How do I choose a good dentist?

Every day at tooth we get lots of emails from new patients or patients with questions before they choose a new dentist in London and we are always happy to help. They are asking things like, ‘I’m looking for a new dental practice near me, can you tell me some more information’. Or, questions like ‘I’m a nervous patient, how do I find a new dentist in London’.

Because of our location as a dental practice in Central London it’s common for people to have just moved into the area or have changed jobs who are looking for a good dentist near their office or home. So have a lot of experience dealing with new dental patients.

What should I look for when choosing a new dental practice?

This is a really important question - but thankfully it’s one that is easy to answer. There are many things that I would recommend to anyone looking for a new dental practice.

Here’s a helpful list:

  • Look at the reviews

    • It’s so easy for any business to promise the world and under deliver. Or its easy for a business to be a bit flexible with the truth. That’s why Google Reviews are really helpful to anyone looking to change dentist or dental practice, or looking for a ‘dentist near me’ or a ‘dental hygienist near me’.

      At tooth we are so grateful to have over 500 genuine 5 Star Reviews! It’s a real honour for us as it means that we are doing exactly what we set out to do, that is offering amazing dental services at great prices and giving the best possible dental treatments and dental patient care and customer service.

      One thing with reviews that we always advise our potential patients - and this goes for any business. Look at where the majority of reviews sit (eg. 5 star). If a business has hundreds of 5 Star or high Reviews for example, then focus on these as this is the majority voice. Feel free to read the 1 Stars but always read the response from the business owners too as often the 1 Star reviews aren’t always what they seem. Personally if a business has lots of good reviews, I tend to ignore the outlying low reviews if there are just a couple.

      Another thing we say is to check if all of the business’s reviews feel genuine. That may sound hard to do or even unnecessary, but did you know unfortunately it’s actually possible to just buy good reviews online for a very minimal amount of money (don’t worry we are super ethical and never in a million years would do this!). The other way that businesses can create reviews for themselves is by asking friends and family to leave positive reviews in different names. But it’s usually fairly easy to understand which are real and which may be fake. You can do this by looking for patterns – e.g. if every review follows same structure, or if every single review mentions one person by name, which from experience isn’t that common for dental reviews. Also you can look to see if the majority of reviews have rating only and no words, and look to see if most reviews don’t mention anything identifiable - for example: ‘This is a great business, I am happy with their service’… basically, anything that occurs often in some guise which feels too generic.

  • Check the website

    • Does the website have information on their that is helpful to you - mainly does it list prices of all the main treatments. If not, what could that dental practice be hiding - and why? At tooth, we never upsell and we never have hidden charges - we are a dental practice with clear and transparent pricing. We have nothing to hide at all. If you are looking at a dental website that doesn’t do this, then maybe there is a reason?

      Also think - does the website have pictures and profiles of the team. Do they all say - coming soon, or with no pictures - this may potentially mean that the practice may have a high turnover of clinical staff, which may in turn be a red flag. Personally I would always give much more importance to a dental practice’s website than their social media. Social media can be helpful for sure, but everyone knows that social media isn’t always real. That’s one of the reasons that tooth doesn’t spend too much time on social media (the other is because we are too busy serving our lovely patients as a priority!).

  • Ask, how easy is it to contact the dental surgery?

    • Another thing which is easily as important from a patient perspective to clinical care is customer service. I’d always be thinking - is the dental practice in London easy to contact, do they respond quickly, do they answer the phone, do they give good responses to emails and calls - are they listening to the questions asked in the email or call, and helping as much as they can, and are they happy to answer questions?

  • Listen to others you trust

    • And finally, finding a good dentist in London can be hard. We are blessed and grateful that many of our lovely patients have come to us because we were a recommended dentist in London. This means that their friends, family or work colleagues have been to tooth dental and were so happy that they told someone about it! There’s no greater recommendation for us than this and we really appreciate it when someone shares their positive experience at tooth with their closest loved ones.

I hope this helps and if you’re looking for a new dentist in Central London feel free to check all of the above on Google to see our lovely reviews, and the other pages at toothlondon.co.uk or to get in touch with any questions here.

Good luck!

Dr. Anna x

The Importance of Regular Dental Hygiene

Regular dental hygiene appointments are so very important to maintain oral health but many people leave their hygiene appointments until they see a lot of noticeable ‘build-up’ of plaque or tartar on their teeth or staining from tea or coffee, or similar. But waiting until then really isn’t the best idea! It is important to attend regularly, regardless of whether you can see tartar or plaque, as it isn’t always visible (for example it could be on the backs of your teeth, or you back teeth!).

Tooth Wear and Teeth Grinding - An Increasing Side-effect of our Busy Lives

As Principal Dentist at tooth, I see an ever increasing amount of patients presenting with tooth wear, and so do my team of amazing Dentists at tooth. This is where the surfaces of the teeth are wearing down and in some cases so badly that it exposes the dentine (the middle, softer part of the tooth).

Emergency Dental Appointments - What they are and how to avoid!

Some of you may find this surprising, but some of our most common appointment bookings at tooth in Waterloo are dental emergency appointments!

Regardless of the dental emergency, preventable or not – at tooth we are always here to help and we will do our best to fix the issue, permanently if time allows, or temporarily if needed and if the cause or solution to the dental emergency requires more time than that allocated. We will also prescribe (which is included in our emergency appointment fee) if clinically necessary.

Why getting straighter teeth isn’t only about a great looking smile!

At tooth we offer a range of orthodontic treatments, both fixed and removable. By far, the most popular is Invisalign and we have multiple Invisalign cases at any one time - helping our lovely patients achieve their perfect smile. 

As soon as anyone mentions smile alignment, fixed braces, Invisalign, Spark or anything to do with straightening teeth, everyone immediately assumes that it is just for cosmetic reasons. But, the reality is that straight teeth offer far more than just a great smile. 

Whitening.... Why Wait?

Let’s face it by springtime, there’s a lot of things we think we thought we were going go do at the beginning of the year when January came, that are now distant memories. These may have been things like giving up alcohol, joining the gym, even trying Veganuary (which I can definitely recommend by the way if you missed it this year!). But for many there’s also another thing that doesn’t require any real commitment - it happens whilst you sleep! That’s achieving a brighter smile via tooth whitening. But as Easter approaches did you make that happen yet?