Choosing a Dentist

It is important to find a dentist who you are comfortable with and who you trust. One of the best ways to find a dentist is through a referral. You can get referrals from a number of sources including:

• Friends
  
• Co-workers
  
• Your family dentist
  
• Neighbors
  
• The local dental society
  
• go2dental

You can also call or visit dentists before you make the decision to become a regular patient.
When choosing a dentist you should:

• Look at the office - a neat and clean office is always a good sign.
• Ask the dentist about infection control procedures.
• Determine if the dentist's office is easily accessible from your home or office.
• Make sure that the dentist has office hours that are compatible with your schedule.
• Be sure that the dentist will clearly explain treatment options and fees before the work is done.

Take the time to choose a dentist that is right for you. You should be seeing your dentist
regularly and it is important that you have a good relationship.
There are tremendous variances between dentists, their fees and how they practice dentistry. An example of the great disparity in dental treatment plans and costs is shown in a Reader's Digest Investigative Report. A reporter went to 50 dentists, allowed them to inspect his teeth, provided x-rays and asked for a treatment plan. He learned the following:

• The cost of the recommended treatment plans ranged from $0 - $29,850.
• The treatment plans ranged from "no work" to "full mouth reconstruction with 22 crowns".

Click here to view the Reader's Digest article.

go2dental provides members with two tools to help manage their dental costs:

• The Fee Lookup feature allows members to gauge the reasonableness of their dentist's fees.
• The Find a Dentist feature allows members to find PPO dentists who discount their fees.

Another important aspect of choosing a dentist is "utilization". Appropriate utilization means a dentist has shown a pattern of performing appropriate and necessary treatment. go2dental provides members with one tool to help manage the utilization.

Referral Services Referral services such as the go2dental Find a Dentist service available to our members can be a good source for finding a dentist. The key to choosing a referral service is to find one which:

• Has effective requirements for being included on the list of dentists.
• Is open to all dentists.
• Is not based on the dentist's ability to pay for inclusion.
• Has a large selection of dentists available.

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