C.G.
My daughter's first visit to a dentist ended up being a nightmare because of the dentist himself...I never took her back to him and I try to steer anyone I can away from him...it's Meckler Pediatric Dentistry. Her Dad and I were not allowed to stay with her during the exam (she was only 16 months old), she was terrified to be around strangers and cried terribly the whole time...her Dad had to keep me from bursting through the doors to rescue her. There's nothing they could tell me that made me understand why that kind of treatment was necessary. Then to top it all off, their dental treatment consisted of restraining her...AT 16 MONTHS OLD! They wanted to tie her to something called a papoose board and put her under completely just to do dental work! I left and never went back.
We found another dentist, Stanley Hess (8400 Osuna Road Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87111 ###-###-####), who turned out to be an absolute dream. He honestly cares about the kids he treats and works really hard to help them feel at ease with the work he has to do. We explained to him what had happened on her first visit and he took the time to actually become her friend before he worked on her. She's been going to him for 9 years now and she ends every visit with a big hug. She's never had to be restrained, Dr. Hess doesn't believe in that type of stuff and she only had to have mild sedation on the first two or three visits (possibly due to her first experience). Dr. Hess would discuss it with her everytime and he let her decide when she was comfortable enough to proceed without the sedation. She ended it herself after the second or third visit. I wouldn't recommend anyone else BUT him. He's not only a wonderful dentist but he's a wonderful person.