I lucked out recently by happening upon the best dentist ever! His name, honest to goodness, is Dr Powers. I had a dental emergency, he saw me, with no insurance, extracted the tooth, prescribed the required meds, and let me know that the pharmacy down the street was cheaper than the office pharm. He also gave me a list of treatments he wanted me to have once my dental insurance finally kicked in so that if I chose to go with a different dentist, or get a second opinion, I would know exactly what he wanted to do, and what his prices were. He also gave me alternatives for permenent and temporary fixes, weighing the benefits of an extraction against a root canal, and many other things.
I love Dr Powers, and he will even see my kids, too!
My previous dentist, on the other hand, was the root of all evil! I have some very, very, crooked bottom teeth, braces did not fix them, the roots are growing crossways. Oral surgery, or extraction and a partial denture are the only way these will be taken care of. Evil dentist told me that my teeth were only so crooked because I was too fat! He also told me that I was lieing about not being able to floss in between two of them (when all my other teeth were nicely flossed, why would I skip flossing just between these two), tried to do it himself, and ended up getting a sliver of floss caught in my gums..minor surgery to remove. He would show up late for appointments, always insisted that if I had a morning appointment I not eat first, so he wouldn't have to smell any lingering food odors, and was just a general A&&.
When I finally realized that I had a spine, I reported him to the insurance company, the dental board, the BBB and anyone else I could get to listen. My report was the final one needed to pull his dental liscence in the state, and he no longer practices in MN.