{"id":271049,"date":"2026-02-06T18:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271049\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:25:08","slug":"dentist-with-40-years-of-experience-shares-9-important-questions-you-should-ask-before-you-agree-to-any-dental-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271049\/","title":{"rendered":"Dentist with 40 years of experience shares 9 important questions you should ask before you agree to any dental treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an era of high-tech procedures and rising healthcare costs, one US dentist is urging patients to take a beat before opening wide. Dr Mark Burhenne, a San Francisco-based dentist with four decades of experience, has shared a guide on how to navigate dental recommendations. Also read | Dentist shares real reason you should flush your mouthwash down the toilet: ‘Double risk of high blood pressure…’<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HereHere are 9 questions to ask your dentist before treatment, as recommended by Dr Mark Burhenne. (Freepik)<\/p>\n

On February 4, Dr Burhenne shared his insights in an Instagram post with a clear message: the most expensive or immediate treatment isn’t always the best one. “Before you agree to dental treatment<\/a>, pause \u2014 and ask these questions,” Dr Burhenne advised. \u201cNot to challenge your dentist… but because good dentistry should always be able to explain itself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The philosophy of ‘no dentistry’<\/p>\n

Dr Burhenne\u2019s approach leans toward conservative dentistry, a philosophy that prioritises preserving natural tooth structure whenever possible. He contended that a transparent dialogue between patient and dentist could actually prevent the need for future work.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe best dentistry is no dentistry. The right dentist will be able to do excellent work and help you prevent needing work down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What is the least invasive way to treat this?\u2019<\/p>\n

Here are the questions Dr Burhenne recommended asking your dentist before a treatment:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Do you incorporate nutritional counseling into your treatment plans?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What kind of fillings do you use \u2014 and why?<\/p>\n

\u2022 How can I access safer materials if my insurance is restrictive?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What is the least invasive way to treat this?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What are the risks and benefits of this procedure?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Can this tooth decay be remineralised?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Are you able to explain what you\u2019re seeing so I can understand it (or get a second opinion)?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Is this cavity<\/a> an incipient lesion? If so, how might I reverse it myself at home?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Can we monitor this instead of treating it immediately?<\/p>\n

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.<\/p>\n

This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an era of high-tech procedures and rising healthcare costs, one US dentist is urging patients to take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[153407,153403,153408,134,527,153405,111,139,153404,69,153406],"class_list":{"0":"post-271049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-conservative-dentistry","9":"tag-dentist-questions","10":"tag-dentist-shares-9-important-questions-to-ask-before-you-start-a-dental-treatment","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-least-invasive-treatment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nutritional-counseling","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-tooth-decay-remineralisation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}