When did your teen switch from their pediatric dentist to a regular dentist ?

[Anonymous]

I love our pediatric dentist but my 15 year old is starting to feel very self conscious going there because her clinic decor is clearly targeted for kids.
I know she sees patients until they are 18, but can general dentists see them earlier ? When did you make the switch for your kids ?

[Anonymous]

I think we did it around middle school aged for our twins, so maybe 12? I could have done it sooner but the logistics of switching providers just made it easier to leave them there. It was always much harder to get appointments with the pediatric dentist so I was eventually motivated to make the change. If it was the reverse, I'm sure I would have left them there until they left for college!

[Anonymous]

We just made the switch at 13. It is way more efficient because I have now linked up my appointments with theirs so we all just knock them out the same day.

[Anonymous]

We never went to one in the first place. Nearly all dentists see kids, as long as your kid isn’t SN and requiring sedation for a cleaning.

[Anonymous]

14-15 when the braces were off is when my dentist would take them.

[Anonymous]

My kids never went to a pediatric dentist, they just started at our family dentist at 3. But I think the time to switch is:
1) when the kid is requesting it
or
2) when it is more convenient for your family

You've reached #1. So switch

[Anonymous]

High school for my oldest, so middle school for my youngest. We switched because it was more convenient, not because of the decor.

[Anonymous]

Mine never went to a pediatric dentist. My 4 year old currently sees my dentist. I switched my older kids at 15 at their request.

[Anonymous]

We never used a pediatric dentist.

[Anonymous]

My 19 year old is still seeing his pediatric dentist. The dentist indicated it's okay while he's still a student as long as they provide continuous care (2 checkups per year while the 19 year old is in college). His younger brother also goes there. And our dentist is near my husband's workplace, farther away than the pediatric dentist. So it's convenient and provides continuity of care.

We will likely find him a dentist at college before he turns 20. He doesn't have a car so that makes things more inconvenient.

The office doesn't have any goofy kid decor.

[Anonymous]

We switched when our dentist got bought out by a VC. They were always short staffed and over subscribed and could never accommodate my kids at the same time. We started taking them to my dentist who owns his own clinic - much more personalized service. Kids were 7 and 12.

[Anonymous]

3?

The pediatric dentist had nasty staff. We just went to our regular dentist who was oddly way better with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never used a pediatric dentist.

+1

[Anonymous]

My oldest DD is 12 and she still loves going there. She'll probably still want to go until college.

[Anonymous]

My middle is still there at 21. My oldest switched when she graduated college. My youngest is 17 and has no complaints. She’s a good dentist and will make a referral out if the problem is too “adult”. We just don’t see any advantage in switching until they age out. Good dentists can be hard to find. Since my oldest switched to DH’s dentist, it’s been nothing but issues.