As a parent, you need to ensure that your child practices good oral care. Children’s teeth are generally more prone to cavities and fractures compared to adult teeth. This is why it is crucial to ensure that your child goes for dental check-ups at least two times a year. This is where childrens dentistry and orthodontics come in.
A pediatric dentist can identify any oral issues that affect children and fix them. They can also help parents ensure that their children establish the proper foundation for long-term oral and dental health.
Pediatric dentists are dentists who are specially trained to care for specific dental needs of children and infants. These professionals have completed an additional 2-3 years of schooling beyond the standard undergraduate degree and four years of dental school that is required for dentists.
The additional training tends to focus on child development as well as the dental needs of infants and children. This is what differentiates pediatric dentists from regular dentists.
But choosing the right pediatric can be so challenging, especially if you don’t know what to look for in one. In this article, we make it easier for you to choose a pediatrician for your child by giving you incredible tips.
Without wasting more time, let’s delve into these tips
1. Ask for Recommendations
First things first- if you want to find the right pediatric dentist for your child, you need to ask for recommendations. The best place to start is by asking other parents in your area for recommendations. Speaking with them can help you gain more insights. They can give you a list of some of the pediatric dentists they know in your area.
You can ask them how their experience was dealing with a particular pediatric. Where is their clinic located? Is the environment suitable for children? Is the pediatric dentist friendly to kids? Is the dentist’s staff friendly to talk to? Did their children experience dental anxiety, and how did the team handle it?
These are some of the questions you need to ask parents. Getting answers to these questions can help you make the right decision as to whether the pediatric dentist is the right choice for your child. However, you should also do your own research because some parents can give you biased information. You can also ask for a recommendation from your dentist.
2. Confirm their Credentials
Once you have been given the names of the best pediatric dentists in your area, you need to confirm their credentials. Of course, you only want to trust your child’s dental needs to a trained and qualified pediatric dentist.
Confirm where the dentist received their training and if they graduated from an accredited dental school. It is best to choose a dentist who prioritizes continued training. A dentist who continues their training is up-to-date and knowledgeable with dental practices and can use modern dental techniques in their practice. Of course, this can help reduce specific risks.
Before you book a meeting with the dentist, ensure that he or she is board certified. If a pediatric dentist can’t provide proof of their credentials, that should raise alarm. It would be better to look for another pediatric dentist.
3. Pay Attention to their Experience
Of course, when looking for a pediatric dentist, it is good to pay attention to their experience level. An experienced pediatric dentist is more likely to offer a high level of dental services to your child. You can gauge their experience level by asking them how long they have been working in the practice and how low long they have specialized in pediatric dentistry.
A general dentist who has just recently switched to pediatric dentistry may not feel comfortable around kids. They may not be able to know how to handle kids, making your child feel uncomfortable. Of course, you wouldn’t want that. That’s why it is important to find a pediatric dentist that has experience treating children. They know how to communicate with children. If you want a pediatric dentist that your child will feel comfortable around, make sure that they have experience.
4. Read Reviews
Reading reviews is a crucial step in finding the right children’s dentistry and orthodontics. The place to read reviews about a particular dentist is online. Google their name in the area, and you will find plenty of reviews about them. You can also check out review sites. Through the reviews, you will learn about what others are saying about the particular dentist, how their services are, and how they handle their patients. This information can help you make the right decision as far as choosing the pediatric dentist is concerned. While it is normal to find one or two negative reviews, but if the negative comments outdo the positive ones, that should raise a red flag. You need to avoid such a pediatric dentist as soon as you can.
5. Visit their Office
Once you are comfortable with everything about a pediatric dentist, the next vital thing you need to do is to pay them a visit. Talking to them on the phone and seeing online photos of their clinic isn’t enough to help you decide whether the dentist is the right one for your child. You need to physically walk into their clinic and see what the environment feels like. Talking to the pediatric dentist in person and his or her team can help you understand how they handle their clients. Pay attention to the clinic to see if it is kid-friendly. A fun, kid-friendly environment is more likely to make your child more relaxed as they wait for their checkup.
6. Ask for Quotes
This point is especially important for parents who will pay for the service from their own pocket and not the insurance company. Of course, you need to take your child to a pediatric dentist you can afford. The last thing you want is to be slapped with a huge bill after a routine dental checkup. So ask for quotes to see if it suits your budget.