So many people nowadays are looking for a good dentist and it would make sense for dental practices, such as ours in Twickenham to let you know how to find the best dentist in your area.
So here are our top tips on finding the best dentist near you.
Perform a Google search
With modern technology Google is very often able to tell what your geographical location is when you search online, you may simply be able to type ‘dentist near me’ into the Google search bar and find a dentist local to you. If the settings on your phone or computer do not allow this geographical location searching then you will need to type your full geographical location such as ‘dentist in Twickenham‘ in order to find a local dentist.
When you have found the website of practices you believe may be of interest you can then undertake further research as follows.
Ask your friends and family
Asking family and friends is particularly useful, you will want to visit a dentist that you can trust to ensure you get the treatment you require. Many dental practices focus on specific areas of treatment such as cosmetic dentistry, replacing missing teeth or preventive dentistry, asking friends and family about their experience would give you deeper insight into the type of dentist you could visit.
Look for online reviews
Online reviews are gaining pace, Facebook, Google and Dencover all provide the facility for people to leave a review. Generally speaking, the more reviews a dental practice has the better that dental practice is being received in the local area.
Look for patient reviews
The next thing to look out for is patient reviews on the dental practice website. Not everyone is happy to leave a public review on Facebook or Google as it often links to their own personal profile. Many people prefer to hand write reviews which most dental practices will then added to their website. Have a look for a reviews testimonials section to see how many reviews your chosen dental practice has.
Questions to ask a dentist
Once you have found a practice you think you may be happy with it would be good to ask them a few questions at your initial consultation.
What treatments do you provide?
Do you have a particular dental concern? If you do then you will want to ask your dentist if they can help solve your particular dental problem, this could be replacing missing teeth, straightening crooked teeth or solving some cosmetic dental issue.
You may simply be looking for a dentist to help you with your dental health, if this is what is important to you make sure you let the dental practice know at your initial consultation.
Are your opening hours convenient for me?
Do you live and work locally or perhaps need to travel to get to work? Think about the time that you will have available to go to the dentist, does the practice you have chosen open at times convenient for you.
Do you have lots of happy patients? If so, prove it.
Practices such as ours in Twickenham receive lots of reviews, so it’s great that we can display many of these on our website. If a practice you have chosen doesn’t display reviews on the website one needs to ask why? Particularly lookout for reviews with full patient names and photographs, these give a sense of trust to the review knowing that they are from a genuine patient.
Can I spread the cost of dental treatment?
Unfortunately you may require extensive dental treatment, perhaps dental implants or orthodontics. Some of these treatments can be very expensive so being able to spread the cost of dental treatment can be useful. Many practices now offer 0% finance, does the practice you have chosen offer this facility?
Some dental practices also offers staged payments throughout the course of treatment if that treatment lasts an extended period of time. It is always worth asking your dentist if they can extend payment terms to help spread the cost of your chosen treatment.
Do you offer an emergency dental service?
The last thing you want is to be in pain and find that your dentist doesn’t offer an emergency service. Many dental practices provide emergency care for registered patients, we never know when a dental emergency may occur so it’s good to know that you are looked after by a dentist offers such out of hours and emergency care
Can I book appointments online?
It may not be convenient for you to call the dentist to book an appointment, having an online booking facility, or at least the facility to contact the practice letting them know you would like an appointment at a specific time and day could be very useful. When you find a dental practice you’re looking for, browse through to their contact page and ensure they have a request an appointment facility.
Search the GDC registers
A final comment we would like to make is that you should always ensure that the dentist you are going to see is registered with the general dental Council (GDC). The GDC of the regulatory body in the UK which work on the half of you, the patient to ensure you are always protected. They regulate dentist and the profession, ensuring dentists are suitably trained with ongoing professional development. You can search the GDC register for your selected dentist here.
We hope you have found this article about finding a good dentist near you useful, please do let us know your thoughts
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