What You Need To Know About Finding A New Family Dentist
If you're like most people who are going to be relocating soon, you're probably excited and perhaps a bit nervous about your upcoming adventure, and your family probably feels the same way. Your kids will be making new friends and getting used to new teachers, and you, and perhaps your spouse, may be adjusting to new work environments. You'll probably all have fun exploring a new neighborhood and community — but one thing you might forget to do until someone in your household has a dental emergency is line up a new family dentist.
However, the midst of a dental emergency is probably the worst time of all to be searching for an experienced, skilled, and reliable family dentist. Here's what you need to do before you move to ensure that you and your family's dental needs will be taken care of.
Look at Online Reviews of Available Dentists in Your New Area
Online reviews are available for everything these days, and dental practices are no exception. Simply make a list of possible candidates in the area where you plan to move and run their names through a search engine and see what comes up. Reviews for dentists and other healthcare professionals are found on Yelp, Dentistry.com, Healthgrades, and Zocdoc. You can also use the internet to learn more about potential dentists by visiting their websites and social media pages.
Ask Your Current Dentist for Recommendations
Your current dentist may be able to recommend a colleague in your new community, especially if the place you're moving to isn't very far away. If you have any family members, friends, or coworkers who are familiar with the area where you will be moving, don't hesitate to ask them for recommendations as well. You could also check with your children's new school to ask about available family dentists in the area. Use the American Dental Association's Find-a-Dentist Tool. You can use the American Dental Association's Find-a-Dentist tool to identify dental practices in your new community. The tool allows you to search by specialty and is an excellent way to determine potential candidates.
After you've used the above strategies to create a shortlist of possibilities, it's wise to contact each family dentist to see if they are accepting new patients. After that, it's perfectly acceptable to schedule consultations with each one to see if they would be a good fit for you and your family.
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