5 Questions To Ask Your New Dentist
As we approach a new year, you may be looking to make some changes in your life. If we’ve learned anything from New Year’s resolutions past, aspirations tend to fall under the general health umbrella and include goals like: eating more healthily, exercising more frequently, getting better sleep, using electronic devices less often, and making time for self care.
In addition to these goals, you may also be looking to make changes when it comes to how you address your health with a professional. You may be considering searching for a new primary care provider, a new therapist or a new dentist. The thought of switching can be overwhelming and often only crops up after you’ve just scheduled an appointment or seen your current provider. But, it’s important that you allow yourself the time to perform research on doctors and specialists that may be more fitting for your needs and personality.
The Internet is saturated with sites that provide information about doctors and dentists alike these days, but the most helpful insights and feedback are likely going to be reviews and recommendations straight from the mouths of existing patients. Google, Facebook, Healthgrades and ZocDoc feature an abundance of generally credible and legitimate reviews.
Once you’ve identified a dentist that is right for you, confirmed that dentist is accepting new patients and accepts your insurance, and have an appointment scheduled, there are several questions you may want to proactively prepare to ask during your visit.
Questions to Ask Your New Dentist
- Why did you become a dentist and how long have you been practicing? You’re allowed to feel comfortable and secure in an environment that can cause some people levels of fear and anxiety. The more that you know about your dentist as a person, the more comfortable you’ll become in that atmosphere.
- How is my current dental health? Your dentist will provide you with a thorough summary of what has been found during your cleaning and dental exam, but ultimately, the way that you manage your health has a lot to do with how you apply information that you’ve received during your visit to your daily routine.
- How can we work together to improve my dental health? We understand that many patients may be hesitant to share 100% accurate information about their dental health routines. Many people tend to floss right after and right before dental health appointments to try to make up for lost time and while something is better than nothing, we do hope that you know you can be honest with us. The more accurate information that we have, the more effectively we can help you to improve your dental health routine.
- How much could diet and exercise be impacting my oral hygiene? Again, this is an area where we’d recommend that you’re as honest as possible with your dentist. The more accurate information that we have, the more we can help you! We can help explain how your oral health is impacted by these factors and work with you to identify modifications to your diet and suggested exercise regimens.
- What is causing my dental health problem and how much will it cost to fix it? We know that financial hardships and strain are very real, which is why we welcome these questions! We’ll always do our best to provide you with as many options as possible so that you can find one that’s both reasonable and beneficial for you.
Of course, you’re welcome to contact us at any time about anything dental health or oral health-related! We want to ensure that you have as comfortable a visit as possible, and that you leave your dental health visit knowing that you’ve been armed with information that aims to improve your oral health while easing your mind!
