Family Dentistry vs. Children's Dentistry

Truth be told, when you get into the technical details, most dentists can handle the typical child's dental needs -- and many dentists advertising themselves as 'children's dentists' will still send your child to a pedodontic specialist if they come up with an oral issue that requires special child-specific treatments.

So what's the difference between a family-oriented dentist and a children's dentist? The answer is that it's almost entirely in the gift-wrapping. If you walk into a dental office and find pastel wallpaper, Sesame Street toys bolted to the walls, and Highlights for Children on every desk, you've found a children's dentist. If you walk in and encounter a light and breezy atmosphere with a nice central table bedecked with Sports Illustrated and Home and Garden, you've probably found a family-oriented dentist.

In short, a family dentist will treat the entire family -- not just in the chair, but from the moment you walk in the door. You'll find that the waiting room is just as pleasant for you as it is for your child, and that the dentist will be just as comfortable talking in adult terms with you as he is explaining things monosyllabically to your toddler.

Similarly, a children's dentist will tend to have a schedule that makes room for school, but doesn't particularly move around your work schedule. A family-oriented doctor will tend to have normal business hours during school time, but will make up for the interruption by transitioning smoothly from your appointment to your child's to your spouse's all in one block so that you can all get back to your lives.

At Dr. Eric Johnson's office, we practice family-oriented dentistry, not children's dentistry. Dr. Johnson can and does work on children on a regular basis, but it's not something he concentrates on exclusively. It's better to be able to serve the entire family in one place than to have a place to take the kid and a different place to get your dental work done.

If you're not certain that your kids would be comfortable in a family-oriented office rather than a children-specific one, we offer you our invitation -- drop by and see for yourself; it's the only way you'll know for sure.