Do You Take Your Kids to a Pediatric Dentist?

We've done both. But the pediatric dentist was much more patient, explained everything as she worked and really put my kids at ease. A dentist may be kid-friendly but it's not the same as one who is especially geared towards children and making them feel safe.

There are always cancellations if you want to get in before Sept. Ask the office if they can put you on their cancellation list, and if it's OK to call them once a week or so to see if any openings come up.

I would stick with the pedi dentist. They actually are required to have additional schooling than "kid-friendly" regular dentists.

We have a pediatric dentist and I wouldn't have it any other way! Wait til sept---- unless you know for a fact that the adult dentist is fine.

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only will do pediatric dentist s for my kids. they are the best trained for all types of personalities.

My kids have always gone to our regular dentist with the exception of once when my daughter chipped a tooth before she had ever been to a dentist and the doctor sent us to a ped. to get it fixed.
Our regular dentist is AWESOME with kids. My son had several root canals done when he was younger and never even knew he's had a shot! My daugther is now job shadowing our dentist and he has offered to help her with dental school and bring her into the practice when she graduates dental school.
I think it just depends on the individual dentist whether they are good with kids or not. The regullar dentist won't have all the bells and whistles as the ped. but we have had wonderful experiences with ours.
Good luck!

I do now. But before that, he used to go with me to my dentist and he did just fine...he was good and she was great with him.

I guess it depends on the kids ages.

Mine are 4y and 10y and have only been to a Pediatric. They're tools and such are smaller for smaller mouths.

I do not take my daughter to a pedadontist. She is 10 now, but I never did. My dentist is REALLY good with her, so we just went there.

I take my kids to a pediatric dentist and if he moved away I would find another one! Going to the dentist can be such a frightening/undesirable experience for a child but a pediatric dentist knows how to make it enjoyable for kids and parents. I say find another pediatric dentist if you can!Good luck!
A.

I take mine to a pediatric dentist now just because they have that extra training to deal with kids under a certain age and the medications, etc. When they are older, I should think a regular dentist should be fine.

Our oldest we have taken her to a pediatric dentist for years she is now 17. She hated that when she turned 17 this year she was being let go. We took her to another dentist and she missed the friendly personal treatment of a pediatric dentist office, more gentle, explained all they were doing and the less wait time. Now our 2 year old will start going to that pediatric dentist and our teen is a little sad but happy for her little sister.

Our kids go to our dentist. They are not a 'pediatric' one but are very kid friendly. They have tvs in front of every chair - for adults and kids. And a treasure box for the kids after they are done. So far we're very pleased and we can get our cleanings at the same time!

I took my daughter to the Pediatric dentist up until last year. She is 16 now. We started when she was around 2 but before that, she'd go with me to my dentist and get her teeth "counted", just to get her accustomed to the dentist.

I loved our pediatric dentist and they were great with children. We only stopped because he died and we were not crazy about the new dentist who took over. She just did not have the personality and things were completely different in the office after his death.

Daughter was old enough at that time to move on and she chose to go to our regular dentist since then.

Given your 2yo, I would suggest waiting until September for the pediatric dentist. Frankly, it's not that long unless you have an emergency tooth issue.

And I don't think they even tried to clean my daughter's teeth until she was 3. Before that, they were mostly counting her teeth to get her used to them looking in her mouth while telling me how to care for her teeth. Between the attention, the pink toothbrush, and getting to choose a toy from the box, my kiddo was a happy camper and loves the dentist. She's had two cleanings now with no issues, which is saying a lot for a strong-willed kiddo with sensory issues! (Yes, we go to a pediatric dentist.)

My kids saw a pediatric dentist until their last check up. They are 6 and 8 yrs old. I love my dentist so I brought them to him. Our pediatric dentist was good but I knew deep down if my kids ever needed any work done that I would prefer if my dentist did it. They both did great at their first check up with him.

We go to a family dentist. She is registered as a pediatric dentist AND a family dentist and her office is completely child friendly. If you can't find a pediatric dentist that can take you in when you're hoping to get in, then start looking for a family dentist. You may have better luck. Interview the staff, interview the dentist, and if you know anyone who uses them ask them questions.

Your best method, actually, is to ask people you know locally. Ask neighbors or if you're on friendly terms with your kids' friends' parents then ask the parents. You'll get some great recommendations that way.

I think it depends on how you feel about your dentist. At first I wasn't really planning on taking my kids to a pediatric dentist, but I decided that I didn't really love my dentist and if I didn't like going there I wasn't going to take my 3 y/o there!! So, I found a pediatric dentist that I love (and wish I could attend!;) and now she goes there. But, if you are happy with your office then I see no reason why you can't take your kids there. It's probably easier and I'm sure they deal with kids!

No. But the dentist have years and years of experience dealing with kids. I wish he would get my DD to stop sucking her thumb and bitting her nails.

Yes, we do, and we like them. Their whole environment is built for kids and older kids get to wear sunglasses for cleanings. DD has poor enamel and we had to have frequent visits for about a year when she was not quite 1 til about 2 yrs old. I'm glad we used a pediatric dentist with their tools and experience with really little kids. Something that helped my DD was bringing in her doll and the dentist treated the doll first and then treated DD. Our "family" dentist doesn't start to see kids til they are older. DD is below his age range.

I think it depends on the dentist and the kids' temperaments. We took our kids to a pediatric dentistry practice for their first checkups and it was an excellent kid-friendly office but very pricey if you were paying out of pocket instead of by insurance, so for their subsequent dental visits they've been going to the same dentist office as my DH and I. This works for us because 1) our dentist has a very easygoing personality to go with his dental expertise and his daughter went to the same school as our kids so he could easily talk to our kids about school and their teachers; 2) our kids are fairly easygoing at medical appointments. But if either of those conditions weren't the case, we'd probably have paid the extra $ for the ped dentist.

My regular dentist! She's been fine as she used to watch me (even fell asleep on my when she was little). Since she wasn't on my insurance, they did a small cleaning deal and checked hte teeth; afterwards, she did get the full deal and was ok.

Now, she wasn't too happy w/the dentist over him having to numb up a root area to pull her first two teeth! Only time she cried at the dentist - but he didn't want it to hurt her when he pulled them as the roots were dissolving and permanent teeth were coming in way behind. (she was quite happy w/the tooth fairy tho! *L*)

We take our kid to our dentist, who is awesome. We've followed him between 3 different offices, he finally started his own practice, and even though it's way over in Overland Park, that's where we go. I have super sensitive teeth and he does a great job on them. He's great on adults and kids.

really, it depends on the dentist. I think if you have a great dentist with a good personality your kid will be fine. We use a regular dentist, actually gum specialist (can't remember the term), and he's fantastic with our daughter, even though the office is not kid friendly. Our dentist/hygienist took several visits before they even tried a cleaning (she's now almost 3) so that she'd be comfortable. They are watching a couple of cavities until they feel she needs them filled, because he wants her to have good experiences at the dentist, and so she won't be terrified going forward. They gave us special toothpaste, and they monitor carefully to make sure that they aren't going to be a problem. I feel better off with him than with just a random pediatric dentist, because I know he's really good at what he does and very gentle. Just because a dentist is "pediatric" they could be a lousy dentist, or rough. And you wouldn't know because you can't use them yourself!