Growing families need good dental care providers. There’s a great deal to think about when choosing your family’s provider, especially when there are children involved. Most often, families often work between either family dentists or pediatric dentists to provide their dental care, but how do you choose? What’s the difference between family dentists and pediatric dentists? We’re here to help you better understand those differences and help you choose the right dentist for your family.

Family or Pediatric Dentist? Which One?

Your dentist should be the provider you can rely on when it comes to your family’s health, but one of the largest challenges with dental care is understanding all the different sub-specialties out there in the dental field. The three most common types often used by people today are general, family, and pediatric, but other types such as orthodontists, endodontists, and cosmetic dentists have their own niches in the industry. But for families, both family and pediatric dentists tend to be the most popular choices due to their variety of benefits.

Both family and pediatric dentists specialize in treating children, and both work to emphasize preventative care, focusing on longer-lasting efforts for healthy smiles. However, there are some key differences that all come down to credentials and their areas of work:

• Family Dentists: Family dentists are a type of general dentist, but with a primary focus on families. While their primary work is with children, it can also include teenagers, adults, and the elderly. One of the largest benefits of having a family dentist is their ability to collectively combine dental costs through family insurance and help organize family appointments for convenience. These dentists tend to be chosen for their ability to not only work with parents and their children but can work with generations of families, making long-lasting relationships more viable.
• Pediatric Dentists: Pediatric dentists are more specialized in their field of work, primarily focusing on children and teenagers. For children with pre-existing dental problems, pediatric dentists can work with parents more effectively at treating their dental conditions, such as malocclusion and white spot lesions, and also have the ability to work with special needs children, those with difficult temperaments and children with dental anxiety.

Both of these specialties stand out in their own ways and have their own goals when treating children and their families. While family dentists can provide more generalized care, pediatric dentists can offer specialized care with a unique focus on children’s dental health. This choice all depends on what you’re looking for when searching for a dentist, and one of the best ways to choose is to consult with your insurance provider about your available dentists.

Contact Your Local Family Dentist Today!

Speaking with your insurance provider can be an excellent start towards finding the right dentist for your family, and one of the best things you can do to speed things up is by scheduling an appointment with local dentists in your area. Speaking with them can give you a better perspective about their services, bedside manner, how they work with children, and more.