Family Dentistry: For Families That Believe in Oral Health

There are benefits to family dentistry, far above and beyond the regular benefits of seeing a dentist on a regular basis. Families that come in to see us on a regular basis have discovered that they tend to have better teeth and, this in turn, leads to an improvement in their overall quality of life. Family dentistry tends to promote more of a family accountability, where each member of the family works with the others to help them have better oral health habits. At the same time, family dentistry has made it easier for families to come in and get their regular cleaning work and examinations taken care of. In addition to this, there is the benefit of having a family dentist with whom the family is familiar with and is a trusted service provider. Typically, this kind of relationship is seen with the family doctor, but family dentistry is expanding those boundaries. One huge advantage to having a family practice is the trust that we build up over the years.

We know that many patients suffer from dental anxiety, something that is especially visible in children. From a child’s perspective, the dentist office can be a strange place where they are surrounded by strange sights, smells, and sounds. Considering that they are already in an unfamiliar environment, adding in the scary elements like the dentist chair and the tools can make it a very stressful experience. Adults have the same kind of anxiety. The difference between regular dentistry and family dentistry is that often times the child already knows the family dentist. They have been in before with a family member and, hence, the place is not quite as forbidding. When faced with a smiling, familiar face, the fact that they are participating in a herd activity, and that mom or dad come here for the same kind of treatment, this gives kids confidence which often turns fear to curiosity. Interestingly, parents have the same instinctive reaction of trust when they have seen their family dentist work on their kids with gentleness and empathy.

There are two non-medical elements that make visiting a family dentist even more attractive. Those elements stem from the fact that the doctors who practice family dentistry understand a family’s need for saving time and for convenience. When it comes to time, families typically have a lot going on and do not want to take multiple trips to the dentist if they can avoid it. When more than a couple of family members have regular cleanings or examinations to be scheduled, we can work with your schedule to ensure that you can come in on or around the same time. This will let you come in once and get the maximum out of your visit for all the family members. The second thing we have done is to bring as many elements of family dentistry services under one roof as possible. For you, this means no more having to go to different spots for different services. Once you walk through the door of your family dentist and barring the need for extremely specialized services, we can take care of all your dental and oral health needs.