"It Was Harder for Me to Find You than for Me to Find My World Class Urologist"

A new patient presented for a consultation last week and told me that it was next to impossible to have found me. She told me that her world class urologist in Boston was much easier to find than the great dentist that she was looking for.

After speaking with my patient and performing a cursory clinical evaluation I had pretty much learned why the patient was unhappy. She recently lost a lateral incisor and then had an implant and crown placed. What bothered her the most was that the shade of her natural teeth did not come anywhere close to the implant supported crown. When I discussed this with her, the patient said that she had rejected the previous two crowns because neither one matched her own teeth.

My first question to my  patient was, "Do you know if the implant was put in the right place?" Her immediate response was amazement and she responded ," No it was not but how did you know?"

I am not sure why patients have a difficult time finding a knowledgeable dentist. I have discussed this in a blog several years ago but it may be worth reviewing this topic.

If I was looking for a top notch restorative dentist, this is what I would look for:

• A dentist with at least 1500 hours of continuing education
• A well done website with many, many clinical cases
• A statement on the website that the cases shown are actually the work of the dentist
• Photos of the office which looks clean, modern has evidence that the dentist uses a technology
• Testimonial statements by patients  and other dentists commending the dentist for their work
• Photos that show that the dentist routinely uses a rubber dam during dental treatment
• Evidence that the dentist is a clinical professor at a dental school
• Evidence that the dentist has at least one publication in a peer reviewed journal
• Photos showing that the dentist and the staff have beautiful, well maintained teeth and smiles
• The dentist participates with no insurance plans or one or two at the most

If a dentist can meet many of the above criteria, then I believe that you could consider the dentist  as
one of the clinicians that you might select to provide your dental care.