Maintaining your dental health should be at the top of your list of priorities. As Medical News Today writes, taking great care of your teeth has the obvious implications of allowing you to properly chew and swallow your food, but dental hygiene goes beyond how your teeth look and function. In fact, poor dental health can affect your ability to speak, your nutritional health, and your confidence.
As you well know, reputable family dentists can be the key to helping you maintain and improve your dental health. While most Americans like to find a family dental care professional and stick with them for life, the truth is that sometimes you need to find someone new to ensure you’re getting the best care possible. If your cosmetic and family dentistry professional is throwing up any of the following red flags, it’s probably time to move on.
Three Signs It’s Time to Find a New Family Dentist
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- Cost, Not Function, is Their Focus
As DentistryIQ.com writes, one of the surest signs that it’s time to find a new family dentist is when your dentist begins to suggest more expensive surgery or cosmetic dental procedures when the cheaper option will work just as well. A common example of this is when you need to get fillings. Silver fillings will do the job, and if they’re going to be in the back of your mouth, appearance isn’t really an issue. Many dentists looking to up their profits will suggest the more expensive filling that looks like a natural tooth. You need a dentist who cares about your health, not filling their coffers.
- Cost, Not Function, is Their Focus
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- They Either Can’t or Won’t Recommend a Specialist when Needed
For Yahoo! Health, a dentist that fails to recommend a specialist when full dental implants or other specialized procedures are required is doing his or her patients a true disservice. While it’s true that most dentists will have some knowledge of the different types of dental medicine, specialists in cosmetic and family dentistry should be used when appropriate. If, for example, your dentist isn’t an orthodontist but claims they can do your braces for you, maybe it’s time to find someone with the humility to give you a recommendation for a specialist as needed.
- They Either Can’t or Won’t Recommend a Specialist when Needed
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- Too Many Quick Fixes
As any first year dental student can tell you, your family dentist should be focused on fixing any problems you have, not their symptoms. Say, for example, you have chronic tooth pain when eating. The best dentists will find ways to address that issue permanently. On the other hand, if your dentist gives you a tube of numbing toothpaste and calls it a day, you aren’t getting the care you deserve. Quick may be convenient, but permanent solutions are the key to your long term dental health.
- Too Many Quick Fixes
Reputable family and cosmetic dentistry professionals can protect and restore your teeth, but that’s only if they make a real effort to maintain the same level of service at all times. If your dentist has started to commit any of these dental faux pas, find someone new. You’ll be glad you did.
