Dentist

It’s been a year since Zane’s been to the dentist. It’s not because I’m a horrible parent who doesn’t care about her son’s teeth. Mainly, it’s because I tried with a new dentist last January, and the dental office failed us.

So here’s the story…

In January 2014, I took Zane to a new dentist, one who was highly recommended by his pediatrician at the time. The doctor told us this dental office specialized in kids with special needs. Wow! Awesome! Sounds like the place for us. So we went. Never mind, the waiting area and the office itself left a lot to be desired. It’s the level of care we were there for. The group even has a website that advertises their specialty.

We waited for 40 minutes or so and were finally taken back. This dentist (the one who specialized in kiddos with special needs) didn’t even look in Zane’s mouth. The hygienist did zippo. Zero. No cleaning. We didn’t even get a toothbrush. Instead, they made assumptions about Zane’s oral care and immediately moved to schedule him for a sedated deep cleaning at the hospital. Okay…I wasn’t thrilled, but I pushed through with the plan since he’d had one of those before.

Life went along and I didn’t hear from the dental office about the insurance approval for the hospital cleaning. That is, until seven months later! Out of the blue, the office calls me, tells me they have approval, and wants to schedule the cleaning. Um…

Zane was getting all geared up for spinal surgery, so I told them it was not something we could do at that point in time. (But six months ago we likely would have swung it).  So I ditched the dentist. I asked Zane’s new pediatrician for a dental referral. They had just the dentist for me! They gave me the number, and I called and made an appointment. But then something didn’t seem right. I looked at the address. It was in the same area as the dentist we got rid of. We drove by. Sure enough, it was the exact same dental group. I canceled the appointment.

I took matters into my own hands and searched the Internet, researched dentists on my own. I couldn’t find any dentists in our area who specialize in patients with special needs. But I found one that seemed kid friendly. I called. The receptionist said she wasn’t sure about sedated deep cleanings. She asked a lot of questions about Zane's disability. But she made an appointment and said I could chat with the dentist about my concerns for Zane. Let me tell you, this was the best decision ever! The employees were so accommodating and friendly. The dentist not only examined Zane’s teeth, but he cleaned the tartar off some of them. Zane must have sensed their kindness because he even allowed them to get bite wing x-rays (much to my amazement). The dentist gave me the lowdown on Zane’s current situation: teeth coming in, expected teeth coming out, he has good oral hygiene (pat myself on the back for that one), and he doesn’t need a sedated deep cleaning at all.

So in summary: you don’t necessarily need a professional who specializes in special needs. Because, in this case, the “regular” dentist was far superior than the “special needs” one.