Dental Care Hard to Come By>> > > Why?

   Now I have a great dentist, I trust him, he's competent, pain free and honest.  I can't take my mom there because he's one of those radical maverick dentists who refuses to have his treatments dictated to by an insurance company.  I like this about him but, it's not my money.  Mom's in a HMO.  What does tis mean, well, it means that the dentist who's across the street from her apartment will only take PPO patients not HMO.  It means that I've got a long list of potential dentists and no way of knowing if any of them should be trusted with my mom.  She's a fine patient, although she won't recall why she's there or needs to be and will forget that the visit occurred, I want to make sure she has good consistent care and because she can't remember, how can she tell me whether she's treated well.  I called several dentists, all near her, some like the HMO hater, won't see her, others don't answer their phones, preferring patients to leave messages which they return days later, still others are located in areas I find myself hesitating to traverse without protection.  Hence the dilemma.   My dentist will see her almost immediately, answers the phone immediately and has an emergency number if you need it.  However, he'd like to be the one to determine what she needs, on the schedule that works for her and he'd like to get paid a not unreasonable amount to do the work.  Of course, we are now scheduled for an appointment, the soonest was August 18, while I worry that she is not receiving what she needs, when she needs it or whether her insurance is forcing us to a devil's bargain.