Do you use a pediatric dentist for your toddler?

[maynie]

I feel bad about it, but my daughter is three and hasn't been to the dentist yet. I want to call and set up an appointment for her somewhere and realized I don't know if it should be the same one that I'm going to go to (it'll be my first time) or a pediatric dentist. Any thoughts would be helpful.

[Anonymous]

We haven't gone yet, but will in June after my son turns 3. I made an appointment with him at a pediatric dentist in Arlington, who was highly recommended by a bunch of people. Her name is Dr. Christine Reardon, and she is in Ballston. www.drreardon.com

[Anonymous]

three is perfect age to visit dentist for first time. As far as Ped's go, they are more educated in Ped growth and tooth development. I am a dental hygienist and I send mine to a ped. dentist. I know plenty of very good general dentist, but that is for me. Do you have a pediatric doctor for your child? or does he/she go to a general MD? I like specialist. That said, a caring, quality general dentis or doctor beats a burnt out, poor quality pediatric dentist, doc anyday.

[maynie]

Anonymous wrote:We haven't gone yet, but will in June after my son turns 3. I made an appointment with him at a pediatric dentist in Arlington, who was highly recommended by a bunch of people. Her name is Dr. Christine Reardon, and she is in Ballston. www.drreardon.com

Thank you for the recommendation. She's in the network for my insurance co so that's good. I'll have to check it out. I live in woodbridge so it'll be a bit of a hike but if the place is great, it'll be worth it. I'll post back if I end up going there to let you know what it's like..

[Anonymous]

I think it is a personal choice. I have a great relationship with my Dentist and I trust him. He has children. He saw me through my pregnancies and I asked him questions about the dental health of my children before I started bringing them to see him. In fact, they both already knew him because they went to the office with me for cleanings. He would get them to open up so he could count their teeth and they like him. So no, we don't see a pediatric dentist, they go to our dentist and it works great for us. I really think it depends on the dentist and the staff and how comfortable you are with them. I will add the hygenists are terrific with the kids too!

[maynie]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a personal choice. I have a great relationship with my Dentist and I trust him. He has children. He saw me through my pregnancies and I asked him questions about the dental health of my children before I started bringing them to see him. In fact, they both already knew him because they went to the office with me for cleanings. He would get them to open up so he could count their teeth and they like him. So no, we don't see a pediatric dentist, they go to our dentist and it works great for us. I really think it depends on the dentist and the staff and how comfortable you are with them. I will add the hygenists are terrific with the kids too!

In your situation I would do the same. My problem is I don't have an established relationship with a dentist so I don't know if it would be a good idea. Thanks for your input though.

[Anonymous]

What about good pediatric dentists in Montgomery County? Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

http://www.drj4kids.com/

I took DD to her for her first dentist appt. last month. Dr. J is great!

[JamaicaMama]

I have not gone as yet (child will be 3 in May). Our pediatrician told us not to go until after 3 at which time she will reccomend a pediatric dentist.

[gillianaf7]

My daughter will be 3 soon too. We just moved to Silver Spring. Anyone have recommendations for a dentist in that area?

[Anonymous]

Dr. Isabel Kelly is not solely a "pediatric" dentist, but has a small family practice in McLean and is great with our toddler. www.mcleandental.net if you want to check her out.

[Anonymous]

We went to a pediatric dentist once and then he moved out of town, so we switched DS to our regular dentist. Like one of the pps, our dentist has kids of his own and our DS had visited the office a number of times when we had appointments, so it was very easy and comfortable to make the switch. However, if DS hadn't reacted well or hadn't allowed the dentist to check and clean his teeth, we would have found another pediatric dentist.

[Anonymous]

I've taken our children to Dr. Sarah Ganjavi, a ped dentist, in Vienna. She is very gentle and good with little ones; she makes it fun and the kids actually like going to see Dr. G. I first brought the kids there when they turned 2 years old. I don't think it's necessary to start that early. A big part of me scheduling these early dental visits is to help my kids avoid the cavities I had growing up. So far, so good.

[Anonymous]

I was going to just take my 3 yr old to our dentist with the thinking a pediatric dentist was overkill. She bumped her mouth though, couldn't get squeezed in to our dentist and instead went to a pediatric one they recommended.

So glad I went the kid route! She had a wonderful experience and it was completely tailored to her needs. Well worth imo.

[Anonymous]

Don't see Dr. Casper.