There are nearly 320 million people in America. Often a crisis happens when there is not enough supply to meet the demand. In dentistry the opposite has happened. The number of dentists graduating from dental school increases annually, yet the number of patients to dentists continues to decrease. On top of that, a large portion of the population fears going to the dentist. The top 7 reasons people won't see a dentist are, 1) Cost, 2) Dental Anxiety, 3) Fear of needing dental work, 4) Fear of the instruments or technology, 5) Bad past experiences, 6) Too busy, 7) Fear of getting lectured by the dentist. Even with the advancements in dentistry, both in training and technology, only 60% of people ages 18-65 visit the dentist, on average. There's approximately 130 million people in America who can't afford to go to the dentist because they don't have insurance or can't afford the out-of-pocket expenses. Despite the government's best efforts to make preventative health care affordable to Americans dental care continues to take a back seat. There's a long-running belief that oral health isn't as critical as physical health. This belief continues to devalue oral health in the eyes of the public, and the understanding that the mouth is the gateway to the body. Information you won't ever see published, until now, is how a patient should go about effectively finding and evaluating the dentist that is right for them and their family. Despite the rapid pace at which dentists are graduating and the standardization of the training and education, not all dentists are created equally. At the same time not all patients are properly suited for every dentist. With all the information available about dentists, on or offline, you can easily find yourself more confused than informed. Dr. Dine's career as a general dentist has spanned more than 40 years. He opened and built his practice from the ground up. This ground-breaking book discusses the most critical things a patient should look for, consider and understand when they start their search for a new dentist. Every page is based on Dr. Dine's education post dental school, or as he refers to it, "The School of Hard Knocks". For the first time a doctor has written a book on dentistry from the patient's perspective. No patient should ever be mistreated or settle for poor dental care. This book was written to help you avoid that pain.