Your dentist doesn't give you alternative treatment options.

Your dentist doesn't give you alternative treatment options.
Options are so important when a dentist presents a treatment plan,” says Dr. Gross. “Your dentist needs to be well-versed enough to give you different ways of fixing your dental problems. She needs to figure out what fits the patient best: Is the patient dental-phobic? What can she afford? The last thing you want is for a patient to walk out the door without any treatment because she couldn’t find an option that worked for her.”


Most dental problems have several treatment options and, according to Dr. Cooper, you and your doctor should be discussing each one before you decide on a course of treatment. "Whether it's a small cavity, a large cavity or an infection, your dentist should be telling you what the options are, what the advantages and disadvantages are of each, and then together you should be able to make your way through all those options to figure out what is best for you," she says.