Hi Curly,
While it's definitely not as easy to find information about dentists
as doctors, there are nevertheless a few different free online sources
for you to use to look for this kind of information in New Jersey.
First of all, here's a link to the State of New Jersey, Department of
Law and Public Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs, Online Licensee
Directories:http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/consumeraffairs/search/searchentry.pl
Select the directory for "Dentist," then type in any combination of
the dentist's name and the city in which s/he practices. You'll
receive a listing that includes the dentist's license number, license
status, expiration date and a list of any pending or completed
sanctions or disciplinary actions against him or her.
Here's a link to another page that also will return information about
any adverse actions against a New Jersey dentist:
http://www.4dds.org/nj.htm However, it appears their information is
drawn from the previous NJ state resource. There is also an address
and phone number for the NJ State Board of Dentistry that you might
contact to see what further information may be publicly available.
Another resource for you to check is the American Dental Association.
While membership is not an automatic guarantee of professional
quality, it is a good indication the the dentist in question has at
least passed muster for membership and is interested in pursuing
professional goals. As they say, their directory "is intended for use
by the general public as a reference source of demographic and
professional information on individual dentists in the United States."
http://www.ada.org/public/directory/index.html
Also, you might like to check out their FAQs for suggestions on things
to look for when choosing a dentist:
http://www.ada.org/public/faq/finddentist.html#find
The same holds true for the NJ Dental Association. The page to search
for member dentists is here:
http://www.njda.org/public/03commcntr/03_directory.html
Then, here's a site with some general links having some good
information and advice about selecting a dentist:
http://www.healthfinder.gov/scripts/SearchContext.asp?topic=2619&Branch=3
and here's an excellent article from "New Jersey Monthly" about how to
locate a good dentist:
http://www.njmonthly.com/issues/July02/dentist.html They also mention
a list of New Jersey's top dentists, but that list is not posted
online.
This site from the University of Pittsburg contains many general links
(not limited to their area) that you can visit for information ranging
from specialists' associations to lists of other internet dental
resources:
http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/intres/health/dental.html
As to finding out where any particular dentist went to school,
unfortunately at this time that doesn't appear possible to do freely
online. Likely you'd have to ask the dentist, and then attempt to
verify his/her graduation by contacting the school directly. Some
schools will cooperate; others have strict policies as to who may and
may not receive such information and for what purpose.
One other thing to keep in mind is that if the dentist in question is
more than just a General Dentist, that is, if s/he is say, an Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgeon, then s/he will also likely be listed in online
medical (doctor) resource lists, which may have more information.
If anything isn't clear, please do ask for clarification before rating
and closing the question, so I can be sure you're satisfied with the
information provided.
Best wishes,
--Byrd |
