Dentist retires!! Now what to do.

[paplinker]

So my wife's dentist for near 30 years is finally going to retire. I have been seeing him for about 4 years.

We just got the letter with only about 3 days notice so we were unable to say goodbye in person.

His practice is being taken over by a dentist who graduated dental school in 2022. We are trying to make a decision if we are going to give this dentist a try or not. I was just getting ready to get bridge work and my wife is more just maintenance.

Our thoughts are this,

On the good side being new he may know the newest most modern techniques and is likely very enthusiastic to do good work.

On the bad side we feel he likely does not have much real world experience that comes from doing your job day in and day out for years. In my line of work real world has taught me easily 75 % of what I know.

In most things in life I hire people off references almost all the time. Dentistry is a bit tricky as many of the greatly recommended dentists are not taking on new clients.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

PS It's not in the best neighborhood but was worth the drive for our wonderful dentist.

 

[luvsmiths]

Go to the new one for a cleaning and feel it out. Same happened with me last year, and I wound up liking the new one BETTER, and just as you said- All up to date techniques, and I never thought I'd like anyone better.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

 

[Chuck24]

Depending on your age, go with the young guy, you’ll probably never have to do it again.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A while back my Dentile Retired.
Ran into his wife at a Coffee Shop.
‘What’s Jerry up to?’
She gave me a dirty look, cause if the Green keeper don’t run him off, he’s goofing!

 

[soFlaNative]

Dremel and a blowtorch.

 

[31FordA]

My dentist retired a few years ago and sold the practice. The dentist who bought it is always at his other office, so I’ve had several associate dentists, none of whom stay long. In a way I don’t have to look for a new dentist, there’s a new one every year or so. I wish they could get someone to stay, it’s annoying that when I start to trust the new dentist they’re gone.

I really do not enjoy going to the dentist, having had many bad experiences as a kid. Once I was an adult I stayed away from dentist’s for almost 20 years, even though I was paying for dental insurance at work. I finally started going to a dentist again after using my parents dentist for an emergency. I wish he didn’t retire, he’s the only dentist I’ve really trusted.

An old friend thought it was funny that I avoided the dentist like the plague, but had no problem serving warrants with no back up. I would tell her that the worst the bad guy would do is shoot or stab me. The dentist has a drill, and I’d probably get arrested if I shot the dentist.

 

[lihpster]

I'd say give the young guy a chance. You can always change doctors later if you don't like him. And this way, he probably won't retire very soon, starting the whole thing over again. Take care, my friend.

 

[stuartg74]

The old dentist most likely wouldn't give or sell his practice to someone he didn't trust, so I would give the young guy a chance.

Sent from my SM-T387V using Tapatalk

 

[TX-Dennis]

My longstanding dentist of roughly 30 years has sold his practice to a young husband and wife team. I first started going to him when he was right out of dental school. Stayed with him through two office moves as he is an awesome dentist. Expensive, but worth it.

The hygienist who cleans my teeth told me she doesn't trust the new dentists for anything big, but she says they're okay for minor stuff. I decided to give them a chance. So far I've only seen the wife. She has done commendable work for me. She's done a couple of filling replacements, and I was happy with her work. Recently had another filling that came out and part of the remaining tooth broke off with it. She said it needed a crown as there wasn't enough tooth left to hold up with a new filling. Again she did great work. It surprised me that they now have a milling machine to make crowns in office. The previous dentist always fitted an aluminum temprorary crown and had the porcelain one made in a lab. This was much easier. All done in one appointment instead of having to come back a couple of weeks later to fit the permanent crown.

So far I like the new dentist nearly as much as the old one. So my advice - give the new guy a shot.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Worse than just retiring, my dentist sold the practice to an association of dentists. They have guidelines that ae based on their prophet margin and not on my specific needs. To show this. "Cleaning: Not base on getting my teeth clean, based on 20 minutes of cleaning (and believe me when I say, they weren't clean all the way!) They fired all the experienced hygienists and hired kids that don't know any better. Their labor costs may be lower, but the bill went up greater than inflation.

I'm searching for a solution!

Ivan

 

[twodog max]

My dentist in the past few years went through this young dentist coming in and upgrades to everything with costs going up a lot. I got a crown this past summer with all the latest 3D imaging and computer modeling. Worst fitting crown I ever had with the cost about 4 times more than in the past.
New dentist in the future for me.
They also lied to me about the cost and did not spring the news on me until they had put the temporary crown on. To late to back out then.
Very poor business pracyice IMO.

 

[Retired W4]

I have lost my dentist, my primary care guy, and my neurologist to retirement, all top people. Not all the replacements have been as good. Time marches on. On the other hand my oncologists at Emory University are younger and very smart.

 

[mtgianni]

My dentists son will take over the practice. They will work together for a couple of years.

 

[Farmer17]

I've built over 45 dental offices and I would say to give the young guy a try. If he bought the practice there's a good chance he'll stay there for decades. There are a lot of dental businesses that have several locations and hire the dentists right out of school. Sometimes these are the ones that have a problem getting hired elsewhere for various reasons but the biggest problem is they won't stay there very long if they're good. They will leave once they save a little money and open their own practice.

 

[riverrat38]

It can cost plenty to change dentists. My wife tried a new one because he was closer. Her bill for cleaning, consultation, and history was $800. No X rays were taken, he used the ones transferred from the old dentists office. She transferred back, and is now happy driving to next town over. New dentist said she needed about $5000 worth of work. Old one said she didn't need much.

73,
Rick

 

[kaaskop49]

The old dentist most likely wouldn't give or sell his practice to someone he didn't trust, so I would give the young guy a chance.

Sent from my SM-T387V using Tapatalk

Famous last words. My guy sold his practice to a young woman who prefers certain clients and hoses the ones she finds objectionable. Completely unethical. Cavities become crowns, crowns turn into bridges while she is working in your mouth, and older bridges become implants. Or, she sends you to another type of dentist so that person can fill their pockets. Just had a wisdom tooth extracted by a dental surgeon who admitted the above and said 'unethics' had become the norm.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Dentist retires!! Now what to do.

Got a decision to make. Vice Grips or Channel Locks.
Give the new guy a chance. The young'uns are surprisingly adept with new technologies. Remember that we were once young'uns full of piss and vinegar ready to tackle the world. Smile and enjoy your current place in the circle of life

 

[kozmic]

Our old dentist retired years ago. It was determined by my wife that we didn't like the new guy. I have no idea how we ended up with our current dentist, but he's great. Ardent conservative. Avid long range shooter. Has a drool-worthy collection of Colt revolvers. He's a 12 handicap and belongs to an exclusive country club with a championship course. He's a great dad and employer. He's also a big Buffalo Bills fan.
Sadly, he's lost a couple of terrific long-term hygientists and hasn't found any suitable replacements to the extent that his office canceled my cleaning/check up next week! Seems like we have completely ruined 2 generations of our workforce.

 

[grover99]

been seeing a dentist for several years until costs got so high[ not dentist fault he has to make a living} I took out some dental insurance which his office was not a preferred provider. Found a new dentist to take insurance and lucked out. He is great and just love both of his hygienists. One who is happy to tell me that she has been with him for 26 years and always has a new joke to tell me.

 

[Bald1]

The new dentist went thru a ton of hands on work at school. Just like a new Doctor does a residency. Speaking from experience I can tell you my new “young” dentist is great. All the new technology. And a staff that helps me navigate insurance to where I rarely pay anything. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Give him a try and if you don’t like it you can go elsewhere.