Agonizing over the choice of a dentist – part 3

Here are links to the first two e-mail exchanges with D:
Agonizing over the choice of a dentist.
Read the next installment: Agonizing over the choice of a dentist, part 2.

Here is the e-mail I got from D after he saw Dr. Latner:
Dr. Hall,
I saw Dr Les Latner today. He agreed I need to do six and even eight would be ideal.

Latners prices were half the price of Willardsen/Devaud. He knew of Devaud. I agree it wouldn’t be a good fit for them to work together. Latner uses a lab in marina del Rey. I know nothing about his lab. However, he is very thorough and I felt very comfortable with him. I am meeting with Willardsen tomorrow. I will see how I feel.

The other ceramists you mentioned also have great credentials. Hard to know which decision is best. I used Dr. Bill Dorfman who was the dentist of stars and he did a horrible job on my teeth. In my opinion he is not an artist. It’s all very confusing!!!
– D

D,
Sounds good. You are headed in the right direction.

Interesting that Dr. Latner has opened up this idea of doing eight teeth, not six. Dr. John Willardsen teaches in dental school, and in dental school there is this strong mentality that there are six anterior teeth and the rest are posterior teeth. But in cosmetic dentistry circles, there are eight to ten anterior teeth, depending on the patient. But never just six. So I could see just doing two. But six is a number that strongly reflects a dental school mentality.

It was interesting when you said that Bill Dorfman had done the front two crowns. He is definitely capable of great work, but is not on my list. I know him personally and it had occurred to me to ask him to be on mynewsmile.com, but I have not been drawn to him and some other “high powered” dentists who drop all these names of celebrity patients in their lectures.

Here’s a problem with some of those dentists – Another ingredient of great cosmetic dentistry is that the dentist is not just talented but cares about you and your case. And sometimes when they get in high demand by “stars,” it’s hard for someone else to get enough of their attention for them to care a lot about your case. And I don’t like the thought of someone I refer to one of these dentists getting treated like a second class patient. So I steer people to great cosmetic dentists who aren’t necessarily the famous ones but who I feel will treat every referral with great care.

Good luck,
Dr. Hall

I heard from D again a year later, and he still hadn’t decided on a cosmetic dentist. Read: Agonizing over the choice of a dentist, part 4.
Finally, you may be interested in my reflections on Why some people agonize over the choice of a dentist.