Your advice is odd. There are high speed and slow speed handpieces. Slow speed handpieces are not water cooled and the RPMs do not get high enough to do damage to the nerve. High speed handpieces can damage the nerve and are always water cooled (at least if you buy them these days in America).
You're opinion on not going to a dentist who has graduated in the last few years is amusing. In America, most dentist get paid on either production or collection. Payment based on production is getting paid a percentage based on the treatments you bill the patient for, while collection is getting paid a percentage on what you actually collect (which is generally lower because of insurance, etc). Also, If a dentist just bought into a practice or bought an existing practice, that dentist has anywhere from 200K-1MM in loans. This likely outweighs whatever they might have paid for dental school. Because of this, almost all dentists are incentivized to "sell you dental work you might not really need." However, there are good dentists and bad dentists as there are in all professions. As with your primary care physician, it's best to build a relationship over many years with somebody you know and trust.
I'd also like to point out that dentistry, like computers, changes. New materials and techniques are invented all the time. In the dental profession, continuing education is required, but there is a lot of flexibility and most of it is just showing up to the class. This means recent graduates have less experience, but they might have improved technique and more recent technical knowledge.
I can't speak to your personal anecdotes, but I've met a lot of bad dentists too. I don't yet have a good filter for determining a good dentist or a bad dentist.
(Disclosure: Take this for what it is worth. My wife graduated from a top dental school and I know a huge number of dentists. )
Do you have any pointers at all on picking a dentist? I'm currently trying to find one, and aside from Yelp (not very helpful) I have no way to make heads or tails of anyone...
In general, I would talk to family and friends and get a recommendation on a personable dentist that will actually take time with you. Word of mouth is really your best bet.
I would try and stay away from larger practices where a dentist owns multiple offices. Not that there is anything wrong with multiple practices, but it's a broad filter for getting rid of dentists who are overly profit focused.
I would only go to a dentist that thinks amalgam is perfectly safe to use. Largely because there is no science to support otherwise and removing amalgam fillings actually releases more mercury. I like medical providers to believe strongly in science.
In many states you can look a dentist up with the state dental board and see if any action has been taken against the dentist by the board. For example, North Carolina's can be found here: http://www.ncdentalboard.org/license_verification.htm and you can also find out if they've ever had their license suspended.
Here's a slight hack that involves a little effort: call up the dental offices in your area and ask them who covers the dentist's emergencies when they are out of town.
This should give you an idea of who is respected among the dentists themselves.
You're opinion on not going to a dentist who has graduated in the last few years is amusing. In America, most dentist get paid on either production or collection. Payment based on production is getting paid a percentage based on the treatments you bill the patient for, while collection is getting paid a percentage on what you actually collect (which is generally lower because of insurance, etc). Also, If a dentist just bought into a practice or bought an existing practice, that dentist has anywhere from 200K-1MM in loans. This likely outweighs whatever they might have paid for dental school. Because of this, almost all dentists are incentivized to "sell you dental work you might not really need." However, there are good dentists and bad dentists as there are in all professions. As with your primary care physician, it's best to build a relationship over many years with somebody you know and trust.
I'd also like to point out that dentistry, like computers, changes. New materials and techniques are invented all the time. In the dental profession, continuing education is required, but there is a lot of flexibility and most of it is just showing up to the class. This means recent graduates have less experience, but they might have improved technique and more recent technical knowledge.
I can't speak to your personal anecdotes, but I've met a lot of bad dentists too. I don't yet have a good filter for determining a good dentist or a bad dentist.
(Disclosure: Take this for what it is worth. My wife graduated from a top dental school and I know a huge number of dentists. )