Four Steps to Finding the Right Cosmetic Dentist

1 September 2016
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

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Cosmetic dentistry is often seen as a luxury and therefore unnecessary for most people. However, these cosmetic procedures have advantages that exceed aesthetics: they can help improve the health and function of your teeth while boosting your confidence and self-esteem.

Because of this finding the right cosmetic dentist is critical, and you can find the right one for your specific issue by following these four simple steps:

Step 1: Know what you want

While you may not have the technical know-how on the dental procedures, you should have a clear idea of what you would like the final outcome to look like. If you have several needs, you can list them in order of priority so that you can have a meaningful discussion with the dentist when you go for your consultation.

Step 2: Get referrals

Talk to friends, colleagues, and neighbours who have had some cosmetic dental procedures done. They should be able to tell you honestly about their experience and refer you to their cosmetic dentists. This will give you a list from which to choose the right one for you. Another way to get credible referrals is from your regular dentist. Your dentist should be able to refer you to a good cosmetic dentist that can handle your specific issue adequately.

Step 3: Check their credentials

Thankfully, you can do these checks online nowadays. You should first check for their licensing with the local dental authorities and certification from accredited dental training institutions. You should then check for their specialization within the area of cosmetic dentistry, which should help you narrow down your list of the potential dentists to those that are capable of dealing with your specific problem.

Step 4: Talk it over

Once you have a list of potential cosmetic dentists, make appointments with each of them to discuss your issue and how you can be helped. It is important that you communicate clearly what you would like done (hence the importance of step one) in order to have a meaningful conversation.

The dentist should then discuss with you the feasibility of the outcome you want, given your current dental situation, the options available to you, the procedures within these options, as well as the cost implications of these procedures. This is where the experience, skill, and honesty of the dentist will show, and based on the responses you get from each of your potential cosmetic dentists, you should be able to make the right choice.