How to Choose a Special Needs Dentist: A Guide For Parents

If your child has special needs, it can be difficult to find a dentist who can provide expert care in a gentle, welcoming environment. Special needs like autism, sensory processing issues, and genetic conditions like Down syndrome can make it difficult for your child to get basic dental care. Even a routine six-month cleaning and checkup can feel extremely stressful and intimidating both for you and your little one.

But we’re here to help. In this guide from SuperKids Pediatric Dentistry, we’ll discuss the basics of special needs dental care, what you should look for in a special needs dentist, how to research and choose the right dental provider for your child, and much more.

What Is Special Needs Dentistry?

As the name suggests, special needs dentistry focuses on treating children who have special physical, developmental, mental, or emotional challenges. This encompasses a wide variety of different conditions, ranging from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to hearing impairments, sensory processing and mood disorders, ADHD, and Down syndrome, to name just a few.

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Children with these conditions face unique challenges when it comes to dental care. For example, there are certain genetic conditions that weaken tooth enamel and may raise the risk of a child developing cavities.

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Or, for children with autism or sensory processing disorders, it may be difficult to process the sights and sounds of a dental office, listen to and cooperate with a dentist, and feel comfortable with things like dental scrapers, drills, and other tools.

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By seeing a special needs dentist in the DC area, you can make sure that your child’s dental provider understands their unique challenges and can provide the care they need for a lifetime of healthy smiles.

Common Dental Challenges For Kids With Special Needs

Every child is different, and not all children with special needs have trouble at the dentist. Still, there are some common challenges that make it more difficult for special needs children to maintain healthy smiles, including:

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• Sensitivity to light, sound, touch, vibrations, smells, and other elements of a dental office
• Fear or anxiety about seeing doctors or being in medical environments
• Difficulty understanding common dental procedures
• Problems with communicating discomfort, fear, or anxiety
• Difficulty or an inability to maintain oral hygiene on their own
• A higher risk of developing cavities, gum disease, or infected teeth

What Should I Look For In A Special Needs Dentist?

If you want to make sure your special needs child can get the care they need in a welcoming and comfortable environment, we’re here to help! Here are a few things that we recommend looking for when choosing a provider for special needs dental care.

Choose a pediatric dentist, not a “family” or general dentist

Pediatric dentists exclusively treat children and are required to go through at least two additional years of training after dental school to obtain their certification. During this time, almost all pediatric dentists undergo specialized training and get real-world experience treating children with special needs.

Kind, empathetic care

When it comes to picking a special needs dentist, their attitude is extremely important. You want to choose a provider who can truly connect with your child, understand their unique challenges, and develop a treatment plan that keeps their smile healthy while keeping them comfortable, too.

Plenty of experience with special needs children

When you’re meeting with a new dentist for your child, it’s a good idea to ask them directly if they often work with children who have special needs. For example, if your child has Down syndrome or autism, you should make sure their dentist has experience with this specific condition.

Accessibility and sensory-friendliness

If your child has physical challenges that mean they cannot walk, picking a dental office with plenty of handicapped parking spaces, a wheelchair ramp, or an elevator is definitely a good idea. 

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We also recommend looking for dentists who offer sensory-friendly treatment spaces. For example, some special needs dentists may provide earplugs for kids who are sensitive to sound, or sunglasses to help with the bright lights of the dental chair.

Sedation options

For kids who are very anxious about dentistry or who have trouble cooperating during visits, dental sedation is a great option. We recommend choosing an office that offers multiple sedation options like laughing gas, oral conscious sedation, and IV sedation. Your child’s special needs dentist can help you choose the one that’s right for their unique needs.

Choosing The Right Special Needs Dentist – Our Top Tips

Not sure how to choose a special needs dentist who can provide the patient, gentle care that your little one needs? Here are a few tips you can use while searching for a special needs dentist in the Washington, DC metro area.

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• Start with referrals from your child’s care team – If you’re not sure where to start, asking your child’s physician, occupational therapist, and other members of their medical care team for a recommendation can be a good place to start.
• Ask parents for recommendations, too – There’s nothing better than a personal recommendation! If you have met parents of other children with special needs at school, in support groups, or in any other part of your life, they may be able to give you some recommendations and discuss their experiences with local special needs dentistry providers. 

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• Do some research on each provider – When you’re exploring a new special needs dentist for your child, we recommend checking out their website to look for information about their services, how they work with special needs kids, and more. Reading reviews on Facebook, Google, and other websites can also help you get a better understanding of what a dentist has to offer.
• Schedule an office visit or tour – Once you’ve narrowed down your list of potential providers for your child, the next step is an office visit. Most special needs dentists will be more than happy to take you on a tour of their office and answer any questions you may have about their services or experience. You can get some insights into how the dentist and their staff treat their patients, too!
• Ask about desensitization appointments – If your child is nervous or anxious about dentistry, desensitization appointments can be super helpful. During these visits, your child can visit a dental office without getting any treatment. They can meet the staff, get familiar with the environment, and feel more comfortable before their first checkup or any other treatment.

Preparing Your Child for Their First Dental Visit

One of the best things you can do to get your child ready to see the dentist is to educate them about the process and emphasize why dental care is important. You could check some children’s books about teeth out of the library, or watch YouTube videos that explain the basics of dentistry, which will help your child understand what’s going to happen during their visit.

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Role-playing can be helpful for some kids, too. Once your child knows a little bit about dentistry, you can “play dentist,” and take turns cleaning each other’s teeth and acting out the steps that will be taken during their visit.

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For children with autism, social stories and visual aids can also be very helpful for understanding the basics of dental visits. This page from Pathfinders For Autism has a few different “going to the dentist” social stories that you can use with your child.

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Finally, we also recommend bringing some comfort items and activities for your little one. Bringing along a blanket or stuffed toy can help them feel more comfortable, and distractions like puzzles, games, tablets, or other activities can keep them occupied and make them feel les nervous before their first visit.

Book A Visit With SuperKids Pediatric Dentistry Today

If you’re looking for special needs dental care in the Washington, DC metro area, Dr. Ben Liu and the team at SuperKids Pediatric Dentistry are here to help. With five locations throughout the greater DC area, we make it easy for special needs children and their parents to enjoy stress-free dental visits.

From our kind, child-friendly staff and expert special needs dentists to our sensory-friendly operating rooms and a wide variety of sedation options, we have everything that you need for smooth, stress-free visits with your little one, no matter what their needs may be. So don’t wait. Contact one of our five locations online or give us a call to book your child’s first consultation at SuperKids Pediatric Dentistry.