Using Yelp! to Find the Best Dentist
Posted by writeradmin
I’ve been trying to find the best dentist to take care of what I need. I would like to get a couple of porcelain veneers and a dental implant. I’ve been looking on Yelp! There are two in my area that have five stars. Is there a way to pick between them that I’m not aware of?
Andy
Dear Andy,

While Yelp! is a great resource for many things, such as finding a good plumber or restaurant, I would not consider it useful for finding the best dentist. This is because of the way their algorithm works. They take into account the stars people give the dental practice, but not the reasons why. For example, you may have someone give a practice 5 stars because the staff is nice. Another patient may give the practice 5 stars because they let them make payments for a procedure.
What it won’t tell you is how skilled they are in certain procedures. You need two specialized procedures, both of which, while currently are not recognized specialties in the dental field, require specialized post-doctoral training to do well. You won’t get the information from Yelp!
In fact, I did an experiment and did a Yelp! search for the best dental implant dentist. I received several 5-star recommendations, then I looked at their websites. Only two of them even do dental implants. Of those two, only one of them has any training in the procedure.
My suggestion is that you start with their website. Make sure they even do the procedures you need. Then, look at their post-doctoral training. Finally, for cosmetic work, look at their smile gallery in order to make sure they get the beautiful, artistic results you want for your smile.
There are countless horror stories in both cosmetic dentistry and dental implants. With cosmetic work, it would be a matter of having a disappointing smile, which would be awful after spending all that money and having all that hope. With dental implants, the consequences could be even worse. There are infections that develop and people who have lost part of their jaw. Make sure the dentist has the training you need. You do not want to end up as one of those horror stories.
This blog is brought to you by Birmingham, AL Dentist Dr. Thomas Dudney.