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DO YOU TRUST YOUR DENTIST? A recent Reader’s Digest investigative report shows how important trust really is. Reader’s Digest decided to assess "the consistency and fairness of American dentistry." So they sent investigative journalist, William Ecenbarger, on a 28 state, 4 month journey to have his dental needs determined by 50 dentists selected at random. But Mr. Ecenbarger says, "Before embarking on my journey, I went to the Lebanon, Pa., office of Warren Daugherty, my personal dentist for the past 15 years, and a man I trust." I underlined the last part because as tins report shows, trust and trustworthiness are all important.Mr. Ecenbarger then went to 3 other carefully selected dentists who were leaders or educators in the profession and "who had no financial interest in my teeth." The 3 dentists agreed with Dr. Daugherty’s diagnosis on the amount of treatment Mr. Ecenbarger needed. Armed with this information (and ins own dental x-rays), Mr. Ecenbarger went through 50 more dental exams randomly scattered all over the country! (He must have been tired of filling out all those new patient forms!) The results were surprising - only about one fourth of the dentists got it right!Mr. Ecenbarger was right that trust is all important! But the trust must be based on something. What exactly does it mean when you trust your dentist? I believe that when my patients "trust" me, they trust me in five areas: 1. Knowledge & skill - They trust that I have the professional knowledge and ability to do it. 2. Comfort - they trust that I will treat them comfortably and that I won’t hurt them. 3. Quality - they trust that I use quality materials, quality dental laboratories, and quality techniques. 4. Reasonable fees - my patients realize that quality dentistry isn’t cheap but they also trust that my fees are fair and reasonable. 5. Communication - you, the patient, need to make important decisions about your dental treatment. But you trust that your dentist will communicate clearly about your dental problems and what treatment options are available so that your decisions will be wise. In my opinion, this Reader’s Digest article declares loud and clear: IF YOU HAVE A DENTIST THAT YOU TRUST, DON’T CHANGE! If your dental insurance says that you have to change dentists - DON’T! Instead CHANGE INSURANCE! How can you find a dentist that you can put your trust in? 1. Personal referral from someone you trust is still a great source. 2. Make an appointment for a cleaning (it’s pretty hard to mess that up!). Then take some time to talk to and get to know the staff, if they can’t recommend the doctor without reservation - then something is wrong! 3. Ask questions about treatment recommendations trustworthy dentists have nothing to hide. 4. Remember that the old saying, "you get what you pay for" is just as true today. Only using price to shop for dentistry or dental insurance can get you into trouble! |
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