Choosing a dentist can feel like guesswork. Christopher Sprout, a dentist in Denver, Colorado, has a clear view of what to look for — and it has little to do with the flashiest office or the brightest before-and-after photo. For Christopher Sprout, the signs of a good dentist are quieter and more telling.
These are the questions Christopher Sprout wishes more patients felt free to ask, because the answers reveal how a practice really works.
Look for a Dentist Who Asks Questions
The first thing Christopher Sprout would tell a patient to notice is whether the dentist asks questions before reaching for a tool. A dentist who wants to know about your goals, your habits, and your history is gathering the information a good plan depends on.
Sprout treats that opening conversation as part of the diagnosis. A dentist who skips it, in his view, is more likely to treat the obvious symptom and miss the cause behind it.
Christopher Sprout suggests paying attention to whether the dentist remembers the answers, too. A practice that tracks a patient’s goals and history over time is one built around the person.
A dentist who listens once and forgets, by contrast, is treating visits as isolated events rather than a relationship.
Function Before Appearance
A bright smile is easy to sell and easy to admire, but Christopher Sprout, DDS, would steer a patient toward a dentist who cares about how the teeth work — not only how they look. The way the teeth meet and the jaw moves determines whether dental work will last.
Sprout has seen attractive work fail because the bite was never mapped. A dentist who designs the appearance around the function is protecting the patient from repairs down the line.
Sprout encourages patients to ask a simple question: will this hold up? A dentist who can explain how a result will wear over time is thinking past the appointment — which is what a patient wants.
Sprout sees a clear explanation about durability as a basic sign of respect for the patient’s time and money.
A Focus on Prevention
The best dentistry, Christopher Sprout argues, is often the kind nobody notices — the cavity caught early, the crack found before it splits a tooth. A dentist who emphasizes prevention is one who values the patient’s long-term health over a busy schedule of procedures.
Sprout suggests patients pay attention to whether a dentist treats the quiet checkup as important. That routine visit — the one easiest to skip — is usually the one that saves the most trouble and expense.
He also points to how a practice talks about cost. A dentist focused on prevention tends to frame care as protecting the patient from larger bills later, not as a list of procedures to schedule.
A practice that pushes patients toward the most expensive option, he notes, is showing its priorities.
Someone Who Treats the Whole Person
Finally, Christopher Sprout would point a patient toward a dentist who sees the mouth as connected to the rest of the body. Sleep, stress, and daily habits all leave their mark on the teeth, and a dentist who asks about them is more likely to find the real source of a problem.
That whole-person view is the through-line of Sprout’s own practice in Colorado. A dentist who treats the person, not just the tooth, he believes, is the one most likely to get the care right the first time.
Christopher Sprout, DDS, would tell a patient that the right dentist is curious about them as a person. That curiosity, more than any single credential, is what tends to produce care that fits.
Christopher Sprout, DDS, has built his own practice around exactly that kind of curiosity — and he encourages patients to expect it elsewhere.
Read about Christopher Sprout’s approach to dentistry in Colorado, or see what to expect on a first visit. More about Christopher Sprout, DDS.