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Minnesota Babies
ToledoDeux
member
Any pediatric dentist recs?
ToledoDeux
member
DD has a big fear of the doctor, so I am pretty terrified to attempt the dentist with her, but it is way past time. Any good ones? thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Any pediatric dentist recs?
Metropolitan Pediatric
https://www.metropediatricdental.com/meetstaff.htm
Highly recommend Dr. Fong or Dr. Richmond but all the drs there are excellent.
Photo taken at 16 months old
I peeked at this thread because Liv chipped her tooth a couple days ago
(of course she is perfectly fine, but I am sad to see her tooth, and have wondered if it wouldn't be worth getting it filed so she doesn't have a sharp edge on it)
I saw the rec for metro pediatric dental, and imho I would stay far, far, far way from Dr. Rosenblum. I never saw any other dentist at the clinic I went to, so I can't speak to any of the other doctors, but I can speak from the perspective of someone who used to see Dr. Rosenblum.
I would be happy to provide details if anyone would be curious, but honestly, just the sight of his picture on the website made me shudder.
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
I want details!
DS goes there too (Metropolitan Pediatric Dental). We see Dr. Flamenbaum and he's wonderful.
When I was little, my family didn't have dental insurance, and my parents never had any extra cash, so I didn't go to the dentist for the first time until I was older than most. I remember my teacher saying that if anyone in the class had never been to the dentist, to please see her. A couple weeks later my brother and I went to see Dr. Rosenblum.
Everything below is as I remember it as a child. So I am sure that not all details are 100% on spot, but I tried to write it from an honest perspective.
I remember being so excited about going to the dentist (after all, I had heard all my friends talk about it, but never got to go myself) and then I remember leaving feeling horrible.
When we first got there, they refused to allow my mom to accompany us (me and my brother) past the lobby. We went into a little room and watched some dumb movie about how to brush our teeth. Then, we got the meet "the dentist". The very first thing I remember him (Dr. Rosenblum) saying to me was, "This is your first time at the dentist? That is very bad of your mom not to bring you to the dentist before this."
Even if he was right, I don't think you should EVER tell a child that their parent is bad/mean, etc. (even if their parent is a murderer, to a child, they are still mommy/dadddy, kwim?)
I had heard about the bright light at dentists, so I brought my sunglasses to wear during my exam. I remember the hygienist laughing (looking back, I'm not sure if it was a 'how cute' laugh or a 'haha, stupid kid' laugh, but it certainly felt ridiculing) at me and then refusing to let me wear the sunglasses.
When Dr. Rosenblum came to check my teeth, he scolded me rather harshly (into tears) for what a horrible brusher I was. (nevermind that I didn't have any cavities) After my exam, I remember meeting with him, my mom and my brother in his office. I had been a thumb-sucker for quite awhile (though I had stopped by that time), and he shamed me something awful for sucking my thumb as a child. I remember being so embarassed that I just wanted to disappear.
As we continued to see him, I was absolutely petrified of going there.
I was always a 'good girl' - never got in trouble at school, always behaved properly, etc. So I was so ashamed that I was never 'good enough' for my dentist. One time after my cleaning, the hygienest told me that I had wiggled too much, and that I was not allowed to pick a prize from their toy bin on that trip. I said something to Dr. Rosenblum and he said that if the hygienest said no, that what she said went and that I wasn't allowed a toy.
At one point, I had a spacer put in my mouth because I had way too may teeth for my tiny mouth and he was trying to make space. Unfortunately, something went wrong and wasn't caught right away. A couple years later I had to have a very painful procedure to pull a stick of metal out that was embedded in my gums.
One time I was in to have a tooth pulled. The assistant (still a hygienist? or a nurse? I don't know the proper term) explained the whole process to me - they will numb my gum with a q-tip, then a shot of novicaine, etc. Well, they did the numbing part, but I never got a shot. Dr. Rosenblum came over to start the tooth pulling, and I tried to tell him that I hadn't gotten the shot yet, but he completely ignored me (I am sure I wasn't the easiest to understand with all the stuff in my mouth, but imho that isn't an excuse). Before he started pulling the tooth, he poked my gum asking me if I could feel that, and I said yes. His response was, "No you can't, you just don't want me to pull the tooth". And he proceeded to pull my tooth out. I was bawling and crying and sobbing and shaking. It was horrible. And they just kept scolding me for being so naughty, and telling me that it didn't hurt (when it certainly did).
I also remember their gas mask. I have no idea what procedure it was for, I just remember suddenly having a gas mask placed over my face. No explanation of what it was for or anything. I was terrified that they were going to try to make me go to sleep so that they could do *something* to me (not sure what) and that I would be asleep so that I couldn't tell on them to my mom.
I remember one time I was there for a regular cleaning, and a child in another part of the room was having some sort of procedure done. They were fairly young, and whimpering, obviously pretty scared. I felt so sorry for them, because I heard the staff talking to them the same way they spoke to me.
I could go on and on, but I just realized how long this has gotten. In summary, my experience with Dr. Rosenblum and his staff (I'm sure they have turned over by now) was that there was a complete lack of caring, compassion, bedside manner, etc. In addition, I think he made some very poor and irresponsible choices when it came to patient care.
Even my mom admits now that had she had another choice about where to send us, she would have left his office in a second. She says she honestly didn't realize how bad it was though. (afterall, when she wasn't allowed back with us - who was she to believe? Her daughter that was scared of the dentist, or the dentist who deals with kids all day long)
Now, some of the things above may seem like nit-picky things (and others not) but to a kid, they were HUGE deals, and definitely left a life-long impression on me as to how I feel about dentists.
I didn't have dental insurance through college, so when I got my first 'real' job, I set up a dentist appointment. Prior to the appointment I literally sat in my car bawling because I was so scared of getting my teeth cleaned. Of course, as an adult who can stand up for myself (not that i need to at my new dentist) the cleaning was nothing. I also recently had to have some repair work done on some work that Dr. Rosenblum had done. I was petrified as to how much it would hurt. Imagine my surprise when after getting proper pain medicine, I truly couldn't feel anything. I had always wondered if my memories of Dr. Rosenblum were just exaggerated, or if it was really that bad. After having an experience at another dentist to compare to, I am confident that what I remember is mostly truth (and any inconsistencies are mostly immaterial)
Like I said though, Dr. Rosenblum was the only dentist I ever saw at that clinic. I saw him at the clinic off of 96 in Shoreview (I think it is Shoreview)
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt