Also look for an office where the employee turnover rate is minimal. Longtime employees speak volume. Been with my practice 22 years and had an owner change 3 yrs ago. Never would have stayed with the new doctor if the quality of care wasn't there. You can also go online to local blogs. We had no idea such wonderful reviews were being posted about us....

Good luck!!

Best Advice.

I hope it goes well for you, believe me.

I waited 5-6 years and then went through the deep clean quadrant by quadrant. NEEDLES!! Maybe not a root canal but none the less very unpleasant.

Now it's every three months even if I have to pay for two of em'.

Previous dentist retired, couple of bad experiences and wahlaa, I created my own bad experience.

Current dentist is 'course' but professional and very good, and came from a reference.

The pain they can cause is nothing compared to what happens if you wait.

Karl
88 Targa

yep, i've been doing some review reading. since i just moved here, i don't have a friend database to ask stuff like this. most of my coworkers commute from the LA basin, so they're not familiar with the dentists, doctors, etc up here in the desert.

i did notice that there's a big dental center right next to where i live. it seems to be one of the better places, staffed with inhouse endodontists, etc. i'm going to look into this place. PLUS, it's also covered by my insurance (although i'll still be paying mostly out of pocket for whatever i get done).

thanks for all of the suggestions!

I've been curious about the lazer and/or "painless" dentistry, and whether it's a gimick or worth it. There are also supposed to be new etching/epoxy filler products on the market too which supposedly dont require the drill.

Any experiences here?

UPDATE:

So after my initial consultation back in March, the lack of pain made me basically forget about the whole root canal thing. I would get discomfort every few weeks, but it would subside after an hour or so.

Fast forward to about a month ago.....The pain started to occur more frequently, and much more intensely. It was abcessed. About 2 weeks ago, while at work, I cracked one of my molars. At this point, I let my supervisor know about it, and he recommended a dentist here in town. I called them up, and they got me in right away.

I explained my fear, and this dentist impressed me with how understanding he was. He did the consultation, and I, in fact, needed two root canals and two cavities fixed. He explained sedation dentistry to me (which i wasn't convinced of), and he also said that if need be, that I could have nitrous oxide, as well. I scheduled my first appointment, and the assistant told me that I needed to have somebody bring me and take me home, since I wouldn't be fit to drive afterwards.

I talked with a buddy at work, and he agreed to take me to my appointment. Well, as it turned out, the night before my appointment, he called and cancelled. I figured I could drive myself to the dentist, take the sedation medicine in the parking lot, do the dental work, and then take the bus home. LOL.

Anyway, the appointment was actually awesome. I brought my noise cancelling headphones and listened to music while the work was going on. I literally did not feel one bit of pain. He did one root canal and one cavity. After the procedure, I was coherent enough to function, but they still didn't feel comfortable letting me take the bus or call a taxi. As it turned out, my dentist lives in the same neighborhood that i do, and was going home for lunch anyway...so he dropped me off at my house.

Once I got home, I hopped in bed, and took about a 5 hour nap. After the nap, the details of the day were pretty much gone. I guess one of the side effects of Halcyon is short term memory loss/amnesia.

I am going back next week to have another root canal and cavity done, and then I have to go back a third time to get my last crown put on.

Thanks for all of the advice...I'm glad I went to somebody that was accommodating!

Good news, Mike.
Glad it all went well.
Had one done last year.
Did not feel a thing.
Watched the TV the whole time.
They gased me up good.

Lisa :(

Three root canals, a tooth pulled and replaced with an implant not to long ago. The root canls were the best I've ever had. Great Doc with no pain, etc. Same for the oral surgeon.

Propanol does wonders! :)

I would have to put up a big disagreement to this advice as far as anything being of any worth for online reviews. This article just came out:

Vitals - Toothache lawsuit may stifle medical gag orders against online rants

Medical reviews are a complicated issue as of late. The problem is that the reviewer doesn't even have to be a patient to issue a comment, be it positive or negative. Cases of practices pumping up their ratings and trashing a competitor are rampant. And if they are, the very issue could be money or personal related and have nothing to do with the actual service. Personally, this whole review or ratings has gotten completely out of hand. Do I really need to see what the reviews are of the nearest Target store? My advice is to ask friends and family for their thoughts on how they are treated and call.

Here she will live forever!

Yeah...I teared up. :(

Glad it went well for you!