Four Reasons To See A Family Dentist

When you are looking into dental options, you may come across some dentists who advertise themselves as "family dentists." Basically, this means that they practice general dentistry, and they treat people in all stages of life, from early childhood to late adulthood. If you have children, you may wish to use a family dentist for everyone in the family. Here are the benefits of doing so.

You can schedule everyone's appointments at once.

If you were to take your kids to a strictly pediatric dentist and see a different dentist yourself, you would have to make and drive to appointments at two different offices. This could be a waste of your precious time. At a family dental office, you can schedule appointments for the whole family back-to-back. This saves you driving time and means there are fewer medical professionals and reminders to keep up with.

Your kids will get to see you treated as an example.

Kids can be apprehensive about seeing the dentist. This is understandable! The idea of having someone put strange tools in your mouth can be really intimidating, if you don't know what is going to happen. When you see a family dentist, you can schedule your tooth cleaning first, and then your child's appointment after your own. This way, your child can watch you go through the process first, which will make them feel more comfortable when it's their turn to have their teeth cleaned or worked on.

The same dentist can track your progress over a lifetime.

Your teeth change a lot, as you age. When you see the same family dentist from childhood and into adulthood, they can keep an eye on these changes, making them more likely to notice anything that is amiss. You don't have to worry about transferring x-rays and records from dentist to dentist as you age, either!

A family dental office is more welcoming to kids.

You might be tempted to just take your child to a general dentist, and this would not be a mistake, per say. General dentists are well trained and capable of treating common dental problems in kids. However, a family dental office tends to make children feel more comfortable with that treatment, due to the atmosphere and staff. From toys in the waiting room to smaller, child-sized chairs, they are set up to handle kids' dental needs and also adult needs in one location. Family dentistry addresses the needs of the whole family at once.