Dentist: tips to make the right choice

Queensland's dental practice

According to the latest data, 41.9% of people cannot afford an unexpected cost of 800 dollars. Dental services, therefore, are among those that not everyone can afford. Faced with an inadequate public offering, consumers are forced to turn to private facilities, paying for expensive parcels. Many thus renounce to treatment or turn abroad. The solution, therefore, requires a public intervention.

Queensland’s dental practice can give some advice to help you choose who to contact and prevent possible problems:

Public: Before contacting a freelancer, check whether the service is offered by the National Health Service and the name of the doctor, in order to ascertain his skill.

Qualified professional: Competence and professionalism are the most important requirement. Even if it is a matter of filling a tooth, it is advisable to consult a qualified professional. And if we are dealing with more serious problems, if we refer to the wrong person, we risk spending and not solving, or worse, making the situation worse. So the first step, even before going to his private practice, is to ascertain that he is a dentist regularly enrolled in the order of doctors and dentists by contacting the order or entering his name on the website of the National Federation of Physicians’ Surgery Orders and Dentists, under the registry search.

Queensland's dental practice

Competent and good: Quality of performance is everything. Difficult to know, though, if the dentist is actually good at it until you try it on yourself. In any case, try to ask your family doctor, relatives, and friends. In short, the classic word of mouth is one of the possible preventive criteria, even if it is certainly not a sufficient condition. Patients’ experiences are often diverse and conflicting.

Welcoming and suitable rooms: The appearance does not guarantee and is not indicative of the quality of the service, even though it could be a useful clue to understanding the lack of seriousness of the professional. An essential external sign that informs is certainly better than an aim to advertise. Waiting rooms and clean and comfortable furnishings, suitable for use, are obviously better than dirty rooms, which are certainly not indicative of professionalism. In short, don’t let yourself be enchanted by a beautiful, elegant secretary who welcomes you and makes you sit in the waiting room. It’s a nice detail, but it has nothing to do with the skill of the dentist. Look around you anyway. Also, the equipment available to the study and the materials used could theoretically be an index of the quality of the service, but you will hardly be able to understand which machines are significant for this evaluation and which are not, which are modern and which are outdated. The same goes for the techniques and therapies.

Safety and hygiene: It’s not just about cleaning. The instruments used by the dentist or are disposable (the sterilized and wrapped visiting kit must be opened in front of the patient) and must be replaced after each client’s treatment or sterilized in an autoclave. For example, ultraviolet rays are not enough. The autoclave is important to avoid infections or serious diseases such as hepatitis C. Check that your doctor wears gloves and a mask before acting.

Trust: It is important that the dentist inspires confidence in us, puts us at ease, creates an atmosphere of serenity, also because we are terrified of feeling pain as soon as the drill enters the mouth. It is good, then, that he be attentive, meticulous, and transparent.