If you’re anything like me, you like to do as much research as possible prior to making important decisions - such as choosing a new dentist. Luckily, there are a number of great websites online that point you to available dentists in your area. I’ve selected 5 such sites that I find particularly useful when conducting a search for local dentists.
1800dentist.com is probably the most well-known dental directory on the web. You’ve probably even seen a few of their commercials. I particularly like their service because they pre-screen dentists prior to placing them in their directory. This isn’t foolproof, but it is an added layer of protection that certainly doesn’t hurt.
2. Dentists.com
I was impressed by the number of results I received for dentists near me. In fact, Dentists.com returned 15 results for dentists within 10 miles of me. They’re not pre-screened, however.
Americasmiles.com is not pretty, and not nearly as comprehensive as 1800dentist.com or Dentists.com, but I do like that it allows you to select a search radius. Not pre-screened.
Everydentist.com is on par with dentists.com in terms of the volume of search results you can expect. I particularly like that Everydentist.com allows searches by zip(with search radius), city, or dentist’s last name. Not pre-screened.
A search at DentistDirectory.com returned fairly comprehensive results - on par with Dentists.com and EveryDentist.com. I’m particularly impressed with how this dentist search engine tries to help you located dentists in your are that accept online appointment booking. Unfortunately, there were no dentists in my area currently doing this, but it’s a neat feature for the future. Not Pre-screened.
Google Test
Once you have found a handful of dentists in your area, I would first Google each of their names. This is a great way to filter out the “bad apples” right off the bat. If a particular dentist has some dirty laundry, it’s likely that someone has taken the time to write about it on the web. A quick Google search will uncover their dirty deeds.
Questions to Ask a New Dentist
For those dentists that have passed the Google check, there are a number of questions that I would ask each of them prior to making a selection. Tammy Davenport has put together a comprehensive list of questions to ask prior to selecting a new dentist. Of course, you will have to determine whether the prospective dentist answered the questions to your satisfaction, but this list will provide you with a great starting point in finding a great dentist near you.
How did you find your dentist?
Obviously searching online is not the only way to find a new dentist. I’m curious how you found yours? Please leave a comment and share with the rest of us.
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11:25 pm on November 19th, 2008
I haven’t seen a few of these sites before. Thanks for finding them. Always good to be able to find new dentists.
9:54 pm on November 20th, 2008
No problem Wisdom. A lot of people are unaware of just how easy it is to find a local dentist.
5:23 pm on December 1st, 2008
Just for the record, I positioned the Americasmiles.com dentist directory in the search engines for its owner. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t given full license to improve its interface, its database of dentists, or its submission process for dentists. Still, a valuable little site.
Beyond dental directories, a majority of people seeking a dentist will simply conduct a query on a major search engine that includes either a treatment procedure, or a generic term such as “dentist”, “dental care”, etc. accompanied by their city or town.
Invaribly, since we monitor directly the Web stats for a lot of dental sites, very few, if any, people reach the dentist’s website via online directories. The lion share arrive by a search engine query. Another interesting fact is that people seldom venture past the first one or two search engine results pages.
John Barremore
houston, TX
9:51 pm on December 1st, 2008
Interesting observation, John. Empirically, that does seem to make sense. I think my primary motivation for this particular post is to highlight a more direct way of exploring local dentist results - no wading through potentially irrelevant search engine results.
However, that’s not to say that dentist directories are any better than search results. It’s just another option for people to consider.
Perhaps I’ll write a post in the near future discussing additional methods of finding local dentists and include the search engine query method.
Thanks for great comment.
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