Dr. Charles Mastrovich
We are often asked by our Escondido patients who have received a job transfer, “How do I find an expert dentist like you in my new location?” We do make an effort to network with quality specialists and general dentists we know via lecturing in other cities. However, that does not always produce a connection, and when that is the case we have several steps we recommend to our relocating patients. (By the way, these steps have proven helpful for choosing a new dentist even when patients aren’t relocating.)
- Make a list of dental specialists from an online search (or yellow pages) with several from each of the following specialties: periodontists, oral surgeons and endodontists.
- Call these specialist offices and ask for the names of 2-3 general dentists their office has experienced as being of high quality (“Dentists you would feel positive about sending your mom or your brother to for treatment”).
- After making these calls, one or more dentists names will be recommended more than once.
- Explore the websites of these dentists who have been recommended by more than one source to see which feel like a good fit and these are the dental offices you will call with your personal list of questions.
- List your personal priority questions specific to your dental needs and ask the same questions of each office when you call.
- This is a time to factor in the question many ask: why not just choose one off the list provided by my insurance? While dental insurance is a helpful benefit, it is typically only a portion of the dental health picture and is best as one factor but not as the only factor.
Of course, each search will be unique to you and your needs and requirements, and this is a strong foundation to build on finding the right dentist for you.
