“We find, unfortunately, that some dentists are motivated by costs - by fees that they’re getting from their patients, and therefore, recommend too much work,” he said. “The most underutilized tool when it comes to dental patients is a second opinion.” “We get a lot of complaints from patients who say, ‘I tried a new dentist and the dentist said I have to replace all my fillings, or I need a really expensive restorative work,'” Brasler said. “We’ve found some practices, for example, were offering really low pricing to new patients for that first time cleaning and exam.”īrasler recommends being wary of a new dentist who recommends a lot of expensive new treatments. “They might offer you an exam, cleaning, X-rays, and even one filling as a package deal to attract new patients,” Brasler said. Making those calls you might find some practices are offering new patients introductory package deals. How much is charged for X-rays? What is the cost of an adult’s two-surface composite molar? To get a sense of potential cost variations between practices, some questions you could ask include the cost for an oral exam and cleaning for new patients versus established patients. “Over and over again, we found these massive price differences from practice to practice for the same procedures.” “For example, for a simple filling, a two-surface composite filling, the lowest price our shoppers were quoted was $98 the highest price was $615,” Brasler said. How’s the receptionist staff? Do they seem nice and pleasant and accommodating?ĭental practices can have dramatically different prices.Is the hygienist or the dentist - whoever’s doing the cleaning - gentle?.Does the dentist seem to listen to you?.Self-evaluations of a new dental practice could include going in for a cleaning and exam. Most of them seem to do well by their patients in terms of overall dental care,” Brasler said. “The good news, though, is that the majority of dental practices that we rated got pretty high ratings. “We found that there really isn’t this correlation between quality and price when it comes to dental care,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor at Washington Consumers’ Checkbook.Ĭheckbook’s survey of patients about dentists they’ve used did find, however, substantial differences in quality from practice to practice based on answers to questions such as: Was the dentist thorough, did the dentist communicate well, seem competent, have a pleasant staff, have short wait times? area dentists - you’re just as likely to be happy paying modest prices versus paying more than average for procedures, according to a locally based consumers’ group. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.Each subscription also includes access to the magazine's trove of online ratings and articles, so consumers need not wait by the mailbox for five months before paying a visit to the seedy-eyed watch repairman. Washington Consumers' Checkbook’s special guides keep professionals and their neighborly brethren honest, with critical ratings and undercover price checks for everything from lawn mows to tooth extractions. With nearly half a million ratings at their command-collected in surveys of paid subscribers-readers can be sure to avoid muddy-shoed salesmen or sky-diving instructors afraid of heights. Hailed by the Washington Post for its consistent accuracy and surfeit of valuable shopping tips, the nonprofit magazine holds no punches in its candid appraisals of more than 7,000 businesses, including doctors, dentists, auto-repair shops, electricians, plumbers, roofers, veterinarians, and more. Stay informed easily with today's Groupon: for $15, you get a two-year subscription, including online access, to Washington Consumers’ Checkbook (a $34 value).Īn unswerving ally in the search for the crème de local commerce for more than 35 years, Washington Consumers’ Checkbook points discerning consumers toward the DC metro area’s highest-rated professionals and services with four semi-annual print issues, newsletter updates, and online access. Before magazines, townsfolk kept up with current events by gossiping with the milkmaid or tickling secrets out of the town crier.
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