Qualities of A Great Dentist

What makes a great Lakewood dentist is different for everyone – some people need a dentist who is not only a great specialist, but also a very kind, understanding and attentive person, while others don’t care about their doctor’s personality, all they are interested in being efficiency or affordability. However, most people agree that a great dentist is one who is able to give a little of everything – here are a few of the qualities possessed by dentists who are really successful and appreciated by their patients.

Professional and Technical Skills

What makes a great dentist is first of all the knowledge that permits him or her to assess the condition of patient’s teeth and to determine the best course of treatment to follow. The extensive and in-depth knowledge of the anatomy of the face and of the teeth needs to be paired with outstanding dexterity, the ability to use small and often high-capacity, quickly rotating tools in the confined space of the mouth. Dental procedures require a steady hand, excellent coordination skills, stamina and an excellent physical condition as well.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

None of us enjoys going to the dentist, but we are all more willing to do it if we know that we are treated not only professionally, but with kindness and understanding as well. A great dentist is accessible, kind and empathetic, a medical specialist who is able to treat not only our teeth, but our soul as well, to help us overcome out fear or feelings of discomfort.

A great dentist also needs to be willing to communicate with the patients about the available treatment options and to answer questions about any topic related to teeth, such as decay prevention, at-home treatments for gum disease or dental whitening.

Business Skills

Dentistry is not only a field of medicine – it is also a field of business. No matter how knowledgeable and personable a dentist is, he or she will not be able to run a successful dental practice without being able to make sound business decisions, to hire knowledgeable and efficient staff and to develop a pricing strategy that permits the practice to prosper, but is not exaggeratedly expensive either.

The Desire to Learn New Procedures

Dentistry is a field of medicine that develops very quickly and a great dentist keeps abreast all those developments. The new technologies and treatment methods are usually presented to interested dentists in the form of workshops that require the participants to pay relatively high fees and even to travel, so if your dentist has taken part in a lot of such courses, it means that he or she is really interested in the profession and is willing to invest into knowledge that can be used for the benefit of the patients.

Problem-Solving Skills

Not all dental problems have an obvious solution upfront, so another quality on our list of what makes a great dentist is the ability to think outside the box, to find the solution that works in a specific situation, even if the solution is unusual.