My youngest, who will turn 4 in a week, had to have a large cavity filled between his molars. He is horribly shy and, unlike his brother, scared of everything. Dewan and his staff new how to treat him better than his mom or I. We both went, thinking we'd hold his hands and praise him, or if worst came to worst, hold his head still.
The staff kindly and convincingly told us it would be best if we waited outside. Skeptical, we handed him off. The worst part was the numbing, but he didn't flinch, cry or complain. Then there was the Nemo movie (short version) and the filling, which, he claims, he didn't notice at all.
We're making an appointment for our other son right away. If anything changes, I'll update my rating and review.
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I've dropped one star because Dewan seems to have a business method that doesn't agree with me. He's too thorough. He'll find every little nook and cranny in x-rays and call them all cavities worth filling. But when the quote comes for thousands of dollars and you realize you can't, he'll kindly offer a list of "priorities". The problem is that no parent feels comfortable telling the dentist not to fill the cavities. I wish he would just tell us what work is truly necessary.
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Update 2, and 2 fewer stars:
It's come to my attention that some parents simply don't have the experiences to know what is unnecessary. Instead, they trust their kids' dentist as if he were as honest as their favorite aunt. They have all 9 cavities filled for 200+ dollars in their child's baby teeth, never knowing, that saving those 1000s of dollars by neglecting those micro-cavities wouldn't have done their children any harm whatsoever. I've come to believe that Dewan uses unethical fear tactics. While he was fitting a crown on a dead tooth of mine that had required a root canal, he told me I should have the opposing tooth done too, because it would need it eventually anyway. When I suggested it might not, he told me about people who would have all of their teeth crowned, just to save themselves the trouble of having to do it later. This reminds me of my grandfather, whose dentist in the 50's convinced him to pull all of his teeth and order dentures. That dentist was crook at best.
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Update 3. Why do we keep going here?
Good question. Maybe so that I can offer more reviews. My wife took my boys in for a checkup. Similar to when my oldest was 6, x-rays came back with several cavities each, and they signed them up to have them all filled, including the ones in the baby teeth. I did my research. When I called the dentist to discuss, she admitted that whether they need filling is controversial, and that often a 6-month checkup to see if any cavities have progressed is sufficient. But in the meantime, they'd told my wife they all needed filling because if you don't fill them, they can ruin the adult teeth. (That's the controversial part: yes, they can ruin the adult teeth depending on how deep and bad the baby tooth is rotting. Micro-cavities? I think not. And there are articles out there with legitimate science. You have to look hard, though, because most dentists who talk about it want to fill cavities. There's moneys involved. And tons of dentists talk about it on their websites.) read more