Angie's List

I frequently Google, "Cosmetic Dentistry Capital District, NY" to see what other cosmetically oriented dentists are doing. Angie's List came up in my Google Search and the blurb said:

'There are 73 cosmetic dentists in Saratoga Springs and 27 are TOP RATED.'

Oh really??????????

As a layman and reader of my blog, you already know that one of THE BEST ways to know if a dentist is competent in the area of cosmetic dentistry is to visit a dentist's website and see how many before and after  photos of actual cases ie those that are performed by the dentist and not PURCHASED by the dentist.
The overwhelming number of dentists who claim that they are 'cosmetic dentists' have NO photographs of their work on their website.

As you also know, the American Dental Association states that there is no such thing as a 'cosmetic dentist' and therefore, there are few standards of excellence that patients can use to determine how skilled a dentist is in the field of visually beautiful dentistry.

There are two certifying organizations that give patients a way to decide who may be competent  and who is not. The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry has a rigorous Accreditation Process that is one valid way for patients to find a cosmetically oriented dentist. The other organization is the University of Minnesota which currently issues an ADA accepted and approved  Certificate of Proficiency in Esthetic Dentistry. The State University of NY at Buffalo was the first to issue this Certificate and I received my Certificate of Proficiency in 2001 from Buffalo. The SUNY/Buffalo Dental School caved in to the old timers on the faculty and closed the Esthetic Center which issued the Certificates in 2007

To my knowledge, there are no Accredited members of the AACD in the Capital District of NY and I am the only dentist with a Certificate of Proficiency in Esthetic Dentistry.  In addition, I am one of the few dentists with actual cases of the work that I have done placed on my website.

I am sorry, I cannot believe that fact more than 1/3 of the dentists in my small area are either competent or proficient  in cosmetic dentistry (a higher standard of excellence) as Angie's List implies. If someone from Angie's List would like to have this conversation so that I can understand their standards, I would be happy to engage them.

As the say in Missouri: "SHOW ME"