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Step 1
Check with your insurance provider to make a list of dental providers covered by your health insurance.
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Step 2
Using that list, check with friends, family and online resources for a recommendation. You can also call your pediatrician's office to see with whom they most often work.
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Step 3
Call the pediatric dentist's office and ask to visit. They may have you make an appointment to meet the pediatric dentist or they may just offer to let you swing by to see the office.
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Step 4
Review the office space. Make sure the decor is child-friendly and the equipment is child-sized. See how they manage young children -- a reward box, balloons and cartoon decor are all good indicators.
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Step 5
Ask what they do during a normal visit. They should count the child's teeth, clean, floss, and polish in addition to reviewing basic dental hygiene with the child. Key indicators of a good practice are the use of silly terms for serious things -- "tickly toothbrush" for the polishing tool, for example. A practice that uses such terms is taking things to the child's level, a good indication that they really know how to treat their young patients.
