Do You Take Your Kids to a Pediatric Dentist or Your Family Dentist?

My dentist here in Florida doesn't see kids under 12. (I don’t think he has the patience for small children). I didn’t like the pediatric dentist we had in PA but the one my daughter sees here is wonderful.

My kids see a pediatric dentist, and we love her! She is great with kids and the office is set up so that it is fun and not intimidating.

I used a pediatric dentist for my children their whole childhood and still recommend my pediatric dentist. Even my pediatrician would have his wife drive from the north shore to Bloomingdale for this pediatric dentist.
I recommend Dr. McElroy in Bloomingdale by Stratford Square Mall. Their phone number is ###-###-####. Address: 231 S. Gary, #105.
Dr. Bill is patient, knowledgeable and the best I have seen.

My kids go to our family dentist. The staff there has always been great with them - patient, kind, and gentle. My kids actually look forward to going to the dentist, believe it or not!

We all go to our family dentist, the same one for close to twenty years now :)

I much prefer our family dentist . . . if I had it to do over again I would start there.

We've always been to a family dentist. The one we currently see is wonderful with the kids and has experience with Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism, so she's great with my autistic daughter. The place is also great if it's just you, an adult. They're child-friendly but they're not over the top and in your face with the cutesy poo stuff. That makes them very appealing to us. Other places we checked out where they were ALL KID ALL THE TIME LOOK HOW MUCH WE CATER TO KIDS! LOOK HOW KYOOT WE ARE! were too overwhelming and over-stimulating for the kids and, frankly, too annoying for me.

Regular dentist, he had 3 children so I knew he was used to kids.

We love the hygienist there, she is excellent.

There was one time he sent her to a pediatric dentist for surgery, and he was a dad from her school!

It helped her feel comfortable.

I used a ped dentist until they were teenagers. I felt it was very important.

If you don't like your ped dentist, try another one. The ped dentist is specially trained to work with young kids and sees them ALL DAY LONG. Your family dentist doesn't.

Dawn

All my kids have gone to our family dentist since their first appt. The office staff and hygienists are very family friendly. I schedule myself and the kids all on the same day with back-to-back appts. They get us all in and out in less than an hour (for 4 of us) and are great about helping me out with the younger ones when I am in the chair. They have all had wonderful dental experiences. I'd say if you feel your family dentist would be good with kids, if the office feels like a place that would work to make your kids comfortable then give it a try. I like having everyone at the same office and they can see the same provider for as long as they want.

my kids goes to a pedentist. heck id rather see a pedentist.

Family dentist. We haven't even tried a pediatric dentist though there are tons of them in our area. I trust our dentist and we all go to the same hygenist there. They do cater to kids (baskets of prizes for when the kids are done) but there isn't the kidlike decorating scheme! My daughter has done fine with our dentist and the long-term relationship has paid off big time as she has gone into braces -- our dentist has been very communicative with the orthodontist and vice versa. It's all about the individual dentists, I think. If you are having issues with you ped. dentist by all means make the change.

Hi love-

My kiddos have all gone to a pediatric dentist...starting with when my eldest was a toddler...and 'toddled' into a door jam!

He is a fantastic dentist...and also does orthodontia. In addition, he always had a colleague on staff that did adults. So when 'we' went, it was a 'day of dentistry' for us all.

I would say, if you have concerns of any kind, get another opinion. Our pediatric guy watched all my kiddos grow up...he is wonderful!

Best Luck!
michele/cat

I took our daughter to a pediatric dentist from day one until she was 16. She only left his practice because he died.

At 16 she started seeing our regular dentist.

I have no regrets going with pediatric dentist and I would do it again. They are trained specifically to work with children.

Our dentist's office serves adults, has a pediatric practice as well as an orthodontic side. One stop shopping for us. Our girls go to the pediatric dentist and my husband and I go on the adult side. Our oldest also sees the orthodontist there.

When our middle knocked out a permanent tooth (rollerblading), we called the office immediately (4:30pm on a Friday). Her pediatric dentist had gone for the day, but our adult dentist said he'd hold the office open until we got there. They pulled her dental records and were set to go when we arrived. They were able to put her tooth back in and took really great care of our girl. She did eventually have a root canal, but we feel we were really lucky that day!

We went to a ped DDS. They were scam artists. After they wanted me to pay over 3000.00 for 7 cavities, I went to a regular DDS and it cost 25.00 for 3 cavities. I was using the same insurance.

If your kids have "normal" mouths/teeth then I think that either one would be just fine and certainly if you don't like their pediatric dentist and you really like your dentist, then I'd move them. I think if they have some issues, it's better to stay with someone who concentrates on pediatrics and might be more well versed in new practices and techniques.

I am the opposite though...I don't love my dentist so I found a ped for my kids and I LOVE him and they love going to visit him too! It's super fun, I wish I could go there!

when my daughter was 3 ... she screamed at the dr.. so I knew she would scream at the dentist.. I asked my dentist if they would work on her.. and they said they would not work on her if she cried. so.. i took her ot the pediatric dentist. I didnt like them at all. but they worked on my daughter despite her screaming the entire time. seriously they showed her the little spinny thing that cleans your teeth.. it made a little buzz noise and she screamed till we left. so we went to the ped dentist when she was 3, 3.5 4 and 4.5 each time the screaming was less and less. but each time we were put in the cry room with solid doors so she didnt scare the other kids. At 5 I asked my dentist if they would work on her and they said they would at lunch time when no one was there.. so we went to the dentist when we were the only ones there.. and she did great no crying at all. the pediatric dentist can give drugs to sedate kids.. they can put them in a papoose to work on them.. but overall they don't do anything different than regular dentists.. they are more expensive.

We started out with a pediatric dentist. my son loved it. they had a "movie pit" where the kids could watch a movie while they waited. then there were screens to watch the movie while he was getting worked on. and a box filled with toys to choose from when it was over. unfortunately, the ped. dentist wasnt "prefered" on our dental plan and we were paying more out of pocket to see him. We switched to our family dentist when my son was about nine, as he had outgrown needing to be distracted by a movie.

First, I took him to my family dentist, then switched him to a pediatric dentist. Didn't care for that dentist or practice AT all...so he's back with my family dentist.

I have always taken my children to my dentist. It was great because we would have appointments together. I would go first for cleaning and x-rays. They would see that I was not scared or that the dentist was not hurting me. Then he would do the cleaning and x-rays for the child. My dentist is awesome with children. He explains everything he is doing and why. They always get a new cool toothbrush ( there are always toothbrushes with the current popular characters on them or bright colors), floss, small tubes of toothpaste and small toy treats. We have always made it a fun occasion.

I think you could do either but pediatric dentists are trained to work with kids. We absolutely love ours plus the office is a little more exciting. Maybe try another one before you go to the family dentist.

We take our kids to our family dentist. After my own bad experience with a ped dentist, I will not take my kids to someone that doesn't work on me too. We really like our dentist and he's great with the kids - he even does the cleaning himself to limit how much time the kids have to spend in the chair.

My kids (ages 4 and 6) have always gone to our family dentist. He's great with kids (has 4 of his own) as are the hygienists. He sees plenty of children in his practice and I've always been comfortable that they are getting top notch care. My kids like going to the dentist and will sometimes ask when will it be time for their next appt. I always schedule their check-ups at the same time as mine so that we get them all out of the way at the same time.

I would base your decision on how much you like your family dentist and how good you think your dentist and the staff will be with kids. If you have a good family dentist, then I don't belive that you have to go to a pediatric dentist.

I take my kids (2 and 4) to my dentist. It's kind of nice that everyone in the family can go in and do all the cleanings and work at once. I asked my dentist how early they would see kids, and they informed me that they regularly see children right when they turn 1, in fact there was a little girl there the last time I went in for some dental work. I really like my dentist though, and he came highly recommended by friends who also took their kids there.