We love keeping good oral health. We normally settle down for known dentists whom we have been consulting since childhood. The dynamic world we live in and our dynamic needs may throw challenges. We may be shifting our neighbourhood and live pretty far from our dentist warranting a change. Sometimes the current dentist may not be qualified for specialized needs like implants or braces and you may be forced to look out for someone else. Whatever be the case, here are seven credentials you may want to look out for a dentist before selecting them.

(1) Online Presence

Just do a simple Google search to find out the dental offices nearby. Based on the search result you can get into the websites of the dentists. We generally prefer to open the websites on the first page of the search result. You may want try one more page of search result. Open all the websites. The contents of the website, regular blogging on dental health, their social media presence, and the general dynamism in the online space should give a hint of how the dentist has adapted to modern changes.

(2) Educational Qualifications and Credentials

The most important factor you can check out from the website is the dental education and related credentials of the dentist. You can look out for the additional qualifications and certificate programs the dentist has attended. You may also want to check how frequently the dentist attends such programs. This can give a fair idea on the inclination of the dentist to keep abreast with the emerging dental technologies.

(3) Memberships and Affiliations

Professionals do better if they are members with different professional organizations. It is all the more mandatory that dental professionals be member of various dental organizations and associations. It is in these associations they get to learn the new technologies that get adopted in the field. So check where the entire dentist is a member.

(4) Specific Dental Expertise

A dentist may have specific dental expertise. There are different branches inside dentistry like, prosthodontics, implantology, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry, etc. You can find out what specific dental expertise the dentist posses and relate this to your need. If you are looking for specific dental solution, you may want to select a dentist who has specific expertise in that field.

(5) Reviews in Google and Facebook

The review details available in Google and Facebook page of the dental clinic provide a glimpse of service quality. Try and read the comments the patients have provided. Look into the nuances of the experience the patient had. The positive comments are more like recommendations. If there are negative comments, you can look for consistency in negative comments. If same issue has been highlighted many times, the dentist is not proactive in rectifying the shortfall. Generally a review of 4 and above should be good enough.

(6) Experience of the Dental Practitioner

The longevity of the practice of the dentist is an important parameter. The more experienced the dentist is, the higher number of cases the dentist would have attended to. Experience gives the dentist the needed authority to attend any type of cases.

(7) Ambiance of the Dental Office

The ambiance of the dental office can include such parameters like the appeal of the waiting area, the interiors, the pleasant staff, the wait time, provision of magazines and TV in the waiting area, etc.

(8) Treatment Costs, Insurance and Period of Payment

Generally the dentist does not mention the cost of dental procedures in their website. But you may know the optimal cost based on your experience going to dentists. You may want to find out beforehand the costs of dental treatment if insurance is accepted, the upfront fee etc. You may also want to find out the period of payment as some dental treatments are spread out over few months and the dentist might allow you to pay in part.

At Oris Dental Centre, our dentists would be more than happy to serve you with the required information on our qualifications and the experience we have gathered over years. Call us at our customer service number and get relevant information while you fix an appointment with us.

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