With the start of a new year comes the chance to reflect over the past years accomplishments, highlights, falls and failures. It’s time to ask what you can continue doing well next year and a chance to do something exciting and make changes to anything that is holding you back.
We see lot’s of changes at Smile Essential dentist in Leicester. Changes in how we communicate with our patients e.g. we now send SMS messages and email reminders as we understand our patients prefer this over a phone call. We connect through facebook and twitter. This exchange of information and fun facts is a great, less formal way of keeping up-to-date. It’s a much more convenient way that we are all getting connected. All of a sudden we are not the scary dentist; we are people, people using our expertise to help other people to smile more confidently.
Your smile plays a major role in how you perceive yourself and the impression you make on those around you. It’s long been known and many surveys show that your smile is what both men and women find most attractive above any other physical feature. It can gain people’s affections, reassure somebody and it can create confidence. But it can also hold you back if you’re not confident with your smile due to dental problems.
For many people a trip to the dentist can be terrifying. With up to 75% of people experiencing some kind of dental phobia and rightly so (you may be surprised to hear us say!). But here at Smile Essential dentist in Leicester we have heard some unfortunate tales from patients of what has happened to them in the past. The school dentist being one at the top of the list! Nowadays though new stories like this are thankfully rare and the patients at our dentist seem very happy.
If you’re not happy with your smile then perhaps the new year offers you a chance to visit a dental practice and create yourself a confident new smile.
Here are our top 5 tips when choosing a dentist-
- Check them out online. Look for dental reviews, check they are on the GDC register. Look at their website- do they look professional, friendly, what does their dental surgery look like? Will you feel comfortable there? Do they have any dental awards that prove their credibility?
- What are your specific fears around dentists? If you’re scared of injections- do they offer anything to make it more comfortable? Many things can be done nowadays to overcome this problem one thing we do is to apply a numbing gel to the gum beforehand so it’s much more comfortable.
- Where are they? You need somewhere you are able to get to easily either for treatment or routine care. Traveling to far afield can lead to further anxiety. Perhaps look at one close to home or work. If you have to travel for more than 30 minutes it could cause further anxiety, so try to stay local.
- What are their prices are they affordable? Do they have a member’s plan that enables you to budget for your routine dental care and receive discount if you do require treatment. A dentist should always give you a full treatment summary involving any costs when you go for your dental health check. Nobody likes surprise bills!
- Give them a call and see if the receptionist is friendly, are they helpful and can they answer your questions? A good dental practice and customer experience starts with that first phone call. Dentists should be aware that potential new patients will be anxious and cater for this. Sometimes this phone call is an indication of how well their dental practice is run.
