There are some things in life that finding the lowest cost makes sense. Video equipment in one store is the same as another, so the lowest price is a wise search. But in health care, is that really a good idea? Would a discount brain surgeon be worth the savings (although in the end, if you are a vegetable, do you really care?)?
A fair amount of our cosmetic cases are redoing work from another dentist. There are many fantastic dentists out there that really do a wonderful job with cosmetics, but there seem to be MORE that just sit back and pray that the end result is nice. And for some people, that is all they want.
If I am redoing work done by others, did the people REALLY save any money?
The fee is NOT less when redoing the work, it is often MORE expensive,since there is MORE work needed when fixing a botched case. Sometimes when originally 8-10 veneers is all that was needed, a redo is 8-10 veneers AND a few root canals or implants.
There is no official or recognized specialty in cosmetic dentistry, so any dentist can claim to do cosmetics. This puts the burden on the patient to do their homework to determine if their chosen dentist is capable. Common methods are to ask for photos of cases they have personally done (and not photos that were purchased in a catalog), to ask for testimonials of satisfied patients, or to ask where they got their cosmetic training.
Dr Timmerman has done hundreds of hours in cosmetic training including courses at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies. As a graduate of LVI he has attained a level of training that less than 2% of dentists nationally have achieved.
