Having one dental professional to take care of your family’s oral health needs offers many benefits. By choosing a family dentist, you can establish a long-term relationship with one professional who is familiar with your family’s history and can address your oral concerns as they develop. This can help reduce the stress and hassle of managing multiple appointments with different dentists for each family member. Plus, you can save time and money by eliminating the need to travel between practices and manage separate payments, insurance claims, and paperwork.
Family dentists monitor your family’s oral health over time, allowing them to spot problems early and provide preventive treatment like fluoride treatments or dental sealants. This saves time and money by preventing more extensive and costly dental procedures down the road.
Personalized Care
The goal of personalized care is to give patients an active role in their healing journey by encouraging them to communicate openly with their healthcare professionals. This allows individuals to seek information and resources, discuss their needs and concerns, and make decisions that align with their values and preferences.
Family dentists are trained to understand the oral changes that occur throughout life. This includes caring for primary teeth as well as the growth of permanent teeth. They can also provide services like dental fillings to repair teeth and prevent future complications.
Comprehensive Care
Family dentists are trained to address the oral health needs of individuals at every stage of life. They can perform dental cleanings, monitor the development of permanent teeth and provide restorative treatments like dental crowns or tooth replacement.
They are also qualified to deliver fluoride treatments and advise patients on good oral hygiene habits. Other services they may offer include dental sealants to protect molars, orthodontic treatment for kids and adults, gum disease management, teeth grinding treatment and jaw malocclusion (underbite, overbite or crossbite) management.
Most importantly, they are able to see multiple family members in the same office, which is a huge convenience for busy families. This eliminates the need to find different specialists for each individual family member and streamlines payment, insurance claims and appointment scheduling. This is known as comprehensive care because it takes into account all the aspects of a patient’s health needs.
Emergency Care
While preventative dental care like regular checkups and teeth cleaning is key to keeping your family’s oral health in optimal condition, emergencies can still occur. In cases of dental trauma, such as a knocked-out tooth or severe gum infection, emergency dental care is needed to alleviate pain and prevent further complications.
The clinic addresses dental emergencies promptly, and its timely assistance in alleviating dental pain and addressing underlying issues efficiently has made it the preferred emergency dental care provider of many residents of Midwood, Brooklyn. It also facilitates referrals to local specialists when needed, ensuring that patients receive high-quality care.
It’s important to note that dental emergencies should be treated at a dentist’s office rather than an emergency room. While physicians at ERs are trained to triage and treat health issues, they do not have the necessary dental training to address dental injuries or infections. This is why it’s important to find a family dentist that offers emergency services.
Affordable Care
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made it possible for families to access dental insurance by requiring all health plans to include a package of essential benefits, including pediatric dental care coverage. The ACA also made it easier for young adults to get private dental coverage through either embedded dental plans (medical health plans that include dental coverage) or stand-alone dental plans. [14] Studies of the ACA’s effects on dental care usage found that children affected by the ACA’s essential health benefit saw an increase in their utilization of dental services compared to those not affected by the ACA.
In contrast, KFF research has shown that even among those with insurance, cost barriers can prevent people from getting the dental care they need. It’s important for family dentists to make sure that all patients are able to afford the care they need. This can be accomplished by establishing a flexible, patient-centered payment model that addresses costs and financial barriers to care.