A second opinion is an independent review of the treatment plan and X-rays you already have. You find out whether the work is needed before you agree to it.
This is for anyone handed a plan by another dentist. A crown, a root canal, an extraction, implants, or a full-mouth quote. You leave knowing what you need and what can wait.
Valley View Dental has three offices: Romeoville, Naperville, and Montgomery. The practice has been open for over two decades.
A second opinion earns its place when the treatment is expensive, invasive, or irreversible. Those are the three decisions you cannot undo later.
Four situations are worth the trip.
The quote runs into thousands of dollars, before anything has been started.
An extraction, a root canal, or dental implants change the tooth for good.
A long list arrived after one visit, with everything marked as needed.
Nobody explained why the crown is needed, in words you would use.
Your second opinion visit is one appointment, roughly . You leave with the treatment plan explained and nothing booked unless you ask.
Valley View Dental has 3D panoramic imaging, digital X-rays, and CEREC same-day crowns on site. A missing file does not stop the visit.
The X-rays, the written plan, the quote. If you do not have them, say so when you book.
An exam of the area in question, plus new digital X-rays only if the existing ones will not answer it.
What we see, what we would do, what we would leave alone, and a written estimate.
An honest treatment plan shows you the evidence, ranks the work by urgency, and prices it in writing. You can check all three yourself, before you agree to anything.
Four tests do the job, on any dentist, including us.
| You should see this | Ask more if you see this |
|---|---|
| Shown the X-ray or photo on screen | Told the finding, shown nothing |
| Work ranked by urgency | One long list, everything urgent |
| Written estimate before starting | A number said out loud, once |
| Options offered, including waiting | A single option, today only |
Six questions work on any dentist, in any chair. The answers tell you more than the treatment plan does.
Ask them where the plan was written, and ask them again at a second opinion visit.
A good answer names what changes and how fast. Silence, or the word urgent with no reason, is your cue to ask again.
You should end up looking at the screen. A dentist who cannot point at the problem is asking you to take it on faith.
Most findings have more than one route. You want the reason this route was chosen over the cheaper one.
A crown often needs work under it first. The written estimate should carry the likely follow-on, not just today’s line.
Ask for the split in writing. Coverage differs by plan and by year, so a spoken figure is not enough.
You want a discipline and a name. Valley View Dental keeps a prosthodontist, an oral surgeon, an endodontist, and an orthodontist in house.
Question 2 puts the X-rays on the screen where you can see them. Question 4 should produce a written estimate rather than a spoken figure. With question 5, dental insurance gets specific. Ask which line items your PPO plan pays, and what is left for you.
Question 6 is the one most practices dodge. Valley View Dental keeps a prosthodontist, an oral surgeon, an endodontist, and an orthodontist in house. The answer should be a discipline and a name, not a referral slip.
Your dentist works in a profession where a second opinion is ordinary, and the professional codes say so. You do not need permission, and you do not need to explain yourself.
Most people stall here. They worry they will offend the doctor who wrote the plan, or that the dentist will be upset with them. The codes point the other way.
The American Dental Association (ADA) puts a matching duty on the dentist. Its Code of Ethics says a dentist should seek consultation whenever that protects or advances a patient’s welfare. Consultation reads as part of good care in the code, not as a complaint about a colleague.
You owe nobody a reason either. You can request your records and X-rays without saying why you want them. Plenty of people never mention the second opinion to their first dentist, and nothing about that is unusual.
Your X-rays and records belong to your care, and your previous dentist should release them on request. One phone call or one email is usually all it takes.
Ask your current office to send them, or bring the copies you already hold. You do not have to give a reason. Under AAPD policy, a provider is expected to release your dental records and X-rays when you ask.
You can ask by phone or by email, and you do not have to give a reason.
We have 3D panoramic imaging and digital X-rays on site, so the visit still works.
| Row | Value |
|---|---|
| Typical elsewhere | $75 to $150 at Tilden Dental Group, Chicago, for the exam and any necessary X-rays. Their published figure, not ours. |
| Your plan | We check your benefits before you come in. |
The full accepted list runs to fifteen carriers: Aetna, Assurant, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Connection Dental (GEHA), Delta Dental, Dental Health Alliance, Dental Network of America, Guardian, Maverest, MetLife, Principal, Unicare, United Concordia, and UnitedHealthcare.
Treatment prices are quoted per person. An exam, a crown, an implant, Invisalign, dentures, and veneers are priced at a consultation. The work differs by mouth, so no figure is published here. If a plan you accept later needs spreading over months, Valley View Dental works with Cherry. That is on approved credit and subject to terms.
We start from where you are, not from where you should have been.
Tell us to stop and we stop, at any point in the visit.
For people who cannot take a weekday off work.
People who have stayed away from the dentist for years are often the ones holding the largest treatment plan. That is where a second opinion matters most, and it is also where nerves win. Being nervous about the visit is treated here as normal, not as a problem with you.
Dental anxiety gets worked around rather than argued with. Gentle and judgment-free is the whole of it. You set the pace, and stop means stop, which is what keeps the visit comfortable.
Valley View Dental has about thirteen hygienists, so the checks are not rushed. Saturday appointments exist for people who cannot take a weekday off.
A second opinion only threatens a treatment plan that could not survive being explained. So we welcome the question, including about the plans written here.
The position is easy to claim. What makes it checkable is who sits in the building. Valley View Dental keeps four specialists on staff, alongside more than ten dentists. Those are a prosthodontist, a board-certified oral surgeon, an endodontist, and an orthodontist. A specialist can look at the part of the plan that belongs to their discipline.
Crowns, bridges, dentures, and full-mouth restoration.
Extractions, wisdom teeth, and implant placement.
Root canals and the teeth that keep hurting after one.
Braces, aligners, and how the bite fits together.
The specialties that usually trigger a referral, meaning oral surgery, endodontics, orthodontics, and prosthodontics, are in house. The practice has been open for over two decades across Romeoville, Naperville, and Montgomery.
The American Dental Association (ADA) has an advisory opinion on second opinions. The dentist giving one should not have a stake in what gets recommended. We do have a stake, because we would carry out the work. So the four tests above apply here too, and we explain the plan until it makes sense to you.
Your treatment plan is the one thing to bring, with the X-rays if you have them. You will leave knowing what you need and what you do not.
Book a second opinion at Valley View Dental in Romeoville, Naperville, or Montgomery. Or call (630) 509-7933 and the team will find a time that works.
The booking form asks for contact and scheduling details only. No symptoms, no treatment history, nothing clinical.
Nothing is treated on the day unless you ask for it.
Get the smile you deserve today!