Just like doctors, there are different types of dentists that provide different dental services to their community. Within the field of general dentistry, there are a large amount of services dentists can provide to help their patients. Because of this, some dentists choose to focus on a particular type of clientele. For example, a dentist who offers a variety of cosmetic treatments may choose to focus exclusively on adults, while a pediatric dentist focuses solely on kids. Luckily, there are also dentists who treat both children and adults all under the same roof.
These are called family dentists because they can offer dental treatment to an entire family from toddlers to seniors. Visiting your local family dentist has a number of benefits, including:
Convenience
This is perhaps one of the greatest benefits of seeing a family dentist. Since family dentists can see the entire family at once, this allows you to coordinate dental appointments in order to minimize driving, save time, and provide your family with dental care in an easy way. Nowadays, many people find themselves insanely busy, so having a one-stop dental practice to visit can really help simplify one area of your life.
Versatile Care
First and foremost, family dentists are general dentists. This means they have an expanse of dental knowledge in several areas and can effectively provide a wide variety of services to accommodate various dental needs. This is especially important when treating different age groups because a child’s dental needs differ from those of adults or even seniors. The versatile care general dentists provide also means that they can provide certain dental specialty services like periodontics, endodontics, and orthodontics.
Personal Care
Family dentists choose to work on families for a reason. They often value family themselves and genuinely care about maintaining or improving your family’s oral health. Additionally, providing dental care to multiple generations of one family leads to dental care that is personalized and compassionate.
Familiarity
In addition to personalized care, having a dentist who treats generations of the same family is also beneficial because they are familiar with certain family health problems that can cause problems. This makes them more equipped to prevent these problems before they even begin. Additionally, seeing the same dentist from childhood through adulthood means that they will also be familiar with your individual oral health, which allows them to make more accurate diagnoses and create better treatment plans for your needs.
Establishes Good Habits
Children are not born with a fear of the dentist. Therefore, if you trust your dentist and are comfortable in the dentist’s chair, they will look up to your example. Taking your children to dental appointments allows them to know what to expect, builds their confidence with the dentist, and helps them to establish good dental habits early on.
As you can see, there are some convincing reasons why you should see a family dentist. Not only will they save you time, but they provide a wide range of personalized dental services that will work for the entire family. They can also provide high quality care due to their knowledge of your individual and family medical history. With so many great reasons, why wouldn’t you want to see a family dentist?
Dr. Dennis Laurich has been practicing dentistry for over 40 years. He received his DDS degree from the University of Michigan Dental School and regularly attends oral health care conventions to continue his dental education. This allows him to treat patients with the leading dental technology and methodologies. Additionally, he is a member of the American Dental Association, Michigan Dental Association, and the Detroit District Dental Society.
