11 qualities of a good orthodontist

Everyone visits an orthodontist at one point or another. Teeth development is a complex process, one that also takes time and a lot of patience. Most of the time, we do not pay enough attention to how our teeth are developing until we encounter issues. The result of such neglect is having to visit an orthodontist. But it is also in our best interest to choose the best orthodontist that is available to us. How do we do that? By making sure to be on the lookout for the most important qualities of a good orthodontist. In this article, Consumer Opinion Guide is going to present you with eleven qualities that you need to be looking for in your orthodontist of choice. We will provide you with an explanation of each quality, of course, showcasing why each and every one of them is so important.

11 qualities of a good orthodontist

• Trustworthy
• Detail-oriented
• Adaptable
• Great with patients
• Passionate
• Good listener
• Professional
• Communicative
• Top-rated
• Leadership qualities
• Expertise

As you can see, there is a lot of things that you need to look for. It is highly unlikely that your orthodontist is going to have a “5-star rank” in each quality, so you will want to prioritize. For example, if you are not taking your kids to the orthodontist, you can safely ignore if they are not as good with children as they are with adults. However, some qualities are applicable regardless of the patient’s age. Namely:

A good orthodontist needs to be trustworthy

This is the basic quality that every orthodontist you are considering needs to have. Being able to fully trust your medical professional is a vital component in any medical care, teeth included. You need to be relaxed when someone is “fiddling” inside your mouth with sharp metallic objects, after all. And that means that you need to trust the person who is doing the fiddling.

If at any point you stop being confident with your orthodontist, it may be time to choose a new one. The orthodontic treatment process usually takes years. Meaning that if you do not choose another dentist, you will be in for quite a lot of stress down the proverbial road. Ideally, you need to be completely at ease. Even during painful procedures (they are sometimes unavoidable). But a good orthodontist always earns the patient’s trust by alleviating the pain by application of all the necessary steps.

Detail-oriented

Correcting teeth is a lot less straightforward than some of the other dental procedures. This means that attention to detail is extremely important. It is, therefore, a quality that a good orthodontist needs to have. Sometimes it can be difficult to see whether the patient’s teeth condition has improved, meaning that people who lack attention to detail will have a hard time.

Additionally, as most orthodontic procedures involve prosthetics, different types of braces, as well as Invisalign, the orthodontist needs to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the patient might experience serious pain and the whole recovery process might be slowed or entirely derailed. Even a small misalignment when it comes to prosthetics can be quite miserable for the patient. Thus, you want someone who is detail-oriented.

Somewhat artistic and innovative

Now, this may be somewhat difficult to understand. Why do you want your orthodontist to be artistic? The answer to that is that every patient’s situation is unique. While there are solutions that are proven to work, an artistic flair is required for tailor-made solutions. You want your dentist to be capable of adapting to situations that are “outside of the box”, so to speak.

Furthermore, your orthodontist is responsible for creating a beautiful smile for you, which means that they need to be able to craft a custom solution that is best for you, specifically.

Being great with patients is vital

Some orthodontists are absolutely amazing when it comes to working with adults but struggle when they need to work with children. They might not be friendly enough, or incapable of making the child relax, for example. A good orthodontist, however, creates rapport with children almost effortlessly. This is not something that you can really quantify, as children have their own, acute, ways of knowing whether they can trust someone or not.

If you are planning on having your kids visit the orthodontist, this is one of the qualities of a good orthodontist that you absolutely can’t neglect. Even if your orthodontist is nigh-perfect in all other qualities, if they can’t interact well with children, it all may be for naught.

Passion for their job is one of the very important qualities of a good orthodontist

The best professionals are those who love their job. That means that they take great pride and achievement in every procedure, every patient. You don’t want to visit an orthodontist that seems to want to be anywhere else than in his office, after all. What you want is a professional that cares about more than just the bottom line.

You can easily spot such individuals by the degree of interest they show in their patients. Good orthodontists always check up on their patient’s progress, do regular follow-ups, and want the best results for you. The passion for their job makes it so that your success leads to their satisfaction. You want to work with such orthodontists, trust us.

Your orthodontist should be a good listener

Being a good listener is a skill, a skill that takes quite a while to master. It means that you have set aside your preconceived notions and let your inquisitive nature “take the wheel“. A good orthodontist carefully listens to their patients, their problems, and issues, and then finds adequate solutions.

Professionalism is very important

Let us put this up there straight away. Your orthodontist is not your friend, at least not when you are there for a medical procedure. They need to maintain the highest standard of professionalism throughout all interactions with their patients. This does not mean that they can’t make jokes to make patients relax, or be friendly, though. What it does mean is that they need to possess adequate training, that they are properly licensed and certified, with enough hands-on patient experience.

Communication is another key aspect of any good dental care provider

Most patients experience a degree of fear before they come into the orthodontist’s office. Your ideal orthodontist knows this and is proficient in close and open communication. They will allay your fears and suspicions, and make you feel almost at ease before the procedure. This is an extremely hard skill to master, however, as each patient might require a certain approach. And the orthodontist needs to figure this out almost instantly. This is what separates good orthodontists from great ones. The ability to put their patients at ease, and even anticipate the next visit, despite the fact that it might be painful.

A good orthodontist has great reviews

All the great orthodontists have excellent reviews. That being said, the chances of any of them having impeccable, 5-star, reviews are pretty much zero. The reason for this is that you simply can’t please everyone, no matter how good you are, no matter how hard you try.

The important thing that you need to be looking at is the satisfaction that most people get with the services that a particular orthodontist provides. If they are doing good work, you will have no shortage of colorful, detailed, and happy reviews. Don’t fuss over the negative reviews too much, provided that there are in the overwhelming minority.

Good leadership qualities

What does leadership have to do with orthodontists, you may ask? Well, your orthodontist is in charge of numerous people that work to get you that perfect smile you deserve. They work with brace sculptors, hygienists, as well as numerous other specialists. They are the person in charge, in other words. And that means that they need to be a good leader for the whole “machine” to function optimally.

Your orthodontist needs to have enough authority and respect to give orders and have them obeyed while allowing for feedback within stipulated timelines. Teeth care is not all about your orthodontist, after all, there are many professionals involved. And they need a good leader.

Expertise

Needless to say, you want your orthodontist to be a true expert in the field. But being an expert is quite different from being competent, knowledgeable, and confident. An expert always desires to get more knowledge and improve their mastery of the field. The best orthodontists are always “pushing the limits” of their knowledge, always willing to further their understanding of oral care. This is what allows them to come up with the most effective treatment plans and offer the best results to their patients. You can say, in fact, that this is one of the most important qualities of a good orthodontist. Perhaps even the most important one.

Choose from a vetted and informed list based on reviews

The fact of the matter is that researching all those orthodontists will take time and energy. Not everyone has the willpower to go through all that and most are likely to opt for the first orthodontist they come across. Consumer Opinion Guide understands this, which is why our team does all the grunt work to provide customers with a premium selection of professional products and services in the U.S. We gather and go through all the data and chew it up so that you don’t have to. Save your bite for more important matters and consult our industry lists for the best options!