Has it been a while since you last visited a dentist? Are you having trouble deciding which dentist you should go visit? Even if you have dental insurance to help narrow the choices in your area down to a handful of candidates, it's not always easy to go from there. Asking a few questions before you set up an appointment can help narrow the choices down significantly. Some things that you may want to ask beforehand are:

Are you able to handle most dental work in-house? 

Some dental practices are only set up to handle basic dental work, such as X-rays, fillings, and extractions. If you need additional work, you'd then need to find a specialized orthodontist or similar. Other dental practices have dentists with a wide range of specialties and the equipment to handle most dental issues that might arise. Neither is better or worse than the other but you may feel more comfortable with a dentist office that will be able to take care of as much as possible. Otherwise, you may have to begin a search for yet another dentist if it turns out your teeth need additional care. 

Do you accept payments? 

Even if you have insurance, you may eventually run into a procedure that isn't actually covered by your policy. When this happens, you'll have to pay for it out of pocket if you want to have it done. If you're like most people, you probably don't have the money on hand to be able to cover these kinds of expenses. As a result, you should look for a dentist who will allow you to make a downpayment before the procedure and then to continue with a payment plan after the treatment has been completed. Not all dentists will accept payments in this manner, so never assume that one does.

Does your practice treat children as well?

 If you don't have children, this is still a good question to ask before setting up an appointment with a dentist. Even if you don't mind being around children most of the time, you may not want to be in the same waiting room as children who are waiting to for their appointment. You may want to spend your time in the waiting room catching up on reading or listening to music, not being distracted by an oblivious pre-schooler who is also waiting for his or her turn in the dental chair.

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