Online dental reviews can be very helpful but can also be misleading. Groups of companies have popped up to write favorable reviews for dentists to overcome legitimate bad reviews. Also, it can be a challenge to see if the positive reviews were written by family or office staff. Likewise, bad reviews may have been written by competitors trying to get people to keep looking until they are found.

After reading a few of the many dentist reviews, you'll see trends that indicate if they are legitimate or not. Date ranges on the reviews provide some clues. If 100 reviews were posted in one day and no others were written in the prior 5 years, it's a sign of bogus reviews. Even 100 reviews in a week or two indicate 'bogosity' if all are positive and their are hardly any other reviews to be found on this dentist despite a history of greater than one month. Call a dentist or, even better, go along and see the dental clinic for yourself; you will get a ‘feel’ for the place as soon as you step into the reception area.