Dear Dr. Hall,

I was wondering if you could tell me what is the best way to find the right dentist. I find it to be hard because every dentist requires taking x-rays and by the time you find the right one a person could end up with lots of x-rays done. Is there way around this?
Thank you for your time
Grace from California

Grace,
I have a couple of suggestions for you, to check out a new dentist without getting more x-rays.

The first—check reviews.

There is a lot of information available online about dental practices, especially online reviews. If you go to Google Maps and search for the dentist, you can find his or her Google reviews. Yelp is another good reviews source. Facebook is a third.

The second—ask for a complimentary visit.

Most dental offices will let you have a complimentary visit if you ask for one. Just tell them you are trying to decide whether to pick this person as your new dentist and you want to come in, get an office tour, and meet people. Many offices will even let you sit down with the dentist for a few minutes and ask questions. But if not, they will at least let you come in and talk to some people on the staff and shake hands with the dentist. A few offices may not want to accommodate you in that way, but you probably wouldn’t want to pick them anyway. Visiting the office will give you a good feel for what the practice is like and whether or not you feel comfortable there.

I hope these tips are helpful.

Of course, if I’m wanting to find a cosmetic dentist near me, that’s what this website is for. I would just click the link, enter my city or zip code, and a list of dentists will display. But you seem to be asking for finding a general family dentist.

Dr. Hall

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