office where you should go.

There are so many links from this page about choosing a dentist that you could spend an hour there:

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/tips.asp

Answer 4

What someone told me that they did is she asked a dentist that she found if there were any testomonials and he gave them to her.