Two dentists can offer two different treatment plans based on a few reasons. First, if the patient were seen on a different day, the tooth may have had some changes, or your overall health may have changed. Different treatment may be needed.
The second possibility is that the two dentists are trained differently. One may be more effective at root canals to save the tooth and just take care of the infected nerve. Some may be more expert in extractions, like our surgeon; they're not going to do the root canal for you. Different training does affect the treatment plan.
Sometimes, different doctors look at the whole mouth differently because sometimes we consider the overall financial cost. If we look at one single tooth, you may have multiple options. But if we look at your whole oral health, some doctors may help you navigate or narrow down the treatment options based on financial needs or your medical considerations. That's why different doctors give different treatment options.
Some doctors are more conservative, and some are more proactive, mainly because of their training background. Some doctors are trained by more conservative teachers. For my faculty in dental school, they were very conservative. They wanted to save tooth structure, they wanted to save the tooth nerve, and they wanted to save the tooth until the tooth really gave up on us. That's the philosophy our office has adopted because of the way we were trained, and sometimes additional training does change our treatment options.
For example, before we did laser training, for a lot of teeth or a lot of failing implants, we may have just said, "Okay, so much bone loss, so many issues. Let's take it out." But with additional training like the LNAP training and the laser training we had, we realized that with advanced technology, we have a lot of opportunities to save non-savable teeth or diseased implants. That's how we started changing our approach because we want to preserve what you have and get you healthy more conservatively.
Modern technology helps dentists diagnose different plans. Our scanners can use the light reflection of your teeth. That's a non-radiation way to detect early decay that may not show up on the X-ray. We also use certain AI tools to help us detail and measure bone loss or early cavities. That can help us quantify the significance of the gum disease and the amount of decay you have. That definitely helps us to have a second set of eyes to check, monitor, and provide the best quality care and early diagnosis.
What should patients consider when reviewing two different dental treatment plans and deciding which one is right for them?
When you're reviewing two different treatment plans, I would say always ask more questions. Money is a concern for everybody, but finding a doctor willing to listen to your main concern and willing to give you all the explanations. Find the treatment you feel more comfortable with.
Honestly, nobody really knows the 100% success rate. We give our best estimate, and always feel free to ask questions. Once you feel confident with the doctor about his or her ability to treat and communicate with you, you will have more ease in deciding which is the best treatment option for you.
For patients, we are all different genetically and habit-wise. Some of us see the dentist more often, so you may not have many dental problems. You brush twice a day, floss at least once a day, and maintain very good oral hygiene. Someone else could have a busy schedule. They may not do much for oral hygiene, or they may have some other issues, like taking medication that alters their protection for their oral health, such as dry mouth. A lot of high blood pressure medicine definitely changes the body's composition to defend oral health.
In that case, your doctor may give you some treatment that, for some patients with the same case, the low-risk patient may just get the filling done, but for the high-risk patient, we may put the medication on, or we may put the crown. Your overall health definitely changes the treatment plan, and we always look at you as a whole to provide the long-term and more predictable treatment option for you.
We treat you as a different individual. We need to consider your health, your general health, your home care, your oral health, and the most important thing for you, and then we will help you generate a personalized plan and prioritize for you to take care of the most urgent things and generate a personalized treatment plan that fits your budget and your long-term goal.
My recommendation for choosing between different dentists or different treatment plans is to ask questions and feel which one you can trust and feel comfortable with, and then go with your gut feeling, and normally it's always right.
If you’re ready to schedule an exam or would like to learn more about our services, we’d love to hear from you. Call us at (210) 866-8730 or email [email protected]. We look forward to caring for your smile.