My daughter is very inquisitive. I told him this before her appointment. I also told him that if he’d take just a couple of minutes before the appointment and explain what the tools are and what he’s going to do, she’d be fine and quiet. Without that, she’s likely to interrupt, grab, and ask a million questions. Well, guess what? He didn’t listen to me. He seemed rushed, greeted her and went straight into her check-up. She kept reaching around and stopping him to ask questions. He’d tell her to be still which lasted for a bit, but then the questions and reaching would start again. Eventually, he just shouted at her to shut up so he can finish. I don’t know if it was a bad day or what, but now my daughter thinks of the dentist as the “mean man” and doesn’t want to go back. Is there a way to fix this?

Mad Mom

Dear Mad Mom,

I don’t blame you for being upset. This is a disaster, but I think it can be salvaged. I don’t know if this is regular behavior for your pediatric dentist. It doesn’t sound like you do either. Because you were explaining your daughter’s personality to him it sounds like this may have been a new relationship. The first thing I’d do is check his online reviews. If he’s done this kind of thing before I’m sure someone would have mentioned it. I’d just look for another pediatric dentist in that case. Your daughter doesn’t need a “mean man” for her care.

If everyone seems to have had a positive experience with him, it’s likely something caused him to have an unbelievably bad day. I’m reminded of that scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” where the pharmacist was cruel to the boy and it turned out he’d just found out his son had died. We never know what’s going on in a person’s life. If he’s a good man who made a mistake, he likely feels terrible about it. It would be a good opportunity to teach about forgiveness. Of course, he’d need to be willing to apologize to your little girl and tell her he’ll not do that again.

He’ll also need to be willing to follow your original advice and take her through all the cool tools. In fact, as part of the apology, maybe he can even take her on a little tour of the entire office.

A Good Pediatric Dentist Leaves a Postive Outlook in Children

At Peck Family Dentistry, Hillary Peck is fantastic with the children. Even though she’s not a pediatric specialist she loves working with the little ones and always brings them joy. IF it turns out this dentist is a dud, you can look for a general dentist who’s great with kids. Maybe even your dentist so you and your daughter can have a shared experience going to the dentist together.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Kevin Peck.