Dentistry: Your child’s smile means everything to us

You might not be thinking of a visit to the dentist when your toothless infant giggles and smiles at you, but a child’s oral health starts before their first tooth arrives. We focus on the oral health of your growing child and how it affects overall health to help ensure a healthy start to a lifetime of good oral hygiene. We specialize in caring for all children, including kids with complex medical and dental needs. We care for everything from cavities and gum inflammation (gingivitis) to impacted teeth, dental infections and dental traumas.

Serving as your child’s dental home

Your child’s healthy smile is our mission, and we take time to make every visit fun and educational – starting with the first time they see us. Our caring, compassionate dental team uses a “tell-show-do” method to help even the youngest patients understand what and why we’re doing what we do.

Each time your child visits, we review oral hygiene practices, because that’s the most important factor in minimizing the risk of dental cavities. Our pediatric-trained specialists coordinate care with other dental specialties if your child develops more complex dental conditions, including lip and tongue ties that require surgery. As researchers, we’re developing new therapies that improve outcomes and make smiles shine their brightest. We adopt the latest evidence-based practices, as well as dental technologies. There’s no dental condition that your child might experience that we can’t treat or work with our partners across our academic medical center to manage.

Full range of dental services

Our team of specialists provides for each child's unique needs, with specialized training to treat dental needs in patients up to age 21. Our approach includes:

Care for dental anxiety, with nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
Care for children with complex medical needs
Child-sized chairs and child-friendly equipment
Comfortable, safe, child-friendly environment
Complex procedures, including dental treatment with sedation and anesthesia
Dental treatment with general anesthesia in a hospital setting
Pediatric dentist on call 24 hours a day on the MCV Campus to address your child's dental emergency through the pediatric emergency room
Family education on preventive dental care, sealants and tooth-colored fillings
Fluoride varnish in the pediatric primary care setting
Infant oral health care, the age-1-dental-visit and Head Start dental exams
Patient management with child-friendly "Tell-Show-Do"