My son, who is 4, has no cavities or irregularities of any kind, and had a dental exam as recently as June at a dentist in Chicago, had an appointment with this dentist today for a 6 month check-up. We walk in to the examination room and are asked a series of questions by a dental "assistant" regarding our brushing and eating habits. After answering these questions, she proceeds to tell me that our snacking and brushing habits (snacking throughout the day on fruits and vegetables and brushing once before bed at night) raised a "series of red flags", and that I should be aware that every time my child eats, "even fruits and veggies", it introduces acid in to the mouth and those acids can promote tooth decay. I told her that I would take having my son snack on pineapples and oranges over pristine enamel and that we had no intention of changing our snacking and eating habits, thank you very much, and that I don't believe that its their job to tell me how to nourish my (incredibly) obviously healthy child. She says, "well, if nothings going to change, then I guess I'll just go get the doctor. I'm just doing my job", to which I reply, "I think that would be best". So THE DOCTOR, Pedram, walks in and gives me the same spiel and I tell him exactly the same things - I will take a little acid in the mouth if it means my son will eat some fruit, and NO I am not going to chase him around with a toothbrush all day! (When he turns 5 or 6, MAYBE I will insist he brush twice a day, but FOR NOW, he is FOUR and I have other things I have to do rather than start WWIII every GD morning over whether or not he runs a toothbrush across his BABY TEETH). Remember, at this point, no one has even looked in my sons mouth yet - my son, who is getting very stressed out as a result of the tension in the room. By now, the doctor is seated and scooted over to my little boy, who is absolutely not going to let this guy near him because he can sense my mounting distrust. So my son asks the doctor, "What are you going to do to me?" and the doctor says, "Im going to count and brush your teeth, " and looking over at me he says, "Is that OK , Mom?" to which I respond, "Look, just do what you do. Give him a check up. All I am saying is don't tell me how to feed him. That's MY business. The teeth, those are yours", but I realize this is going no where because my son isn't going to let any of this happen and, by now, neither am I, so we just got up and left. As far as I'm concerned, what this amounts to is, "pleased to meet you, I know I haven't looked at your car yet and you only want an oil change, but I can assure you that it's broken, and not only is it broken, but YOU broke it!" This was absolutely the worst experience I have ever had with any kind of a doctor, dental, medical, or otherwise, and I highly recommend you take your children, and your business elsewhere. read more