An excellent article but finding a good dentist is as problematic as finding a good GP or a good surgeon.
Personal recommendations seem all that is available since the medical profession makes outcomes opaque and actions taken against practitioners all but impossible to learn about. My current dentist seems to be at the 80th percentile in fees but he does brilliant work with crowns. Would I be happy to pay less for the same skill? Absolutely, but how am I going to find it in a practical sense.
Therein lies a problem, discussed briefly in another topic whereby multiple dentists provided differing prognoses and recommendations. At the end of the day knowing costs is but one part of the information needed to make our own calls re our provider.
