Discover The “Best Dentist Near Me” with these 5 Tips
Discover The “Best Dentist Near Me” with these 5 Tips
If you are new to Joliet or Plainfield or just haven’t been to the dentist in a while here are 5 simple tips that will help you find a great dentist.
5. Reviews Can Help Find The “Best Dentist Near Me”
If you’re trying to find the best dentist in 2026, you don’t start with insurance. You start with reviews, but you read them with a little skepticism.
Insurance doesn’t measure quality. It measures participation. It’s a contract with fee schedules and limitations, not a ranking system for who does the best dentistry. Some excellent dentists choose not to participate because those contracts can restrict time, materials, and decision making. Some very average dentists do participate. It goes both ways.
Reviews, on the other hand, are a window into real patient experiences. But not all reviews are equal. Five stars alone doesn’t mean much. What matters is what people are actually saying.
Are patients talking about thorough exams or quick in-and-out visits
Do they mention long-term results or just that it was painless that day
Are there comments about being educated on options or just being told what to do
Do complex cases get discussed or is it mostly cleanings and basic care
The best dentists tend to have reviews that go deeper than “nice staff” and “clean office.” You’ll see patterns. People mention trust. They mention feeling like the doctor caught things early or prevented bigger problems. They mention coming back for years, not just one visit.
Also look at how the office responds. Not the generic thank you replies, but whether there’s thought behind it. That tells you a lot about how much they actually pay attention.
Insurance can still play a role, but it should come after you’ve identified who you’d trust to do the work. Not before. Because at the end of the day, you’re not choosing a coupon. You’re choosing someone to make decisions about your health that can last decades.
The best dentists are usually the ones people go out of their way to see, not just the ones that happen to be in network.
https://streitzdental.com/meet-us/difference/?scrollto=Legacy
4. Advanced Education & Technology can sometimes give insight to who is the “best dentist near me”
How up to date with technology and procedures is the dentist? Dentistry is a rapidly changing field, so much so that many materials and techniques used just 10 years ago are now considered obsolete. For example, has the office adopted a completely Digitalwork flow for completing your dental work Check to see if the dentist has earned any postdoctoral degrees that require hundreds of hours of advanced education. Some of these degrees include Master of the Academy General Dentistry (MAGD) or Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry (FAGD), Training at the Dawson Academy.
3. Before and After Photos
Does the dentist have any before and after photos either on their website or in the office? Any cosmetic dentist should have some clinical photos that demonstrate dentistry they have personally completed. Don’t be fooled by stock photos on dental websites- make sure it clearly states that the photos are indeed the dentists original work.
https://streitzdental.com/before-after-smiles/
2. Ask your friends.
While this is not on the top of our list it certainly is important. The best insight friends will provide will be regarding the overall office atmosphere assessing the dentist’s personality and chair-side manner. The truth is that non-dentists aren’t very good at judging the quality of dental work; it’s sometimes very difficult for dentists to judge the quality of dentistry. Also, when we say ask your friends we also mean your extended group of ‘friends’ through social networks. Facebook and Google are excellent resources where patients post reviews.
1. Call Local Dental Specialists
Call the dental specialists in the area and ask for 3-4 local dentists they would recommend. (Dental specialists include oral surgeons, endodontists, and periodontists.) You may ask, why should you call the specialists? The specialists see patients from many dentists in the area and are good judges of dental work that has been completed. Once you call a handful of specialists compare your notes as to which dentists they recommend, more than likely there will be one or two dentists that all or most of the specialists recommended.
That’s it! Hopefully you found these tips helpful!
Dr. Dan Streitz and Dr. David Streitz
