Is Your Dentist the Right Fit for You?

When you are choosing any healthcare professional, it is important that the task is taken very seriously. These people are responsible for your general well-being and health now, and into the future. It is essential that these are people that you trust, and that you know that they have your best interests in mind when recommended or providing any care administered. This includes oral healthcare professionals. There are many things that one must look for when selecting an oral health professional, and knowing what those things are can be vital to helping ensure you are picking the best professionals your plan will cover. Consider what the dentist’s office hours are. Are these hours flexible, and do they work with your schedule? Can you easily schedule appointments when you need them? This includes your 6 month cleanings to prevent future problems from occurring. Moreover, is the location convenient and easy to get to from home or work? This is important because if the office is significantly out of your way you are more likely to reschedule, push off, or avoid check-ups and preventative treatment that may end up costing you more serious problems in the future. If it’s easy, convenient, and pain-free to keep an appointment then you are likely to keep up on preventative care, and avoid many problems in the future. Choosing a dentist that believes in preventative care is also important. It helps you avoid problems in the future to take steps to prevent them now. It’s also important to understand your dentist’s background as to where he was trained and what school he attended. Also, understand how often he/she goes to ongoing education conferences or takes classes. New information is always surfacing, and doctors including dentists need to understand the implications new practices have on their field, and more accurate ways that they may treat existing problems to help prevent them from becoming more severe. Dentists who are up on the “latest treatments” help save patients more pain in the future, and also improve costs of quality care to their patients as future problems are often avoided. It’s vital to understanding if the dentist provides out-of-hours care to patients, or if he refers that service to someone else. If so, is that practice also covered under your insurance in case you need after-hours care. When you are seeing your own dentist, it’s also important to know what types of anesthesia they are certified to provide, and which procedures are done in-office versus those that are outsourced to other locations. It’s likely more convenient if the dentist you see can handle out-of-office-hour calls/appointments, and do mots procedures themselves in their office, rather than forcing you to go many different places to meet your dental needs. If you must seek out-of-office care, ensure your insurance will cover those expenses before consenting to receive that treatment. Otherwise, you might be in for a rather expensive treatment if you have to pay out-of-pocket. Far as expenses for treatment and services go, it is also important to understand what the dental practice or insurances cover, versus what you are expected to cover individually out-of-pocket. You should confirm with both the billing department and the dentist himself that they participate in your dental plan, and that they accept the insurance you have. It is also important to know what the flat-costs of procedures without insurance are, in case you have to pay out-of-pocket. What is the most you will have to pay? Can you afford it? That is VITAL to understanding if this dentist is a good fit for you. It’s also good to note what the office has as policy on missed appointments are, and what fees are charged. This helps incase emergencies ever arise and you do have to miss an appointment on short or virtually no notice. Finally, it’s also important to tour the office before you get dental work done there. Is the office environment and the equipment clean? Remember, that equipment is vital to the procedures that are performed there, and dirty or unclean equipment can result in health concerns of illnesses and conditions that may be passed from patient to patient. There are few better ways to spread illnesses than not properly sterilizing equipment that goes into more than one person’s mouth. IF the equipment at a facility is not clean, then find another facility with clean and sterilized equipment. If you have any questions regarding this article please contact us or call 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”