EVEN when one considers that in this country, for every practicing dentist there are about 22,000 persons, there could be some problems when the time comes to choose which dentist one should go to.

Although many persons have little or no choice when it comes to deciding who their dental practitioner should be since they attend a public clinic, the fact remains that choosing a dentist is no small matter, especially in these days.
How should you go about choosing a dentist? What about the convenient one at the corner? Fine! If you are a gambler! That dentist may be very good, but then, he/she may not be. The only thing you know about him is that he is very convenient. Ask a neighbour? Maybe! If the neighbour has had a lot of satisfactory work done for age groups in his family similar to those in yours over an extended period of time, and if you respect his opinion. The only problem with this approach is that the combination would appear with the same frequency as that of your winning a lottery.
Dentistry, like medicine, accounting, or law, is a profession; it is not a business, although there are business practices and financial aspects to discuss and employ in the practise of these professions. They are looked upon as being different from a business.
Professional people generally get more respect, and more is expected of them. What distinguishes a business from a profession, at least in the eyes of the general public? For one thing, business is characterized by the sentiment: Let the buyer beware. In other words, anything the seller can get away with goes. We have consumer protection laws because the consumer needs protection. We’ve heard about quality control and advertising gimmicks.
A profession should be a field where people of integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and sincerity are retained by the general public. A lot of ethics is involved. That is not to say that we do not find these admirable qualities in business or among business people.
Try asking a dentist to explain his findings on your mouth, the details of treatment, clinical expectations, and follow-up visits. Ask about the available options and the price of each. Carefully make a mental note of his reaction of your probing questions. Prospective patients should be astute enough to recognize and stay away from dentists who use dentistry more as a business rather than a profession. If your dentist should ever say, “You’ll get the final cost when I’m finished,” Beware! And don’t fall for that gimmick!
The world of dentistry, for the layman, is an unknown world full of pain, superstition, misinformation and apprehension. It is for this very reason that I decided to start this weekly column more than twenty years ago. Since then, I have always tried my best to have a simple and informative article.  My primary objective is to arm the dental patient with the basic knowledge of dentistry, so that they cannot be easily fooled, and can manage their personal oral health.
The profession becomes culpable whenever there is a general lack on the part of dental personnel to respond appropriately to the patient’s needs, while allaying fears and apprehensions. Dentists owe the public for the privileges and financial security they enjoy, and must pay with an outgoing concern for their dental wellbeing.
Your choice of a dentist can affect your dental health for the rest of your life; it should not be a “crisis choice” when you are in pain. At such times, you cannot think rationally and make any intelligent choice. If the dentist you get is not your kind of person, thank him, pay him, and leave. It will be a lot cheaper in the long-run.
Finally, dental care is a two-way street. Think about this. Each time a machine (in this case, your mouth) breaks down or becomes defective, it gets harder and harder to fix, and it will not work as efficiently as it did before. If you want success, become a working partner with your dentist. If you find that this is impossible with the dentist you picked, then try another one.