How Reliable are Dentists’ Reviews – Should You Take Them Seriously?

Online Reviews and Ratings

Oral health is something that affects your overall health, which is why finding a dentist you can trust is so important. Google “dentists reviews near me,” to find an oral care professional is a great first step, but that is all it is, a first step. Go one step further to go through the reviews to find out what their customer’s experiences really are why they rate the dentist as they do. Yes, online reviews and ratings are a very good way to gauge how well a dentist is meeting the needs of their current patients, which is a good reflection of what experience you will likely encounter.

A Bad Review Isn’t An End All

No matter how hard you try, you aren’t ever going to make everyone happy! There will always be those who are bound to find fault. If you are reading online reviews and ratings, if you see that there is a significant outlier, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to take just one seed’s word for it. One bad review is not the end all, be all, nor can one person talk for the masses!

Did They Respond?

Just because you have one more two people that have had a less than wonderful experience, that doesn’t necessarily define the quality of care that everyone received. The key to finding out how responsive a dentist is, is to go further and see if they responded to the review and took steps to make things right. A company that cares enough to follow up, cares period. Before you just take one poor rating as “the word,” take the time to read both sides, not just one!

How Many Reviews Do They Have?

If you have three people reviewing you, it isn’t very hard to get a five-star rating. The more reviews you get, the more likely you are going to find out what the average client says. While reading the reviews and seeing the average number of stars, make sure to take into account how many people have chimed in. If you have two thousand and only three unhappy customers, that isn’t a reflection of the business. If they have three and one really bad rating, that just might be.

Read the Details

Some people are just more critical than others. What is five-star to one person might be 4.5 to another. Sure, we would all like to rate perfection, but the reality is some people hold onto that five and only give it to a small minority. Others see five-star as doing the best that you could. Although you are looking for five-stars, 4.5 is still way above the average, so temper the star rating, not everyone can be perfect all the time!
If you want to find a reliable dentist, is Google “dentist reviews near me,” enough to truly find the best? It might not be a perfect way to find what you need, but it is about as close as you are going to get to interviewing dentists yourself, and who has time for that? At Dr. Tatum Smiles, we have an excellent rating because we care. Read our online reviews and ratings to see what our customers are saying today!

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