Have you moved to a new state or city recently and are searching for a new family practice dentist to take care of your family’s healthy smiles needs? A good family dentist will help you not only take care of your teeth right now but prevent any gum disease or cavities later on.
You must find one that satisfies your and your family’s specific dental needs.
In this article, we will outline some of the questions you need to ask family practice dentists to reassure yourself that they are the right fit for you.
Are You Taking in New Patients?
If you live in a busy area of town or one where there are lots of young families with children, you might have a harder time finding a dentist who has the time and space available to take in new patients. This is even more true if the dentist you’ve chosen is well-liked and recommended highly by his current patients.
He or she might have an enormous inflow of patients that could mean you are placed on a waiting list. If you have urgent dental needs and cannot wait for the dentist to fit you into their schedule, it would be better for you to find someone else. That’s why this question is important to ask right from the get-go.
What Do You Specialize In?
Every family dentist will specialize in something, be it veneers, dental implants, teeth whitening, extractions, or something else. Maybe the family dentist you are speaking with has lots of older patients because they specialize in dental implants.
Don’t forget to go to their website to check out their past work and online reviews from past and current customers. Also, ask them what are their favorite services to provide. This should all help you understand more about this family dentist and if they are someone you would want to build a long-term relationship with.
What Is Your Experience Dealing with Young Children?
If you have young children who need dental services or will need dental services in the future, it’s important to ask what your family dentist thinks about young patients. Some family practice dentists love young patients because they are young at heart and have fun with the whole experience. But some others might not be so inclined. The Best Dentist Office In Chapel Hill provide a variety of dental treatments, including cleanings, fillings, crowns, implants, root canals, dentures, extraction of teeth, whitening of teeth, veneers and bridges.
How Often Do You Take X-Rays?
Depending on their policy, the family practice dentist might take x-rays every year or every other year. X-rays are quite important because they can help the dentist detect early signs of oral disease.
This way the dentist can start you on treatment sooner rather than later. With this question, you can figure out if the cadence of X-rays suits you or not.
Do You Offer Payment Plans?
Perhaps your family doesn’t have dental insurance currently. Thus, you need to figure out if you can pay for dental treatments in installments or through payment plans.
This question will help you figure out whether the family dentist you are speaking with is flexible enough to account for the diverse needs of his or her patient. If they don’t offer payment plans, it would be better for you to find someone else.
Do You Deal Directly with Insurance Plans?
On the other hand, if you have dental coverage through your job or your spouse’s job, then you will want to inquire if the family dentist deals directly with the insurance company, so you don’t have to finagle with forms, logins, and more. The dentist’s admin person and the insurance company can deal with payments among themselves, leaving you out of the equation.
Not only does it free up time for you, but it also ensures you don’t forget to send your forms over to the insurance company missing the window of time that it’s possible to get reimbursed. Who needs that additional hassle? You already have a lot on your plate.
What Kind of Preventative Measures Do You Help With?
The role of a family dentist is not only to take care of your and your family’s teeth as they are right now but to ensure that you have great teeth until your late 80s or longer. It’s all about preventative care.
A good dentist will ensure they teach you good brushing and flossing habits. And perform preventative measures to ensure you don’t end up with a much worse dental problem later on.
Conversations, pamphlets, and demonstrations are all ways a dentist can teach you and your children good dental habits. Click the link to check out a great Versailles dentist.
What Is Your After-Hours Policy?
Murphy’s law says that anything that’s going to go wrong will go wrong when there’s no one around to help you fix it. Your child probably won’t have a dental emergency during office hours, but on a Sunday when your dentist is off duty.
It’s important to inquire if the family dentist has a number you can contact in case of dental emergencies. Some dental emergencies can’t be taken to the hospital or a 24-hour clinic. This way you don’t have to worry about your child’s braces breaking off at midnight and having to wait until morning to do something about it.
A Good Family Practice Dentist Takes Time to Find
It might seem like asking all the questions above will take time and effort and might be annoying not only to you but also to the family dentist. But you must take the time to do so.
A good family dentist is hard to find and it’s a long-term relationship you are building here. And if a family practice dentist refuses to answer the questions above, it’s a good sign that they are not the dentist for you and your family.
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