How to Actually Choose a Good Dentist

If you search for a dentist in any city, you’ll find pages of results, most of them claiming to offer quality care, gentle treatment, and reasonable prices. Nearly every practice uses the same language. So how do you actually tell the difference?

Here’s what genuinely matters — and what doesn’t.

What Doesn’t Matter as Much as You Think

Whether they take your insurance. This is the most common filter patients use, and it’s one of the least meaningful indicators of quality. Being an in-network “Preferred Provider” simply means a dentist agreed to a lower fee schedule — nothing more. It says nothing about their skill, their materials, or their lab. (More on this in our post about dental insurance.)

Proximity. Convenience is nice, but the closest dentist to your house isn’t necessarily the best dentist for your teeth.

Fancy equipment in photos. Modern tools are helpful — we use 3D cone-beam imaging ourselves — but equipment doesn’t substitute for skill.

What Actually Matters

Clinical track record. Ask how long the dentist has been practicing and what their area of expertise is. There’s a difference between someone who does occasional implants and someone who has been placing implants daily for over 30 years. That difference shows up in the outcomes.

Where they trained and how they ranked. Not every dentist graduated at the top of their class. Some practiced successfully; others barely made it through. Credentials from continuing education, specialty training, and recognition within professional organizations are meaningful signals.

Who makes their restorations. If you’re getting a crown, ask where it’s made. A dentist who uses a top-tier USA lab and never outsources overseas is investing in your outcome. One who sends work abroad to save money is not saving anyone anything.

Referrals from actual patients — with time behind them. Any dentist can find someone willing to say nice things after a cleaning. What matters more is a patient who’s had significant work done and can report how it’s held up after three, five, or ten years. Poor dental work often looks fine for a year or two before problems emerge.

Red Flags to Watch For

• Offices that advertise heavily on price alone (“half-price dentistry,” “discount crowns”)
• Be cautious of practices, often corporate practices, and larger corporate chains, that use aggressive sales techniques to encourage immediate treatment decisions, including limited-time offers like ‘If you pay X dollars today, you’ll receive X% off your treatment.’ There should be no pressure when dealing with your oral health…just thorough information to make your informed decision
• Dentists who refer everything out — implants to one specialist, root canals to another, extractions to a third — without performing comprehensive care themselves
• Any office that can’t brag about their laboratory.

Our Approach

We don’t run specials or pressure patients into treatment. Dr. Boren will tell you honestly what you need, what can wait, and what your options are. He was the #1 clinical student in his dental class at Creighton University, has practiced in St. George for 30+ years, and handles everything in-house: implants, root canals, extractions, bone grafting, crowns, and full-mouth reconstruction.

If you’d like a second opinion on work that’s been recommended elsewhere, or simply want an honest evaluation of where your dental health stands, we offer complimentary consultations. No pressure — just straight answers.

Call (435) 674-9476 or schedule online.