How to Choose the Best Santa Fe Dentist

If you want to make sure that you find the best Santa Fe Dentist that there is, it may take a bit more work than you would anticipate. Since Santa Fe is a large city it is fair to assume that there are several qualified dentists to choose from. When it comes to making the right choice for you it all depends on your point of view, and your definition of “best.”

Some of the things you might want to consider during your search could be:

• Are they qualified?
• Do they have credentials?
• Do they have good reviews?
• Can they help your dental hygiene?

At the end of the day what really matters most is that your dentist is capable of helping you get the most out of your oral health.

What to Look for In a Dentist

Some things to look for in a quality dentist are:

• Adequate education
• Welcoming office and staff
• Attentive and compassionate
• Cares about your dental needs

One of the key factors in finding a quality dentist that will be best for you is to make sure that they have a positive attitude. Too many dental professionals become overwhelmed by the amount of work they get because of the need for dentistry. Most people have teeth. The ones that don’t probably have dentures or implants.

In any event, humans need teeth to chew their food. Since there are so many humans out there that fail to make taking care of their teeth a priority in their lives, they will all eventually need a dentist. If that dentist treats patients like they are objects that need to be processed in bulk, it is probably time to look for a new one.

Some dental practices will:

• Rush you through the process
• Fail to notice the details of your issues
• Make you wait in the waiting room for an hour even if you are on time
• Fail to correctly bill your insurance

It is important that when you are considering a dentist take a close look at how the front office is run and how the receptionist treats people. If the people in the front take the time to meet your needs and the dentist actually cares about your dental health…you may have found a great dental practice.

Since a dentist in the State of New Mexico is required to have a dental license to legally practice dentistry it could be safe to assume that they all have adequate educational backgrounds and can prove that they have degrees. However, you never know and it might be a good idea to check their credentials. The last thing you want is for some inexperienced, uneducated imposter that wants to take your money and stick needles in your gums.

What Does the Dentist Have to Offer?

Dental practices need to keep up with the times and make sure that their patients are getting the best care that there is to offer. If a dentist’s office skimps on the list of services that they have available for patients, they may either be too busy for you or just don’t care enough about their patients to maintain a high level of quality.

Some of the more savvy dentist offices offer services such as:

• Vivos
• CBCT
• Ozone dentistry
• Restorative dentistry
• CEREC

To take things even a step or two further there are dentists offices that offer spa services on top of regular dental services such as:

• Juvederm
• Botox
• NuCalm

Many people suffer from great anxiety when they come to the dentist’s office. If the dentist you are visiting understands this type of concern and is willing to provide a solution for people that are nervous it is a sign of a high-quality dentist that cares about their patients.

Cosmetic Dentistry

One of the main responsibilities of a dentist is to help the patient look as good as possible. Nobody wants to walk around in public with large gaps in their teeth or a nasty-looking smile full of broken teeth.

Next to the overall health of the mouth the way that a person looks can have a direct impact on the way that they go through life and see themselves. Great-looking teeth boost confidence while gaping holes in the smile tend to make a person lose morale.

No matter the issue of the mouth, the dentist should always offer some sort of cosmetic solution, even if the insurance does not cover it. Some of the options that cosmetic dentistry has to offer are:

• Inlays and onlays
• Composite bonding
• Dental veneers
• Whitening
• Implants

Oral health is one thing, but looking fantastic and having immaculate oral hygiene is what it’s all about.

Advanced Technology for Better Analysis

One of the best ways for a dentist to treat a patient is to have a clear vision of what the problem is and be able to make an accurate diagnosis without having to spend a ton of time and resources to do it.

Technology is becoming more and more advanced as time goes by. Over the last then years, things have become more and more digitized. The old ways of doing things are becoming obsolete and cumbersome. If you find a dentist that is flowing with the times and keeping up with the latest technological advances you are in the right place.

A great example is cone beam computed tomography, also known as CBCT. This technology is a method of imaging that creates 3D images from the surfaces that it scans. The dentist can scan the entire head, but focus on the oral area and have the machine generate an accurate depiction of the underlying tissue in a 3D format.

With this kind of technology, it is possible for the dentist to get a clear look at the entire oral area of the patient and be able to pinpoint where problems are.

In a sense, this type of imaging technique removes the outer layers of the skin and allows the dentist to see the entire oral area without hindrance. Since the images are 3D they can be turned and shifted for all views, from the top, from the sides, underneath, wherever the dentist needs to see they can look from whatever angle they need and are able to zoom in to see great details.

The more your dentist can identify and evaluate your dental concerns, the better they will be able to help you and direct you toward the best care plan to bring your dental health to its highest capacity.

Communication and Understanding

When it comes to anything that has to do with your health it is important to have an open line of communication with the people that are caring for you. If you do not fully understand your own situation you could run into problems.

One of the top qualities that a patient could ask for from a dentist is the element of communication. Although the dentist can be extremely busy with other patients and may not always have time to answer questions as they come, the ones that are willing to create ways for better communication are the great ones.

Not only is dental work scary and uncomfortable, but it also costs a lot of money. It is easy to spend a few thousand dollars on one dental visit depending on the circumstances.

Most people don’t want to fork out thousands of dollars on things that they don’t understand, especially if they don’t know whether or not they actually need the procedure or care that the dentist is suggesting.

• Communicate
• Explain
• Confirm understanding

Many dental practices will have the dental assistant explain the details of oral concerns to the patient because the dentist will be tending to other patients for the most part. However, a dentist that will take the time to explain issues with the patient is a high-quality dentist. If you find a dental practice that makes you feel cared for and informed, you might have a good one.

Other Experiences

If you are contemplating choosing a dentist that you have never worked with before one of the best ways to get a glimpse at the quality of their operation is to see what other people are saying about them.

If you have any friends that go to a dentist you should, by all means, ask them what they think about them. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get an understanding of a dental practice. If you keep hearing positive things about a dentist in particular, maybe you should go and check that one out.

In addition to what your friends say, you can always go on local business platforms such as Google and Yelp to see what people are saying about a dentist as well.

Keep in mind, when looking at online reviews for anything they can be faked to be positive or negative responses. There are shady businesses that pay people money to leave online reviews for places that they have never even visited.

In any event, sometimes it is fairly easy to spot and identify authentic reviews that come from the heart of the writer. Look at all of the reviews before you pass complete judgment. If all of the reviews are bad, you might want to steer away from that place. If all of the reviews are good, however, it might be worth it to schedule an appointment and meet the dentist face to face to see whether or not you have a feel for them.

The Positive Environment

Sometimes people forget how powerful of a tool being positive can be. Some scientists and doctors believe that if a person is enveloped by a positive environment they are more likely to heal faster and have fewer issues as they heal. 

This philosophy makes sense because we all know how difficult things can be if we are in a constant state of anger, fear, or depression. In fact, there are studies that show that if a person is stressed out and in a negative environment their blood pressure will be higher than when they are not stressed out and they are calm.

In any event, if you walk into a dentist’s office and sense that everybody there is on edge and annoyed or irritated it might be a good indicator that the place is not your flavor. Yes, handling multiple people with dental issues can be frustrating for a staff of dental professionals, but, it is all part of the dental arena. If the dental office can’t handle the heat, you might want to look for one that can.

A dentist’s office staff should always be:

• Positive
• Friendly
• Patient
• Tolerant

Not only does it help to make you feel calmer and welcomed when you come in for treatment, but it also helps the entire establishment promote positivity and healing. People are already stressed out enough as it is when it comes to visiting the dentist, it does not help at all if the dentist is stressed out too.

Quality Dental Care

It is very important that the dentist that you choose has the ability to provide the type of dental care that will last and continue to prove to be beneficial for your overall health as time goes by. One thing that can be an annoyance, at least, but tragic as well, is if a person spends high amounts of money getting dental work done, and the dental work fails.

Nobody wants to throw their money in a garbage can. Paying a couple of thousand dollars for a root canal and a crown only to have the tooth break off at the gumline a week later is not something that anybody should have to endure.

Make sure that the dentist you are choosing has a track record of success and knows how to make proper diagnoses without risking your money.

Conclusion

Finding the best dentist for you will depend on what you are looking for in a dentist. The best way to find the right dentist for you is to go out there and look. Ask friends, do research, meet the establishment, then make your decision based on your own needs.