Relocating to a new area means a lot of changes for you and your children - establishing new schools, doctors, extracurricular activities, dentists - the list goes on.
Many questions will arise. How do I choose a reliable dental home for my children? Will they connect with the new pediatric dentist? How do you know if they are actually good with kids? How soon will you know if you’ve made the right (or wrong) decision? These are all valid concerns and you should absolutely be choosy about who cares for your children.
While we aren’t able to say exactly when you will be able to make a general assessment of your doctors and dentists, we can say that you can make your decision with more confidence with some help and guidance from local resources. Let us help you make the selection process simpler with some suggestions.
Turn to social media
When you haven’t had a chance to do more than introduce yourself to your new neighbors, turn to online reviews to help guide you. If a pediatric dentist has a positive online presence, chances are they have built a lot of trust within their community! Pediatric dentist reviews can be found on Google, Facebook, Yelp, Healthgrades, and even their own individual websites. You can even make a post on your own page asking for suggestions and have your friends tag their pediatric dentist so you can easily access their page.
Don’t be afraid to ask other parents
As you get to know your children’s new school, get to know the parents, too. Chances are you will be pleasantly surprised at the feedback you receive from other parents. Give yourself the opportunity to ask for suggestions of all kinds – grocery stores, family doctors, pediatric dentists, kids’ sports teams, parks, arts programs for kids, etc. At some point all parents were in your shoes and probably reached out for suggestions, so don’t be afraid to ask!
Look for the human aspect
When choosing a pediatric dentist you typically expect them to be skilled with children and have a high level of education. Those are obviously important qualities. We encourage you to look beyond the degrees and outside influences and look for information about them as an individual. Kids like to be able to relate to their clinicians. Do they have values that align with yours? How do they talk about their experiences with kids? What do they do in their own lives? Are they personable?
Browse Dentist Websites
Browsing the websites of your prospective choices is a great way to analyze who you believe to be the best fit for your family. Look for active and helpful blog articles, answers to important questions, information/photos pertaining to staff and office locations, testimonials, and anything else you deem to be valuable information.
These guidelines are meant to help you in the process of evaluating and establishing a dental home for your child. There may be other factors that are unique to the needs of your family. If you have any questions that we have not addressed in the blog, feel free to contact us for help.
