There are many a dentist in Los Angeles and Downtown Los Angeles of all dental specialties, including cosmetic dentists, implants dentists, dentists specializing primarily in dental crowns, orthodontists, or “braces” dentists, periodontists – dentists treating periodontal/gum disease, endodontists – dentists treating root canal issues, pediatric/dentists, and oral surgeons, to name a few. Some dental offices, like River Dentistry, are able to offer the entire spectrum of services, which makes it much more convenient for most patients. Some are specialist dental offices often providing a narrow range of dental services.
Naturally, there are also cheaper dentists and more expensive dentists. While it is true that a cheap dentist is rarely the best dentist in Los Angeles and Downtown Los Angeles area, high prices do not automatically mean high quality, just like low-price specials do not always mean that this is what you will actually end up paying at the office. Add to this all the complexities of dental insurance coverage and some dentists accepting some dental plans and not others, and the problem of finding a good if not the best dentist in Los Angeles becomes almost too complex to solve. This is why many people stay with their dentists for years and years after finding the one whose expertise, commitment to quality, and pricing they can trust.
We hope that our tips for choosing best dentist in Los Angeles will help you to make an informed choice that fits your needs. Since finding a good dentist in LA is a fairly complex topic, we will cover it in multiple posts over the next several weeks. For now, let’s start with the basics.
Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
If you’re as thorough as you should be, the process of locating the best dentists in Los Angeles or even just Downtown LA can take a while, so it’s best to do the legwork before you actually need dental care or consultation. Waiting until you are in pain and in need of emergency dental treatment increases the risk of subpar dental care results and exorbitant dental care fees.
Be Selective
When time allows, you shouldn’t settle for the first dentist you contact, especially if you initial contact was based on a special or an add. Ideally, the dentist you chose will be your dental care provider for many years, so take the time and effort to shop around and investigate different dentists in Los Angeles and DTLA area.
Cost-Compare Major Dental Procedures
Dental care can be expensive. Fortunately, there are usually many attractive dental deals and specials offered by various local dentists in order to attract new patients. Consult several dentists to get a reasonable price to expect for your particular dental procedure. Comparative price shopping might be tricky, because of possible surcharges and hidden fees.
Similarly, a great price for a single procedure does not guarantee low pricing for subsequent visits and procedures. This is why we recommend checking dentists’ regular prices for the basket of the most frequently used services as well as major dental procedures and making your choice based on average good value rather than a single great price.
Finally, always make sure the dentist accepts your particular insurance beforehand. Some dentists make it easy and offer free online insurance verification tools.
Look for Quality and Trust
While it’s always important to avoid paying more than necessary, it’s even more important to make sure that the dental care you get is of the best quality and the one that you actually need. The lower the quality of dental care, the higher is the risk of painful complications, eventual decay, and/or expensive future repairs. While as a non-expert you cannot always evaluate the quality of the treatment you receive, you are more likely to receive higher quality treatment from a trustworthy dentist. Finally, if you find a dental office you can trust, you can feel confident that you will not receive any aggressive or expensive dental treatments that you actually may not need or can avoid.
Do Your Homework
Pay attention to dentist’s education, licensing, professional organizations membership and affiliations, liability insurance, and any other relevant dental care credentials of the dentists before you start treatment. Obviously, if you are looking for an Invisalign dentist, make sure that your dentist in Los Angeles is an Invisalign premium provider. Finally, make sure that you read dentists reviews on Yelp, Google, and Facebook. Most reviews are positive, but pay particular attention to those that describe dentist’s qualities and traits that are important to you, like bedside manner, timeliness, quality, trust, etc.
Engage Your Dentist
It never hurts to ask your dentist in Los Angeles and/or their office staff questions. Ask the dentist to explain, in detail, each phase of the dental procedure or the treatment plan before treatment begins. Most good dentists will be happy to oblige and you will feel less frightened of the unknown and more empowered when undergoing the treatment.
Plan Ahead
Many dental procedures provided by even the best dentists require quite a bit of time and can only be completed over several sessions and office visits. Make sure you prepare for it by getting a timeline from the dentists that includes the initial dental exam, the date of actual dental procedure, and any follow-up dental care if necessary. Of course, the ability to make or confirm appointment online, on your phone, or by text message makes planning so much easier!
Don’t Settle
Don’t let the medical setting of a dental office fool you – you are still a consumer and as such you deserve to be satisfied by services provided by your dentist. If you feel that you do not receive adequate dental care or service, you may want to find a new dental office, where you will be a happy patient for years to come.
We want you to make the right choice, but we also hope that after doing all the recommended research and legwork, you’ll choose River Dentistry. For more information about our Downtown Los Angeles dental office and with any questions, please call us at 213-486-0006 or make your appointment online.
