We went to Wake Pediatric Dentistry up in North Raleigh in April for her first visit. They took insurance, which is nice.

I talked to my own dentist about this. He does everybody's teeth but said that pediatric dentists are good especially for kids who are really shy or nervous or at the other end of the spectrum. Since they deal with kids all day, they know how to handle them.

At Wake Pediatric, they actually take the kids back by themselves. My daughter came back about an hour later - her teeth clean, a big bag of toothbrushes, toothpastes, etc., to take home. And generally positive thoughts on the whole experience.

I actually wasn't crazy at first about her being back there. And I think they could do a better job incorporating parents in the whole visit. (How am I supposed to reinforce what she was told if I wasn't there?). But I'll take her back - I'll just make sure I'm ready to have a better conversation with the dentist on the way out.

My son had to have dental surgery at the age of 2 1/2 so we hooked up w/ a great ped. dentist Carolina Ped. Dent. close to Wake forest. Yes it is a long drive for us but worth it. A true ped. dentist knows how to handle kids and if they are cryers/screamer like my son it doesn't bother them. They are great and if they find a problem they try to fix it that day which keeps you from having to bring little back on another day. I really recommend them (they file insurance for you which ends some of the paper work). They take the kids back by themselves and have lots of toys there for the kids to play with. The problem w/ a reg. dentist is if your little one is nervous or gets upset they can just throw their hands up and say they can't do anything and can even "talk down" to little ones which makes matters worse.
Before you decide talk to the dentist (even a ped. dent) about your concerns and how they handle the fears of little ones before you make the first appt.
Follow your gut feelings about a dentist before you even make the appointment.

My son goes to a pediatric dentist in N Raleigh, Stonehenge Dr. and Creedmoor: Horwitz Parrish Macon Collie & Pretzer DDS PA since 1996. I love the fact that he goes in the back by himself and I can get some work done! However, the last visit took 1.5 hours and made me late to teach my high school class -- not cool. We don't have dental insurance. He has good teeth and likes going to the dentist -- our family dentist was not equipped to deal our high-spirited kid, and this may be the case with other dentists. Yes, it's more $$, but I think you just have to know your child and that s/he may fare better with a pediatric dentist that deals with kids all day.

Alice Osborn, MA
www.aliceosborn.com

We have taken our kids to both our family dentist and a pediatric dentist. My kids do fine with our family dentist, and that's where we'll continue to go (I'm almost 40 and have been going to the same practice since I was in kindergarten, so I'm pretty happy there). Luckily my oldest has never been a problem at the dentist, which is why I never considered a ped dentist.

However, he also inherited his dad's teeth and by age 8 had 3 fillings and 3 crowns! Because of the extensive dental work for the crowns, and needing a much smaller size form than an adult crown, our family dentist recommended a great ped dentist in Cary: Moran & Brooks (or Brooks& Moran, I can never remember). They were awesome with my oldest and he really enjoyed going there. They are more expensive for regular office visits and such, which is why we're all still at Weaver & Roe in Raleigh.

Now, my 2-1/2 year old isn't quite ready to see a dentist and has pretty much always pitched a fit at teeth-brushing time. I have a feeling we'll need to take him to Dr. Brooks for a while until he can get a grip on dental hygiene! Given my older son's poor dental health I was concerned about my youngest since teeth brushing is more difficult with him. I thought he may already have a cavity, so I took him to see Dr. Brooks. He spent great quality time with my son and some how managed to look at his teeth and determined there was nothing wrong, which was a relief (considering my oldest has always been good about brushing but still got cavities).

Hope my essay has helped!

My sister-in-law works for a dentist and when we took our son for the first time at age 4 she recommended a pediatric dentist. She felt they could handle children much better. So we went to Caldwell & Stokes in Fayetteville and have been very happy.