How do you find a good dentist/periodontist? Do you go by referral or use the internet?

I like to go by referrals, but our current dentist was found just by pure luck. My husband was at work and broke a tooth, so stopped at the dentist office nearest his studio. There are two dentists, a husband and wife. He treats adults, and she treats children. Their receptionist might be the nicest lady on the planet. He liked them all so much, that our whole family switched to their office. And by whole family, I mean whole family: all my in-laws now see them as well.

Our previous pediatric dentist was suggested to me by the pediatrician. I was not happy with them at all, and I think they only get the referral because they are the only pediatric dentists in town. Driving an extra 20 minutes to the new dentist is so worth it.

For me a referral is is hugely preferred.

There are lots of Dr-rating sites on the web, but there’s no particular reason to trust them.

It’s exactly like trying to find a restaurant using Yelp! A bunch of anonymous people, or maybe just one or two anonymous people love/hate the place. And that means…?

As far as I know, the positive respondents are the doctor’s family, friends and staff. And the haters are a competitor’s family, friends and staff.

I usually ask someone I trust.

I ask co workers about their experiences and then google the names/businesses to see what comes up as far as complaints or such.

In my area, good luck finding online reviews of health professionals. There aren’t very many. That seems to be changing though. I found dentist via word of mouth.

Both. Sometimes I go online to read reviews, but sometimes people who work there are posting them…I have noticed that if there are several reviews about a specific issue (like trouble with billing) then that seems to be accurate. I write reviews of most places I use in the area, to help other people.

This is a cool site for nervous patients or folk who haven’t been in a while because of a bad experience or whatever. They have a page where you can recommend a good dentist for others, it helps to take the fear out of it if someone has already been and reports back on their experience. http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/
hugs xx